As I sit here in the quiet of the morning, I realize that our group has been together for 72 hours straight. It is an exciting time for me as a leader. I can't help but wonder if the feeling is anything like that which God might have as he leads us through certain situations in life. 72 hours is a very long time to spend with anybody. It is enough time to begin to know people, or at the very least learn their idiosyncrasies. Add into the mix a consistent regiment of 5-6 hours of sleep per night and you have a great formula for spiritual growth.
Last night we had some time to decompress after a long day in Greeneville. One of the guys in our group, Sam Strader, shared some incredible insight which God had been teaching him. He shared Ephesians 4:29, which says,
"29Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen."
This time is exciting for me as a leader because we are starting to move out of the bubble afforded by the professional courtesies which many times surround Christians in their lives. We are 9 days away from the building that everyone associates with the "church". We are almost 1,000 miles away from the Wednesday night life group where we have food come together for a couple of hours and then go our separate ways.
We come to the realization that the people around us have serious issues and flaws. Not only that but we have no dorm room to run away to for alone time. Our usual confidants are hundreds of miles away. Technology and entertainment are limited in their ability to distract. We are left with our thoughts and with God. A scary thought. Especially as it becomes more evident to us, after ample time for self reflection, that the situations and struggles in our own lives are beginning to overshadow the perceived issues that we once saw in those around us. How are we going to react? This is marriage, this is career, this parenthood, in other words, this is real life.
How will we react? The last 2 months have been spent learning the gospel message, trying to overcome the perception that the gospel is something that happens in a specific point in our lives. No. That is the greatness of our God and the work of Christ on the cross. The gospel brings eternal life which starts now. Just as we enter into faith through Jesus Christ, we continue in faith through Jesus Christ. He must become greater; I must become less.
The gospel doesn't change, only our understanding of its magnitude and how it impacts us. The gospel may enter our lives in a piercing manner similar to that of a .22, but as it exits, lived out everyday, it should have the characteristics of a shotgun blast or nuclear explosion in our lives.
Pray for us as we begin to experience everyday life. C.S. Lewis and others have used the word quiddity to describe it. It is the essence of life, what it is. We are here, we are sinful, we are with other who are sinful. This is only for a moment in time, but what are we going to do during the moment in time? How are we going to react? What are we going to do with these opportunities to experience this quiddity, the realness or essence of this life we are currently in? Continue to pray as God continues to stretch all of us...
~Kyle Eaton
No comments:
Post a Comment