I have missed blogging. I have never been very consistent in posting. I have been ...well, I would say busy, but I am as busy as I want to be. If I say tired...who isn't? (Especially if you have a kid, or two or three) I just have had other priorities. That is the truth of it.
I haven't stopped reading my Bible or books or thinking. I just haven't been blogging :)
Recently I have been thinking a lot about the "missing link". I am not talking about cro-magnon man or "Lucy" or the illusive Sasquatch that roams parts of the North American back country (or so "they" say, whoever "they" are). Nope. I have been thinking about the missing link as it relates to my spiritual life.
I seem to be discussing a number of different topics or reading the blogs of people much more insightful than me and I have been asking the same question of myself over and over - "Aren't we missing the point?". Whether we are discussing being "seeker sensitive" or the perils of "social drinking" or stretching the boundaries of the Church or "freedom" I always seem to come back to the same place.
I remember the Music Machine and probably anyone growing up in the church during the late 70s and early 80s remembers it too. There was one song "Love love love makes people happy. Love love love makes people kind. Love makes people do the things they know they ought to do." And I cannot remember the rest. Sorry. The point was that we are supposed to love others.
I can already hear people click the "back" button to get out of this page. We have heard it all before. the song wasn't unique and it isn't like anyone who has gone to church hasn't heard a message about love. Even if the only time you have stepped into a church has been to attend a wedding you have probably heard someone preach on 1 Corinthians 13. The Love Chapter.
I have been reading through 1 Corinthians and I have just realized how intertwined love is with holiness. What do holiness and love have in common? Both are only remotely possibly if we have a deep DEEP understanding of God's love for us. Truly.
We can make all these plans to feed the hungry and clothe the homeless, we can start social programs but if we don't have love it is ashes.
We can claim freedom and pursue our own dreams and desires and gain wisdom and such but with out love it is all meaningless.
If we really love God our desire is to please HIM and HIM alone. If we really love peoplein response to God's love we put them first - that means ahead of our own dreams, our own desires, our own plans, our own freedoms, even our own ideas of "what makes sense".
We start pursuing God and staying as close to Him as we can, instead of seeing how close our "freedom" can take us to the edge of right and wrong. Less self, more Savior.
Our focus becomes less and less on programs and processes and more and more on people and seeing them and loving them for who they are - not who we think they could be or should be.
We start loving people with the realization that if there is something that is difficult to love about someone, it is telling of a work that needs to be done in our heart - not theirs. After all, God - perfect and holy - loved us. Loving an obnoxious person or a smelly person or whoever has nothing to do with the person - it has everything to do with us as individuals and our own relationship to God.
Like forgiveness...it doesn't matter if the person who hurt you ever recognizes what a jerk they have been or how much damage they did to you. What matters is that you forgive them so God can start to heal you and free you from the power that person had over your life. It doesn't matter what a person is like - self-centred, loud, obnoxious (all words used to describe me before) - we are to LOVE others.
It is all ALL ALL about God and our relationship to Him. If we truly love Him then we will be able to truly love others.
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