A blog by one of my teammates, Sarah Hicks.
The race has taught me a lot. It taught me that I can make gel for my hair last six months. That living in a tent is actually the epitome of peace. That a 10 o’clock bedtime is a blessing. That I want to pet every dog I meet whether they have scabies or not. That ministry can look like picking tomatoes seven hours a day. That parasites are no joke. That living with twenty other girls means you will always, ALWAYS run out of hot water for the shower. That I should never take taco’s for granted because I don’t know the next time, I can get one. That I have no concept of how much money I am spending if it’s not in USD. And also, that Jesus is one of the least religious people to ever exist and I want to be that too.
First and foremost, I want you to hear me say that I am not saying that religion is bad. Or that the capital C Church is bad. Both of those things are near and dear to my heart. What I am saying is that for Jesus love came before legalism and that is how I want to live my life. Again, hear me say I don’t think that law is bad and neither did Jesus. But I would say He did believe in the spirit of the law rather than the letter of the law. Meaning He obeyed and cared about the intent of why the law was written rather than the literal interpretation of the words. In my opinion, those that follow the spirit of the law are generally adhering to what the authors of the law intended even if they aren’t necessarily following what the actual wording says.
For instance, Jesus healed on the Sabbath. And we all know that threw the Pharisees into a tizzy. Because they were concerned with the letter of the law. In Genesis God rested on the seventh day. He blessed and sanctified it as an example of how we should live. In Exodus chapter 20 this became the focus of the fourth commandment to keep the Israelites from doing their normal occupations on the sabbath. Throughout the old testament the emphasis shifts from abstaining from normal activities to worshipping God on the sabbath. The law says that the Sabbath is to be kept holy and no work is to be done. So, the Pharisees took those words literally and condemned Jesus for preaching and performing miracles on the sabbath. But who is going to really sit here and say that that was work for Jesus? That performing miracles was a burden on Him. NOBODY, because although He may have been opposing the words written in the law, He was not opposing the intent. The intent being that humans need to rest from the burdens of life and their regular work to praise God and I’d say that’s exactly what Jesus was doing.
Every act Jesus did was out of love. Performing miracles on the sabbath. Eating with prostitutes and tax collectors. Touching those with leprosy. Even when it violated the interpretations that religious leaders had developed around the laws. That is the way I want to live my life. By the spirit of the law. I want to love people well no matter who they are and what the world may say about it. I want to see people as people no matter what they have done. I want to follow the Lord’s plan for me even if it goes against what some may interpret as right. I want to do what God says is right.
The world race has taught me a lot. And I mean a lot. About myself. About Jesus. About the world. But most importantly it taught me what kind of person I want to be and that it just like Jesus. Will I fall short? Heck yes. Will I mess up? For sure. Will I say the wrong things? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I want to live my life with Jesus as the example and go from there. With His help, I hope to live a life of love before legalism.
I loved reading this blog, and I hope you did too! Sarah is one of my two teammates here on the race, and she is such a joyful person that she naturally attracts every child in the room. Along with that, she is wise and helps me with my deep questions about Christianity. I could talk about her all day, but my point is that she is a beautiful person and that I’m very thankful for her.
Blog link: The Least Religious Person
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