God's Plan and the Desires of our Hearts
I have been thinking about God's plan a lot lately. I know this is because I will be graduating in just a few weeks and don't know what God has for me next in life. But it is also because so many things I have planned in life have been changed as God has worked on my heart.
This time last year I was planning on finding an inner city mission and joining it. Last summer I had found the mission that for which I thought God wanted me to work. It was an orginazation that I still believe has a lot of good practices, that begins churches and schools in inner cities, and I think does amazing things. Since I am going to be a teacher I fit right in.
Then came a fateful day in August where a certain pastor (guess who :) came and challenged me about my relationship with the visible church. He challenged me about the importance of the church and my independence in regards to the church. He said some things that made me start thinking about what the church was, what purpose Christ had for the church, and what my relationship to the church should be. As I came back to college last fall I still thought I would work for this mission, but I began to wonder. Through an email with Pastor K, he sent me an article on Christ's covenant and how that relates to the church. Reading that article began to change my perspective. I have always heard that joining the visible church is important, but no one had ever really explained why (or at least I hadn't heard it if they had).
That article put a cork screw in my life and I knew that my plans had to change because they were not alligning with God's plan. Anyone who has ever struggled with God's plan coming into conflict with the desires of their heart, especially desires that they thought were from God, knows how difficult that can be. However, it became clear to me that was happening.
I eventually gave up the idea of this mission I had found and began planning to move back to Indy, join southside, and hopefully finding a teaching job in the inner city there. Then I could move to the inner city and have some type of ministry in the community in which I taught. Mom was dreaming right along with me about all of this. She worked in the inner city some before kids and would like to get back involved so she really wanted to help with all this. So I got real excited about this possibility. Well soon I found out there were going to be budget cuts in the inner city school district there and they would be firing not hiring teachers this year.
It seems today that the door has been shut on my desire for inner city ministry at this point in my life. I know that God says if I trust Him, He will make my paths straight. As I look forward to graduation I don't have much idea of what that path is or where it leads, but I know that He knows! What I do know is God is calling me to join His visible church. I know that God will provide for all my needs beyond what I can think or imagine and that He knows each of those needs.
Windy Day
Well I am back at school after my last spring break as a college student. It is good to be back and see friends. I know I am going to miss living in this type of a setting when I graduate. It is nice to be able to walk down the hall and see many of my close friends. It is good to come back and hear about everyone's break and just connect again.
Today was one of my favorite types of days weather wise. It was windy and in the 60's... but tomorrow it is going to be COLD and windy :( oh well...
Over break I found the mom of a girl I worked with at the mission is in the hospital not doing well. She is the only believer in her family and has asked that we pray for her witness during this time. There is a lot of tension between various people in the family and she feels caught in the middle but wants to be a witness for Christ in the midst. Pray also that her mom would recover.
I applied to four schools over break. Three are charter schools - two of those three are opening this fall so they need a complete staff. I am also in the process of applying for a Christian school. Christian school apps are so much more complicated than any of my others. Right now I working on the essay section... eight questions that I really have to think to answer. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of the week.
I have been making a new friend the last couple weeks. I had a friend tell me a couple years ago I should get to know this man, but I hadn't taken the time. I was at the library and decided to pick up his book The Confessions and get to know St. Augustine. As I have read this book I have realized how quickly I give up on God when I see people I love turn away from God. Augustine's mom prayed for him and never gave up as he continually lived in rebellion to God. Eventually Augustine did come back to faith and was greatly used by God. This book has encouraged me to not give up, but to continually come to God with my prayers. It is also really good to read his words and see how he interweaves scripture into his prayer. This book is quickly becoming a favorite.
Making Disciples
Charity asked an excellent question about my post on the Great Commission. She asked how someone her age could go about making disciples. In order to answer that I think we better think first about what that word means... That's what I did at least when I read Charity's question... yes Charity... your question made me think :)
dictionary.com defined the word like this
1. One who embraces and assists in spreading the teachings of another.
2. An active adherent, as of a movement or philosophy.
3. often Disciple One of the original followers of Jesus.
4. Disciple A member of the Disciples of Christ.
I am pretty confident that Jesus didn't mean that we should all become members of the Disciples of Christ, or that we become one of the original followers of Jesus (that would be a little impossible because we weren't:)
So that leaves me with the possibility of #1 or 2 from dictionary.com
I went and looked up the Greek word for disciple and to make a disciple in that passage means to teach someone to follow another's precepts. So when we are making disciples, we are teaching them to follow the precepts Christ taught us.
I would agree with Charity that there are differnet roles that each of us have in doing this. In Titus 2 we see Paul instructing Titus that older members of the church should be exhorting the younger how to live properly (follow the commands of Christ). Pastors and elders also have this role.
However, I do believe each of us as Christians has a role to play. Timothy is told "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity." If Timothy is setting an example for believers, I would suggest he is discipling them because he is showing them the way we are called to live. So I would say the first way youth can disciple others is by setting an example. In order to that we better know how we are called to live and live that way! We should continually be challenging ourselves in the way we are living by asking if we are being that example. Also if you do not spend time with other believers it would be difficult to set this example. Therfore we do need to be involved in other christians lives. As I have thought about it I believe this aspect is one of the best ways for the youth to help in the disciple making process.
I guess as I end I think the great commission has much to do with the quality of life for both the adult and young people. I know from my life, some of my greatest witnessing opportunities have occured because I consistently lived differently and co-workers asked questions. I don't think we can fulfill the Great commission without relationships. Christ prepared his disciples to disciple others through three years of building a relationship with them. It is not a quick process. It is not an easy process. But it is a process that has been commanded by Christ. Each of us has a role... And part of that role for the youth is to set an example, but also to seek to be discipled by older Christians as Titus 2 discusses.
To anyone who is still reading this post I would ask you to pray for me as I am looking for a job. I have applied to two schools. I would LOVE to work at either of them. I am also in the process of deciding where else to apply and what to do this summer (since as a teacher my job won't start till August). I need God's wisdom and peace on my future... May 6 is quickly approaching and I have no idea what I will be doing after that date...
Why I Have a Problem with Jokes Aimed at a Culture Group
This is in response to a post on another blog. There was a joke that I felt was perhaps not the most appropriate joke and many disagreed with me. These are the reasons that I believe it to be wrong to joke in that manner.
During my time at Grace I have been challenged in many of the ways I and fellow US Christians naturally think because of our American culture. I have been challenged to think about how my cultural values affect my witness. Sometimes it has been difficult and I haven't liked what I saw. This issue is one of those things.
In the Warsaw - Winnona Lake area (where I attend school) there are a high number of immigrants from many different countries (because of factories and farm work). In addition there are a high number of US Christians. This area was considered the capital for Christianity in the US for many years (all the churches including the RP church used to have their conferences here:). You would think this would be the perfect opportunity to witness to the nations in the way Christ commanded. We can do it right here in our backyard. This has not happened. In fact currently a church in Mexico has a missionary here to reach the Mexicans living in our midst. When I met this missionary I began to wonder what was wrong with the people here, what was wrong with me, that a church in Mexico did not think the Christians here could minister to immigrants living in our midst.
At about this same time I began meeting some other Mexicans who came here as children. Now remember all of these people came LEGALLY and lived here LEGALLY. They came to an area of the country that is highly Christian (I have seen passages read from the Bible in public school classrooms and no one cares). As I heard some of their stories I was shocked by the treatment they had from many people in the community. Because they were Mexican they were looked down upon. Often they were thought to be unintelligent and lazy. All of the awful stereotypes that we put on illigal (we claim) Mexicans, were put on these people.
Now these people who shared this with me are fellow believers who are attending my school, or have some connection with me through the body of Christ. Is it any wonder that if our law abiding brothers and sisters in Christ experienced this type of racism that the church would have difficulty witnessing to Mexican immigrants? These people had difficulty joining other believers in worship because of these issues.
As I thought more about my beliefs about Mexicans I realized that I shared some of the same beliefs. I had stopped seeing a Mexican I passed on the street as a fellow human, instead I viewed him through some narrowly defined cultural values I held. I had forgotten that he was a fellow human with a soul, that he was part of the nations Christ has commanded us to go. It is easy to do all of these things when we put people in a group. It is easy to think about illegal immigrants and group Mexicans in that way. However, when we do that, we forget about individuals. We hurt our brothers and sisters in Christ. We ignore people made in God's image.
I guess what I am saying is that Mexicans are made in the image of God. Mexicans are part of the world Christians are commanded to reach. Increasingly they are literally our neighbors. Jokes such as the one told on that blog hurt relationship building not just with the illegal immigrants but with the legal. There is no way to differentiate between the two. When you pass a Mexican on the street you have no idea who they are. These types of stereotypes have hurt people I know and they have hurt your brothers and sisters in Christ. They have damaged the churches witness. They have in fact caused some to think Christians are worthless.
You know the Mexican missionary that is here. Some Mexicans have rejected him because he is a Christian. They do not want anything to do with Christians because they know what we believe about them.
Scripture teaches us the tongue is a powerful thing. What we say is something that we believe at some level. Out of the heart the mouth speaks. Any joke that stereotypes a people group I believe damages our witness to and relationship with that group.
This is an issue that I have struggled with a lot. I know this is not well organized... just a bunch of thoughts. But I ask any of you that read this to think about the words you say and the way it might impact others, but especially the way it might impact the church of Christ and her witness to the world. You see what any of us says has a reflection on any group we are a part of (our family, our friends, our school, and yes our church). Think about whether your words are reflecting God's attitudes or are bringing shame to his name. I think each of us needs to be more careful with the words we use, not just in relation to this issue but in all areas of our life.
I know the particular joke was used in fun, but I question whether God would find it fun for his children to be joking in this manner.
