This week I was asked to provide a column for the Waverly newspaper. Here is the text of my very first article, for those of you who live outside of Bremer County. The editor calls my column "Wise words," oh my!
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I like fruit. I especially enjoy oranges, but the truth is I don’t eat oranges as often
as I could because, well…this is a bit embarrassing, but eating an orange is
messy. There’s the peeling, juice gets all over the place, and have you ever noticed
how hard it is to eat an orange gracefully? On the other hand, a handful of
pretzels or cheese and crackers is pretty easy. No muss. No fuss.
When it comes to nutritional
value there are big differences between fruit and carb-laden snacks. I suppose I could guilt myself into eating
more fruit, but like many Americans I usually opt for anything that’s fast and
easy.
It’s pretty silly, when you
think about it, worrying about messiness over expediency when my health and
well- being is dependent on a balanced diet of good food.
Relationships are sort of like
this too. There are easy ones, with family and close friends - they are
affirming, and seem to go together like cheese and crackers. Then there are
acquaintances, the kinds of relationships that we can take or leave, but still
have a high comfort level. And then there are relationships that take effort –
they are like oranges. They can
sometimes be messy but IF we are willing to go all in we are often blessed by
the new discoveries that we make about others as well as ourselves.
As a Christ follower it’s a
whole lot easier to hang out with church people. But in reality there are many people in
Waverly who think that church is “messy”. For some reason we church folk
haven’t been as kind or compassionate or accepting as we could have been over
the years and we have, sadly, given our God, and the Church, a bad reputation.
Now this is reversible - most
difficult situations are, but it takes hard work. It takes vulnerability, it takes courage and
it takes those of us who have been comfortable in our churches to take the
first step. Yes, I know we have our beloved Church buildings ready and waiting
for folks to come and taste and see that this whole faith journey is actually a
pretty cool thing. But the truth of the matter is that we are a bit
intimidating. Our music is different, we stand up sometimes and sit down
others. We even have preachers (like yours truly) who invite people to say
Amen! What’s up with that?
And so, friends and Christ followers,
we have to step outside of OUR comfort zones and put forward a new face around
Church. When you stop to think about it, this really is the coolest thing about
being a follower of Jesus, that He trusts us,
fragile and goofy and sometimes messy as we are, to go out into the world and
represent Him.
In our places of work, at our
times of play, in our meetings and on our neighborhood playgrounds, people who
aren’t sure about Jesus learn about Him by watching us. What if each of us were
to get out there and take the next step; introduce yourself, start a new
friendship, risk the messiness of meeting someone who stretches us beyond our
comfort zone and see what happens. When we step out in faith, trusting that the
Holy Spirit is alongside us God is glorified and the kingdom of Heaven will
draw nearer. And that’s what the faith
journey is all about!
“You are the salt of the earth…You are the light of the world…let your
light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise
your Father who is in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:13-16)
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