Do you ever have those moments, nanoseconds, where your eyes fix and you’re caught staring, pondering, contemplating something that you hadn't planned on. You see something with your eyes. You hear something with your ears. You smell something through your nostrils. You feel something on your skin. All of a sudden, for a brief moment, you’re taken somewhere else.
These pauses are not wastes of time. Sometimes these pauses can bring about dynamic change because we’re halted, for a moment, to notice something and to think differently about something. I actually have started to enjoy these little moments. I used to think they were hindrances in me accomplishing my tasks that day. But I’ve been trying to allow these moments of thought to find comfortable expression in my thoughts.
Media and marketers have tried to capture this phenomenon I’m speaking of in many ways. You remember those Liberty Mutual commercials (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5ya8J-jyK4) that do a great job showing people “catching” complete strangers doing random acts of kindness. The person watching the act of another then pauses and ponders—then the next scene is of them performing some act of responsibility for the benefit of another.
The idea became popular to the point of many “pay it forward” campaigns for companies. Are they truly a company that values this ideology? I have no idea from company to company, but it is a powerful message lying underneath. If one person steps out of the norm of the crippling self-focused service that most of us live in, it could have far-reaching ripple effects. Acts of service and kindness could be contagious. And what kind of world would it be if everyone thought and acted in those terms?
What’s interesting is that we see this come true on wide-scale basis when we have some sort of emergency or crisis. Whether its the realities of tsunami’s, hurricanes, typhoons, plane crashes, terrorist attacks, or tornadoes, we see people displaying incredible courage and concern for others above their own safety and well-being. But why does this happen most often in crisis and not more on an everyday scale? Why is this not the norm? What would it be like to live in that world?
The “church” is supposed to be a gathering of local expressions of God’s character and purposes being lived out in real time in their own particular contexts. Way beyond the idea of “pay it forward” was Jesus’ plans and purposes for His followers. Pay it forward simply reminds us that in being unselfish and helping others, that the greater good spreads to others and eventually may come back to help us in some form in the future. This lies very close to Karma. Jesus’ desire had completely different means and ends.
If we began to truly desire to see people reconciled to God through what Jesus accomplished on the cross we would be much more patient with difficult, angry, unruly people. We would not be as concerned with our own needs and agenda. We would not be as concerned with how we are treated, but instead how we are consistently treating and responding to people. We would not be as concerned about silently boasting on our accomplishments through acquisition of stuff, but instead be more concerned about the needs of others. We would not be so focused on our prideful attempts at getting honor from people, but instead honoring all types of people in all lowly positions. We would not control matters in order to get our way, but instead accommodate people in a loving pursuit of seeing them brought to greater knowledge of Christ. We would desire to have hope instead of merely seeing the bad in people. We would enjoy the tiny momentary glimpses of God’s grace that He so faithfully embeds in our path.
Paul wrote about this type of loving environment in 1 Cor. 13:1-7. In all we do in the church or at the church or as the church—Are we living out this mandate of love in all we do? Or are we simply accomplishing tasks in the name of church busyness?
Different from “pay it forward,” to love in the manner of 1 Cor. 13 is to actually give glory to Jesus Christ. When we depend on Him to use the Holy Spirit to transform our thoughts and hearts and to conform us to His likeness—people see Him as more majestic and glorious—not us. In doing so, our end all goal is giving glory to God in the Person of Jesus Christ. In doing so, we also are living obediently to the Great Commandment “to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength…and to love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:34-40).
You see, Jesus' love simply never fails. Jesus' compassion for others never relinquishes. The holy Trinity's pursuit in conforming us to the image of Christ for His glory will never relent. It is motivating. It is inspirational. It is contagious. In all of it, He is captivating.
So, in all of our “Christian” pursuits and deeds and attendance—are we first being conformed more into the image of Christ (little Christs=Christians)? Are we more concerned about being “right” or expressing Christ’s love to others? Are we a place where people with different backgrounds and differing opinions gather and lay down their differences for the common purposes of loving God and loving others? Are we corporately and individually known by and characterized by loving our great God and His Son and loving the people around us both near and far?
Sankie P. Lynch
Pastor of Families
www.nbchurch.info
www.nbfamilies.info
sankie@nbchurch.info
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