A pastor’s words for the people he serves..

I wonder how many Christians have been “muted” due to meanness. Their Christ is now ignored because their tone was crass. They believe their Faith offends, but it’s actually their flippancy. The world doesn’t care about their Message because it feels no compassion from the messengers. Invitations to follow their Savior remain unseen and unheard because the inviters were “unfollowed” long ago.
They now speak into an Echo Chamber filled only with their peers…bouncing around the same beliefs and unkind tone. Meanwhile, the world appreciates them as much as they would a “clanging cymbal.”

WHAT A WASTE.

“Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.” Proverbs 17:28
“The wise in heart are called discerning, and gracious words promote instruction.” Proverbs 16:21
“Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.” Colossians 4:6
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” 1 Corinthians 13:1

Today, I visited a woman on her front porch. She had a double mastectomy years ago. Her mother-in-law died Friday from COVID (the third such death connected to Renovation Community or our summer day camp).
A man walked out her front door. This ill man with Liver cirrhosis stays with my friend and her husband. His sister died this morning of bone cancer. On the phone, he left a message at the Memory Care facility where his mother lives. The mother doesn’t yet know. Will she understand when her son breaks the news?

The man walked inside and I continued visiting with my friend. We’re soon interrupted again by a phone call from her cousin, who’s busy planning a funeral. The cousin’s mother died Easter Sunday; her brother died yesterday.

At home, we had our own dinnertime interruption. A person needed help. I provided for their immediate physical needs with a plate of food and arrangements to sleep. But they needed more emotional and spiritual help. They’re near retirement age and see nothing in life went as planned. Wrong turns began years ago with poor choices and continue now with poor health. Current relationships teeter. Tonight they’re so discouraged, I had to receive confirmation they wouldn’t hurt themselves. As we walked together out the Parsonage back gate, our boys yelled goodbye. Once again, Daddy left to “go help someone.”

Last night, I cut off all help to someone else destroying their life with drugs and more lies than I can count. Unless God intervenes, they’ll feel their own Despair and Regret in a few decades.

Life is hard isn’t it? We suffer from hidden illnesses, lose loved ones, lose the health and relationships we took for granted, and make bad decisions.
We don’t always know what someone battles…what Regret they fight or Loss they grieve.
Be kind.

But God ALWAYS knows our battles. He can fight them for us, comfort us in the midst of them, and even prevent us from fighting needless ones. And when the battles hurt us, He knows our pain.

As someone with asthma and a few autoimmune disorders who also pastors people in Renovation Community with Liver Failure, Diabetes, asthma, and COPD, I understand the fear about this virus, the fear of contracting or spreading it, the fear healthcare workers have of more outbreaks, and the fear of ‘re-opening’ too soon.

But as someone committed to serving the lowest-income families in our community —people without cars, working shifts that get cut when business is slow, who go from one Temp job to the next, in industries that don’t have a ‘telecommute’ option— I also understand the fear of continued economic uncertainty, the fear of another month’s unpaid rent or car payment.

As someone who often reads biographies of persecuted Christians throughout history who lived under governments with ever-increasing economic and religious restrictions, I can even understand the fears of those protesting our potential loss in civic liberties.

I’ve learned Fear is a tricky emotion. At times, it’s the most rational response our brains can make. Other times, however, we irrationally fear what we shouldn’t.

But I’ve also learned it’s incredibly easy to belittle someone else’s fears while validating our own. Isn’t it interesting how we view our own fears as “rational” while others’ as “crazy?”
We can always find reasons why “those people” shouldn’t be afraid. That is…if their fear is not our fear. And, of course, we can find an equal amount of reasons why our fear is the only logical emotion one should feel.

True…”perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). But Love is also ‘patient, kind, doesn’t dishonor others, is not easily angered [even at others’ fears], and keeps no records of wrongs’ (1 Corinthians 13).

How should I love someone who fears what I do not? Probably the same way God loves Humanity, who fears everything He does not…with grace, patience, mercy, and respectful truth.

God is a Lover of the Afraid.

If we belittle or demonize those who fear what we do not, we aren’t loving others the way God loves us.

Suppose you tallied all your social media posts by topic. Then suppose the topic with the greatest count revealed your greatest Love— the topic to which your mind gives greatest attention.

-Politics
-The Economy
-Health issues
-Entertainment
-Your family
-Your own business
-Your personal struggles

Now, suppose you CLAIM your greatest love is_________ (e.g. your family, God, etc). Does what you most frequently post/share support your claim? If not, why?

Might there be good reasons your ‘Social Media Tally’ doesn’t reflect your Greatest Love?
Of course.

Is it wrong that half your social media posts reflect your love for cats?
Yes. Clearly, dogs are superior. 😉

Would this be an exact and thoroughly scientific survey?
No, but it’s probably still insightful.

Is it possible, somewhere along life’s journey, you started talking more about your ‘little loves’ and less about your Great Loves? If so, how could you remedy that?
Or, might the outward change in conversation reflect a sneaky change that occurred in your heart? If so, only God can remedy that. Join Him as He works in you.

“the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” Matthew 12:34

“You have forsaken the love you had at first.” Revelation 2:4

Each week at the nearby elementary school, I work with a 1st grader who struggles to read. I’ve written many times about the sad stories from my time with him. But lately, he’s done great. He’s been happy and all-smiles for the last 3 sessions. What’s the difference?

His dad broke up with his live-in girlfriend. In the interim, dad needed a place to stay and moved in with my little friend and his mother.
Mom and dad were together again! Dad even slept in his room at night!

What 6-year-old wouldn’t want mommy and daddy back together? How fun would it feel to have slumber parties with Daddy each night?!

But my little friend was distracted and depressed today. The tears began flowing.
What changed?

Daddy reunited with his girlfriend and moved out his things last night. So tonight, my buddy will sleep alone in his room. And, next weekend, he will spend a weekend in a home where he feels unwelcomed by another adult and her older children.

In a few seconds this morning, I switched from ‘Tutor’ to ‘Listener.’ I listened to big feelings pouring from the lips of a little body. Once again, he has to adjust to the new ‘normal’ in his parents’ lives. With mental chaos like that, something’s gotta give.
This morning, what ‘gave’ was his ability to focus on academics, or even differentiate the letter b from the letter d. He couldn’t concentrate and he couldn’t hold back the tears.

I’m not an expert on Illiteracy, Poverty, or the academic disparity between socio-economic groups and races. I’m just a volunteer who spends 30 minutes each week showing a hurting boy I care. I can’t change the world. I probably can’t even change this little boy’s world. But I can change his mental “count” of how many adults care about him. With me, he’s got one more grownup in his corner.

You can do the same for the hurting children in your neighborhood. Call your nearest public school and ask, “how can I volunteer?”

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” 1 Corinthians 1:3-4