In Your Face

     I recently acquired employment at a Chik-Fil-A near my house where I’ve since been cooking incredible quantities of french fries. In meeting new people and learning new skills, things have been a bit crazy, and moments for really getting to know my fellow workers have been few. I’ve had a great deal of fun getting to practice my Spanish while conversing with the numerous Hispanic members of the kitchen staff. One conversation went something like this:
     Santiago: “¿Como te llamas?”
     Caleb: “Me llamo Caleb.”
     S: “¿Eres Cristiano?”
     C: “Si.”
     S: “¿Qué tipo? Bautista, Mormón…”
     C: Presbyteriano. Es como Bautista.”
     S: “¿Usted ama Jehova?”
     C: “¡Absolutamente!”
     S: “Eso es bueno. Yo soy un Cristiano. ¡Soy un Cristiano Mexicano!”
It really seemed kind of funny at first, because the exchange was so to-the-point. Perhaps you didn’t understand that. Here’s the English version of the conversation:
     James: “What’s your name?”
     Caleb: “My name’s Caleb.”
     J: “Are you a Christian?”
     C: “Yeah.”
     J: “What kind? Baptist, Mormon…”
     C: “Presbyterian. It’s kind of like Baptist.”
     J: “Do you love God?”
     C: “Absolutely!”
     J: “That’s good. I’m a Christian. I’m a Mexican Christian!”
It was a very blunt little moment with no beating around the proverbial bush. It was actually quite refreshing to have that experience right in the middle of the work day, and Santiago and I became friends quickly, talking about life and singing songs we both remembered from church in Mexico.
     Another good friend of mine has had similar conversations before. Once, he walked up to a cashier at the mall and simply asked, “Do you know Jesus?” The girl replied that she did, but hadn’t been to church in a long time. It led to a conversation about church and fellowship, and she decided she should get back into church. It took just four words (two, in Spanish!) to open a door into someone else’s life that made a significant difference.
     There are nearly infinite opportunities everyday. It seems cliché and a bit dull to discuss these possibilities, but having experienced people stepping out on a limb to get to know me (and, from their perspective, possibly help me find true life), I think it really is important to take some of those opportunities.
     The story of the woman at the well in John 4 comes to mind. The woman there was a Samaritan, an adulteress, and an outcast even in her own society, not to mention the fact that she was a woman. Yet Jesus chose to talk to her, and offer her salvation. Jesus models for us this principle of using every opportunity to further the kingdom and reach out to others. That Jesus would reach out to this outcast of society, with no initial interest on her part, is amazing.
     It’s kind of like how we’re saved, too. If God didn’t choose to approach us and share the truth with us, our lives would be meaningless and worthless. Praise God that He chose to condescend to us, and to redeem for Himself a people! If God, in His glory, has reached out to you in your lowly estate, how can you refuse to reach out to those around you, who are truly no lower than you yourself?

So How Are You Today?

     The standard answer is, “I’m okay. How are you?” Most people offer this answer automatically, without thought. I know I do that. Asking how someone is has become a simple formality of greeting -- a segue into conversation rather than an expression of caring for someone’s wellbeing.
     If you don’t believe me, try this: walk up to someone and say, “Hi, how are you?” Then, when they say, “I’m fine. How are you?” say, “I’m terrible.” Odds are, they won’t know how to respond. They weren’t looking for a true answer to what they asked, they were just looking for a pleasant conversation -- most likely a conversation about nothing remotely important.
     Perhaps we should come up with a new form of greeting that’s more accurate. Perhaps every time we’re asked how we are, we should say, “I’m a terrible sinner deserving of hell, but God is good and I’m alive through His grace.” Wouldn’t that be strange? I think, though, that after no more than two or three days of giving this response, we wouldn’t think about it anymore. It would become no more meaningful than the answers we give now.
     I think the real solution is to stop living a scripted life. Stop giving the expected answers, start thinking, and start being true and real. This is obviously much broader in application than the art of greetings. It goes far beyond not saying you’re fine when you’re not fine. It means taking off the shell you’ve formed and letting people see the messy, sticky insides of your life.
     This, too, can become a scripted solution. It can become a 10-step guide to being real, which would defeat the purpose. The taking off of the shell can’t be a one-time deal, nor can it be a one-size-fits-all deal. It has to be a daily ordeal, a continuous struggle towards purpose.
     So if we’re honest about it, how are we? How should we be? Are we who we should be? I dare you to actually think about those questions instead of just reading them. If you’re like me, they just passed through your eyes, into your brain, and dissolved into the vast emptiness of thought. When you figure out the answers, ask yourself both “why?” and “how?”
     The pastor of a local church I attended a few times used an illustration of how a Christian ought to be. He said that his young daughter, when she was told how Jesus would come and live in her when she was born again, said something both funny and profound. She said, “But Jesus wouldn’t fit in me -- He’d stick out all over!” So let’s ask ourselves a question: if we claim to have Christ in us, why doesn’t He stick out all over?
     The truth of the matter is, the Gospel doesn’t fit the pattern of your life. If you were worshipping the God of the universe every day, and really believed that you are saved by His amazing grace, your day would be going much better than it is. I don’t care how good your day has been; it would be better if you let the Gospel blow apart the pattern in your life.
     If you look at the life of Jesus, He never gave scripted answers to things. The Pharisees and scribes frequently asked Him questions that, to them, had definite and specific answers. What did Jesus do? He offered a fresh perspective, still in line with revealed Scripture yet unheard of among the religious leaders of the time. I think settling for the traditional answer or the normal answer kills our passion and our ability to engage life properly.
     So I suppose it all boils down to one major point. Is God’s grace real to you today? Martin Luther made the point once that we aren’t imaginary sinners. Our sins are real, they’re terrible -- and God’s grace has to be more real to us than that sin. If we’re imaginary sinners, we won’t experience grace. If we’re real sionners -- bold sinners -- then God’s grace to us will be real and bold. So quit living an imaginary life, stop sinning imaginary sins, stop answering imaginary answers, and be real.

The Divine Rescue

     I'd like to try a slightly different style for this entry. I'm going to tell you a story that came to me today. I highly recommend that you consider the meaning of the story for yourself before reading past the dotted line.
     Once, three men went diving in the ocean. It's not really important why they were there, but it is important that they didn't realize that a storm was coming. When the storm hit, they became disoriented and couldn't get back to their boat. Their boat driver, realizing the peril of his customers, radioed the coast guard for help.
     In flew a helicopter to search for the lost divers, and to rescue them if possible. After finally locating the tired, freezing, and nearly drowning divers, the helicopter dropped a rope. The first diver grapped on and tried to pull himself up. He made it halfway up the rope before finding that he lacked the strength to reach the helicopter. He fell back into the waves and drowned.
     The second man, seeing that the rescue attempt would clearly not work, decided to swim to shore himself, and disregard the coast guard team. He saw no value in contined attempts at rescue by helicopter; he saw that it would never work. His body washed up on the beach a few days later.
     The third and last diver, in despair, tried only to keep afloat. The pilot of the helicopter knew that the man couldn't climb the rope himself, so he sent a crew member down the rope with a harness. The rescuer helped the diver into the harness, and both were raised into the helicopter -- into safety.

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     The meaning of this story is really not terribly complicated. The diving trip represents life, and the storm represents sin. The three divers represent three responses to life and sin. The first man tried to climb his way to safety without the help of the rescuer, and he died. The second man gave up on rescue, and he died as well. The third man realized he had no hope apart from his rescuer, and he waited and believed that this rescuer would find a way to save him from his impending doom.
     How like our own lives! When the storms of sin come our way, how do we react? Do we rely on our own strength to resist temptation, and to do the "right thing" and please God? Or do we simply give up on God when it gets rough, and try to forge our own path through life?
     The way we ought to react is as the third man. He didn't trust himself, knowing he was too weak to save himself; he didn't give up on his rescuer, because he saw that it was his only hope, and that without hope he might as well drown; instead, he waited for his savior to come and pull him out of the water, from which he was helpless to lift himself.
     Do you react that way? When you're in a storm, do you wait on your Savior? Do you trust Him and depend on Him as your only hope? Indeed, Christ is our only hope for salvation. Praise God!