What this IS going to be is an encouraging reminder (I hope).
This week, I've read posts about how great World Vision is and how awful World Vision is. The one thing that has been glaring back at me as I read posts from both sides is how hateful and cruel Christians are being to each other. I've read as Christian bloggers and writers have condemned another Christian blogger or writer for having a ridiculous argument, but then encouraged their readers to have conversations with others at the end of their post. Calling someone out online, by name, and then saying their argument is ridiculous is not a good example of a conversation you should have with a person who has a different view point.
Ann Voskamp wrote on her blog recently about a conversation one of her sons had with a Buddhist girl on the airplane as they were flying home after attending the Passion Conference in Atlanta. She wrote of a conversation that was not offensive or rude, but instead it involved grace and love and questions to better understand the other person. You can read what she said here. I think we should be having more conversations like this and less of the yelling--whether it is physically or virtually in faces.
“Let me give you a new command: Love one another.
In the same way I loved you, you love one another.
This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples
—when they see the love you have for each other.”
John 13:35 (The Message)
Those are the words of Jesus. This is what He told His disciples on the night He washed their feet. He knew how soon He'd be arrested, beaten, and crucified. Then, because He's God, He knew how little time He'd have with them in such an intimate setting after His resurrection. He was telling them important things. The men in that room were the beginning of His legacy. He wanted them to know how important it is that they love one another. That's what should set them apart.
It's the same today! Christians need to love one another and not attack each other because of an opinion. That's all we have when it comes to this World Vision issue. Opinions. There is not a verse in the Bible that says "When this happens with World Vision in 2014, here's what you should do...". So all we can do is pray and seek God's will and try to determine what He would have us do in situations that spark giant word fires. (If you don't know what I'm talking about in regards to World Vision, just Google it. You'll find a billion opinions.)
Those are the words of Jesus. This is what He told His disciples on the night He washed their feet. He knew how soon He'd be arrested, beaten, and crucified. Then, because He's God, He knew how little time He'd have with them in such an intimate setting after His resurrection. He was telling them important things. The men in that room were the beginning of His legacy. He wanted them to know how important it is that they love one another. That's what should set them apart.
It's the same today! Christians need to love one another and not attack each other because of an opinion. That's all we have when it comes to this World Vision issue. Opinions. There is not a verse in the Bible that says "When this happens with World Vision in 2014, here's what you should do...". So all we can do is pray and seek God's will and try to determine what He would have us do in situations that spark giant word fires. (If you don't know what I'm talking about in regards to World Vision, just Google it. You'll find a billion opinions.)
Here's the thing. Don't you know that Satan just LOVES this? He's probably not even having to work that hard to bring Christians down right now, because we're doing that ourselves. We are supposed to stand together, but issues divide us every single day. We should be encouraging one another and instead we are calling other Christians names and bashing their words while someone else bashes ours. THAT is what's ridiculous. US. Where is our focus? What are we trying to accomplish? Our mission on this earth is to go and make disciples. Our mission is NOT get everyone else on the planet to agree with you by writing a strongly worded blog post when you're mad about something. And that's what we do more than anything else. We fight. We try to shame people into agreeing with what we say when it honestly just does not matter that much. Yes, I have an opinion. But I am not broadcasting it from my very small corner of the Internet in hopes that someone who disagrees with me will read it and change their mind. The only thing I want to broadcast from anywhere I write or sing or speak or go is JESUS.
I don't sponsor a child anywhere. Someday, I would love to do that. When that happens, I'm going to do research. I'm going to examine, as best I can, the options of what organization I can use to sponsor a child somewhere. I'm going to look at how they use the money I'll be giving, how they treat people, and what the benefit is for the child on the other end. I'm going to choose the organization that I think does the best job of taking care of my sponsor child. That organization may be a Christian organization, but it also might not be a Christian organization. If it's not Christian, I'm going to be sharing Jesus with my sponsor child with every letter I write, every gift I send, every picture because that is what I, as a Christian, am called to do. To share Jesus. I will write to that little girl or boy about how Jesus has changed my life and I will pray that they will choose Jesus too. If the organization I choose is Christian...I'm going to do the same exact thing with what I send. It's my responsibility and privilege to share Jesus, and I don't need to expect anyone else to do it for me.
When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I became a missionary. Everywhere I go is my mission field. Everyone I encounter is an opportunity to share Jesus. I know I don't do it enough. I pray that my focus will be constantly on Jesus and how I can better display Him to the world around me.
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