The
end of Day 2 in Dublin, Ireland… My goodness, I don’t even know where
to begin… I guess I will just break down my thoughts in 3 topics… The
Culture, The Gospel, and Relationships…
-Culture-
Let
me list off some of the things culturally that I have noticed… the
Irish show you they like you if they slag on you (picking on you, or
making fun of you… kind of like how we jokingly pick on one another in
the states); at least in Dublin transportation is mostly by Bus (double
Decker buses) or by car… if you are planning on getting somewhere down
town in the city center during 5pm-7pm give yourself a good hour or two
to travel 3-6 miles… traffic during this time is crazy… cups of tea,
and digestive biscuits (cookies), are regular occurrences in all homes
… its hard to understand the Irish accent sometimes b/c of the
thickness of their accent… Conversation starters very often start off
with talk of Irish weather…
-Gospel-
What
is the Gospel??? Is it Christ’s Death, Burial, and Resurrection?… I
think all of us would agree that is the Gospel, but is that just part
of the Gospel? Don’t
get me wrong Christ’s Death, Burial, and Resurrection are definitely a
part of the Gospel, but that’s not the entire Gospel… Genesis through
Revelation is the Gospel… Every place in Scripture where Christ is
shown is the Gospel… every act of kindness done for your neighbor is
the Gospel…anything we do that portrays Christ is the Gospel… Why do we limit the Gospel when its way bigger than what we are portraying it to be? Why
is sharing the Gospel with someone only connected with verbally telling
someone about Christ? That definitely is the Gospel, but what about
living out the Gospel daily… being obedient to Gods Word… do
we preach the Gospel to ourselves? Are we motivated by the very words
of God to live out His Gospel? How are we ever to share the Gospel, if
we don’t even know what the Gospel truly is?
-Relationships-
Relationships,
relationships, relationships… talk about a country completely based on
building relationships… inviting people in for a cup of tea who just
stopped by to drop something off, giving lifts (what we would call a
ride) to help those without a car, kids at school building
relationships with their friends at school and through that allowing
parents to build relationships with one another, play dates where a kid
goes over to another kids house to play and the parents sit and drink
coffee and tea and talk about whatever…
All of these things have been brought to my mind since my arrival here in Dublin. Asking myself the hard questions… What truly is the Gospel… Do I preach it to myself, Do I live out the Gospel daily? Do I specially build relationships with people so that I can invest in their lives. Do I get my joy out of being obedient to God or by the outcome of a good thing that I have done? Am I discipling someone (not necessarily just doing Bible study with someone)? What ultimately is my purpose?
Oh so much to fathom…”
