Life's "Washington DC"

                 Some times looking back at memories causes you to learn; or at least that applies to me.  Anyway before I tell you the story that inspired this blog let me tell you a story to background a story. 

                “Chandler Grace Steckbeck!!” 

                “Yes mommy?”

                “Is your room clean yet?”

                “Sort of.”

                “Clean.  Now.”

                “Fine.”  (Followed by an exaggerated sigh)

                This is the conversation that caused me to clean my room.  And of course no room is “clean” unless it has been vacuumed, which means that everything on the floor must come off.  In the corner of my room there is a pile of stuffed animals, I’m not sure why, I just know that it is there;  so all of the animals went ker-plop onto my bed.  After I finished vacuuming I moved to put the animals back in the corner, but when I picked up one of the bears I was suddenly filled with memories.

                Now let me bring you back to the present.  This bear is a very pretty one.  She’s brown and very furry.  The pads of her feet and hands feel like a soft felt, and her eyes are brown and sort-of squinty (but in a cute way).  She has on a little sailor suit, complete with matching bow and red tie.  She is absolutely precious!  But it wasn’t her appearance that made me stop and think, it was the story behind the bear.

                I got Alyssa (the bear’s name) from the Boyd’s Bears factory.  My mom Jacob and I were traveling to Pennsylvania to visit my grandparents, but on the way we stopped at the factory.  We went inside and stayed for awhile, when we left Jacob and each had a brand new furry friend.  Mine, being Alyssa.   We got back out on the road, only to find that we were going the wrong way.

                The funny thing about that road is that there was no way to get off.  Seriously.  It just kept going and going and going.  And finally, after two hours, we ended up in Washington DC.  That was not part of our plan.  We were very late, and extremely lost.  We went through Washington DC for almost and hour, because we couldn’t find our way out.  Or I guess it would be more accurate to say that my mom couldn’t find her way out, because Jacob and I were in the back not paying attention.  I remember a few times my mom would tell us to look out the window at something, the Lincoln Memorial, or some other monument.  But I was too busy watching my movie with Jacob in the back seat to pay much attention to any of it.  Eventually we made it back to Pennsylvania, (5 hours late).

                Now jump back to the present.  This story has always been one that I found highly amusing, that was it.  It wasn’t until this break that I realized that there was something very important to be learned from it.

                Our life is a road.  There are high places and low, there are places where it is smooth, and places where life is bumpy.  And sometimes there are even places in our lives where it seems as if we have gone the wrong direction.

                And of course just like in my story there doesn’t seem to be any way to get off the “wrong road” and get back to where you think that you are supposed to be.  But just like in life you have the choice of what you are going to in your “Washington DC”.  If I could go back to that day when we got lost, I would not have us go the right way, instead I would look up and look around.  I was in Washington DC!!!  I had never been there before, I could have looked around and enjoyed myself, but instead I sat in the back and pouted. 

                I see the same thing happening in my life today.  Sometimes God sends me down a road that I view as the “wrong road”.  I don’t like, and I just want to get back to my life, but what I don’t realize is that I’m in a place where I could experience much!  Sometimes life is hard.  Sometimes you go through hard times, but you can learn a lot in those hard times.  You learn about yourself, about your faith.  You learn some of your strengths and weaknesses.  You even learn how to be a better follower of Christ.  But you can only do this is you are looking out at all that is around you.

                If you just sit in the back you will miss all the blessing s the Lord has placed around you.  You won’t notice new things, you won’t learn.  You’ll be to stuck in your land of “If only’s”.

                  I’m not saying that looking out is easy,  in fact the majority of the time it is really hard.  You don’t want to look out and see where you are, you just want to enjoy your memories of the past.  I’m not saying looking out is easy.  What I’m saying is that looking out is completely and totally worth it.

Altar Call = :) or :(

                What is salvation?  This is a very important question and one that must be understood to fully explain the altar call.  Salvation is an inward change.  It is when Jesus comes into your heart; when you accept God’s call for your life and decide to follow him.

                So what is an altar call?  Is it an outward demonstration of your acceptance of faith?  Or is it something else; something a little more… sinister?

                I suppose it is a little bit of both.  It is an outward demonstration of your acceptance of the faith.  But it can also be something that is not desirable.  The whole concept of the altar call is odd.  They way it is presented is that you must go speak to someone to receive your salvation.  It is presented that a physical action is needed to be truly saved.  But is that right?

                No.

                We can do nothing to earn our salvation.  Jesus did everything.  Literally, everything.  We can do nothing but accept the gift of His love.  So naturally the altar call concerns me.  New Christians are, inadvertently, taught that you must “earn” your faith.  By giving a public demonstration, but being bold, by walking down the aisle.

                The second part of the altar call that concerns me is the fact that you go and talk to someone.  This is both good and bad.  It’s good because “older” Christians get a chance to lead you to Christ.  But this could also be bad because it makes it seem as if God is not a personal god, but rather one that can only be reached through those that are more “experienced”.

                I recognize that altar calls have brought many to the love of Jesus Christ.  But what concerns me is that after leading them to the faith we leave them to flounder around on their own by teaching them things that disagree with the Bible (see above).

                I’m not against the altar call.  But I do have many reservations.  It is my firm belief that when we do altar calls we need to explain that we can do nothing to earn our salvation.  That walking an aisle doesn’t save us.  Because the truth is that only Jesus, has the power to save those who are in sin.

 

Light or Darkness?

                It is always interesting to see your faith played out on television.  And in this case seeing my faith caused me a great deal of sadness.

                Christians are stupid:  they believe in an imaginary God because they are unable to cope with life without a crutch.  That is the message that this show puts forth.  And if you add to this the fact that Christians are also judgmental and cruel you don’t get a good picture of our faith.  Or do you?

                Our faith shouldn’t be like this.  We are to be the light of the earth.  When we are judgmental we send people farther away from the light and deeper into darkness.  But I believe that this is often what happens.  And in this show what was focused on was homosexuality.

                The character Kurt, a homosexual, commented many times that he wasn’t welcome in church because he is “gay”.  At first when I heard that I was shocked, and then I began to think.  If a professing homosexual came to my church would be welcome?  No.  He would be scorned, ignored, mocked and talked about.  I love my church, please don’t get me wrong, but we, just like everyone has a long way to go.

                This is a very sad belief from the church in general:  It’s bad to sin, but if the sin is obvious it is even worse.  You don’t come to church to deal with sin; you come to church to praise.  Leave your sin at the door or don’t come in at all.

                The above statement makes me very sad.  It sounds harsh, and it is.  It sounds evil.  And it is.  How can we be a church that follows God, and yet have at the core of our beliefs the above statement? 

We can’t.

God didn’t come to save the pure, but the impure.  Jesus didn’t seek out the perfect, he sought out the imperfect.  God doesn’t demand that we help the rich; he demands that we help the poor.  We are sent to those who need the light of God.  We are sent to those in sin.  We can’t reach those in sin if we tell them that they must be clean before we touch them.

Jesus touched a leper.  The leper is the picture of one in sin.  Jesus didn’t heal him and then touch him.   He touched him first.  We can’t heal people of their sin if we don’t touch them.   And we can’t touch them while we send them further into darkness.

I like Glee, don’t misunderstand.  But this episode makes me face my faith.  And that is a good thing.  A very good thing.

Now, this question is one that I’m asking myself.  Am I sending people towards the light through love?  Of am I sending them into the darkness by judgment?

Matthew 5:14

                You are the light of the world.