Every time I would I tried to
move he was right there in my way. Every time I tried to shake him off he would
hold on tighter. When another would come close he would hit, scratch,
and battle for that precious spot of being front and center. As my teammates
were getting annoyed from him, I could sense discomfort. I couldn’t hold back
any longer, I had to do something. I knew there was something deeper. There was
something more than the surfacy annoyances that we all saw. I was getting
annoyed not necessarily for myself, but for the others. He would hit, tackle,
cling, and literally pester them. He was the definition of “problem child”. And
on top of it all, he was dirty and of course it had been a while since his last
bath. My heart was conflicted and a rush came
over me. A sort of adrenaline.
Was it the point of
being so annoyed that I just had to do something? Was it compassion? Was I
giving in to what he wanted?
I put the other kids down and focused my attention on him.
He was scared, he was frightened. His eyes had uneasiness in them. As I broke
his cling hold, I grabbed him tightly and threw him in the air. As he was
coming back down I caught him with a loud “yahoo!” from my lips. In the follow
through of my catch, I wrapped my arms around him and I held on tightly, I
hugged him. For the next hour or so I gave him my attention, my FULL attention.
My eyes were locked on his. My time was “his time”. As I ran I knew he would be
right there behind me, and it didn’t bother me.
For the past while I
have been working through Ephesians 4. I’ve been trying to understand it and of
course live it. I think it’s so vital for us Christians to understand it as a
body. I look at the church and the stories I hear and the things I see and it
scares me!
In Ephesians 4, Paul says, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of
the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing
with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit” just as
you were called to one hope when you were called” one Lord, one faith, one
baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in
all.”
Basically Paul is crying out for us to live out the life we
are called to. He isn’t suggesting it but rather urging us to live out that
life. He goes on to urge us to be humble towards one another, be patient with
one another, to put up with each other in love. To make every effort to keep
the unity of the Spirit. (Isn’t it the Spirit that unites us in the first
place?) He goes on to share the truths that there is one body; that is there is
ONE CHURCH.
Why are there so many
churches splitting up? Why are so many believers bitter towards one another?
Why do we look at other’s faults? Why do we limit others in their faith journey?
And ultimately, why do we play God in people’s lives?
How many of you have ever asked the following questions or
said the following statements in your hearts?
Why do others get blessed
with more than me? Why are others more spiritual than me? I can’t give that
much of my time and finances like they do! I can’t believe they are so happy
every Sunday morning, but act so differently every other day!
I find it so frustrating to know that congregations are
persuaded to let pastors go when things aren’t their fault. We look for reasons
to oust someone from their roles in the church but yet forget to look into our
own mistakes and faults. Why are we trying to hide our hurt and failures by
putting attention on others in their mistakes? The biggest thing that gets me
going is when stories get passed around that A) make no sense or B) get so
warped that it’s far from the truth. Come on church, if you have a question,
ask that person! Don’t go to another story teller!!
Hey church, where is the grace?!
If those around us have so many problems, then AS THE BODY,
why aren’t we going to them and offering ourselves to listen, and encourage
them? Why are we AS THE BODY so concerned about so many others’ lives that we
miss the one the most important one to us right in front of our faces? I wasn’t
ever shown what it meant to care for others’ needs before my own. Things that
were annoying I let get to me. And yet I never even thought about what I do that
might annoy others. Only recently I’ve been experiencing what it means to stop
the “service” and make time for praying with a struggling brother or sister.
Lift them up before the Lord and truly care for that person by stopping our
humanly thought up “program” in order to allow God to divinely work. To put
others’ needs before my expectations of what I’m going to get out of the
service. God could care less how your program
turned out, he wants to see His children come to Him in unity and common
purpose.
My time here in this stage of the Race has been just that,
learning what it means to put others first. To
bless others when my entitlements I thought I had a year ago are now obsolete.
To give up my pride in order to empower others. To place my “position” in
whatever the situation is on the shelf and know that my teammates need me.
I see it as church everyday!! Some of you I know may not be able believe that I
would love “church” everyday. (only those radicals do that, right?) Being church everyday is the only thing that has kept
me going.
And so just like my
experience with my little Batswana friend, I can either be frustrated and push
him aside or be that blessing to him. Be the world to him for that one
hour of his life when he needed it most. We ALL need love. As followers of Jesus Christ we are a part of ONE
BODY, which is ONE CHURCH, and we are called to be in unity of the ONE SPIRIT. And
in all of this live by ONE LOVE no matter how “smelly” our lives are!!
So why are we so caught up in person sitting in the
pew next to us?? Just to let you know, that
stench you might be smelling might just be yourself!!
