I used to think that there was some sort of “secret” to the Christian life.
If I just read the right part of the Bible, listened to the right sermon, or hated some special interest group and/or opposing religion, I would be given the “real secret” to following Jesus.
However, after quickly losing interest in Old Testament lineage, getting torqued off at televangelists telling me that I’m a “bad man” and giving up on writing angry letters to the NSA, I have found there is no “secret” other than going to live out loving my neighbor.
Going to visit some neighbors in a Guatemalan slum.
The deeper I fall in love with Jesus, the more I become intertwined with my neighbors’ problems that cannot be permanently fixed with once a week hang out. Rather, the problems of our souls are ones that are healed through a loving relationship. Living my life with others makes me blinder to my own insecurities, and more aware of my neighbors’ needs.
A house in Cambodia
When I see the pain in my neighbor’s life, if I’m honest, it makes me want to quit my faith.
This “Christian” thing is hard. I get sick of seeing how my crap hurts others. I get sick of dealing with my problems. Then I get sick of being sick of it.
When I live with my neighbors, it only reveals how warped sin makes me. Its weight makes me want to check out and take a vacation from God.
Yanno, go grab a “15 Steps to a Better You” book, burn my prayer journal, and start working 60 hours a week in Tarshish to become the greatest Denny’s Manager the world has ever seen.
However, I am brought to the wise words of my writing mentor who said this about learning how to write effectively:
“If you don’t want to quit [writing] at least twice a week, you aren’t doing it right…”
Then I think of Peter talking to Jesus in John 6:56. When Jesus tells the people following Him to “eat His flesh and drink His blood”, I’m sure it was tempting to call Him crazy. I wonder how long Peter stood there, wanting to quit following Jesus after He asked, “Are you going to desert me too?”
However, Peter asks the same question I ask in my heart:
“To whom shall we go?”
Who else forces me to make my faith better than a happy thought?
Who else can heal the sick and raise the dead?
Who else makes me see youth as beautiful creatures, in need of love, (just like me)?
Living and serving my neighbors allows me to believe in Jesus’s resurrection everyday.
In light of seeing that resurrection, I have been living in community and developing my passion for discipleship in CGA. After much prayer and soul searching I would like to share with you what is next for me on this faith horizon.
I have just been accepted to go to Ireland to work with street youth. This is a year long commitment, where I will be living with the people I serve, with a focus on discipleship in the lives of youth with the hopes of life long change. We are assembling a team to go in late February and I would love your partnership. Your support will go to ministering to kids who desperately need positive influences, in emotionally and spiritually. My first goal is $5000 by January 9th. The total cost of the trip is $10,000, which covers all my needs in the field. Will you prayerfully consider partnering with me, in prayer and finances, in this endeavor to change Ireland’s youth, one life at a time?
