Philemon 1:12 I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart.
I have written about this subject before, but it was rattling around my brain again this morning as I was sitting in membership class to join the Village in Dallas. I was thinking about how most Christians I have seen respond to idolatry. When we discover that idolatry is not limited to wooden statues and graven images, but is really just putting anything above God, we react in a peculiar way. Instead of elevating our affection for God, we try to degrade our affections for one another. It's almost like we (or just flat out) don't really believe that our affections for God could be greater than everything else, so we manipulate our hearts. Is that really what God has had in mind? That doesn't sound abundant to me. Does that sound abundant to you? Does that sound like the life our mighty God wants for us? Does He really just want manipulated affection, or something genuine? What would you want? Would you be okay with someone trying to love you more than someone else, but they do so not by loving you more, but by telling themselves they love whomever it is they more than you less, by forcing it? That sounds like hell. Fake love. Fake affection. God wants us to let our hearts fly with each other. We should love our neighbors. We should not withhold an ounce of affection between us. We should simply love God more, and He is worth it. With Him there is no limit.
I see the language that Paul again and again uses in his letters when addressing others, and I want to match it. One of our favorite new people at the Village is our Campus Pastor Steve Hardin. We stay after the service almost every week just to talk for a few minutes. Since I have gotten to know him a bit, I find others responses funny. Most people see his energy and enthusiasm up on stage and are cynical. They think it is an act, fake. When I tell them it is all very very hysterically real, they are shocked. He is up front about his failures. He is not fake. He just genuinely has a passion for Jesus and His flock. He says I love you so much it is crazy, and I believe him when he says it. That I could grow in my affection for God's people...
May our hearts be honest with where we are. May we open ourselves up to whatever it is that God has for us. May He grant you and I every blessing, pleasant or not. May our affection be true and whole. May our hearts be thankful for what has been, and hopeful for what He is bringing. Be with my heart. In Jesus name, amen.
I have written about this subject before, but it was rattling around my brain again this morning as I was sitting in membership class to join the Village in Dallas. I was thinking about how most Christians I have seen respond to idolatry. When we discover that idolatry is not limited to wooden statues and graven images, but is really just putting anything above God, we react in a peculiar way. Instead of elevating our affection for God, we try to degrade our affections for one another. It's almost like we (or just flat out) don't really believe that our affections for God could be greater than everything else, so we manipulate our hearts. Is that really what God has had in mind? That doesn't sound abundant to me. Does that sound abundant to you? Does that sound like the life our mighty God wants for us? Does He really just want manipulated affection, or something genuine? What would you want? Would you be okay with someone trying to love you more than someone else, but they do so not by loving you more, but by telling themselves they love whomever it is they more than you less, by forcing it? That sounds like hell. Fake love. Fake affection. God wants us to let our hearts fly with each other. We should love our neighbors. We should not withhold an ounce of affection between us. We should simply love God more, and He is worth it. With Him there is no limit.
I see the language that Paul again and again uses in his letters when addressing others, and I want to match it. One of our favorite new people at the Village is our Campus Pastor Steve Hardin. We stay after the service almost every week just to talk for a few minutes. Since I have gotten to know him a bit, I find others responses funny. Most people see his energy and enthusiasm up on stage and are cynical. They think it is an act, fake. When I tell them it is all very very hysterically real, they are shocked. He is up front about his failures. He is not fake. He just genuinely has a passion for Jesus and His flock. He says I love you so much it is crazy, and I believe him when he says it. That I could grow in my affection for God's people...
May our hearts be honest with where we are. May we open ourselves up to whatever it is that God has for us. May He grant you and I every blessing, pleasant or not. May our affection be true and whole. May our hearts be thankful for what has been, and hopeful for what He is bringing. Be with my heart. In Jesus name, amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment