Church.

The past few Sundays at Church have been simply marvelous, and there are a few special gems I wanted to share!  As Christians we are called to be in God's story, but what does that really mean to be a part of His story and to live into it?

Our Pastor shared this beautiful article a few Sundays ago, and I wanted to share the whole thing with you.  The article was written by a woman who had recently moved into a housing project with her husband, small child, and cat, and she was pondering what it really means to live in God's story.

"Here is my problem - from my own church I am told to just say a prayer or two or maybe read another book or just become aware of the problems in the world, but just stop bringing up the awful and the uncomfortable will you.  There is a strong pull in the church to mirror the rest of the culture.  Gone are the dog days of hell fire and brimstone.  Today you are likely to drink a cup of fair trade coffee while someone plays artful songs about justice, and we think that's enough because we want to be liked, admired and successful. As a result we sometimes build churches that cater to making very specific demographics feel supremely comfortable and although this warrants no airtime or conversation in the media the tragedy is this is where the majority of us are living our Christian life.  This is the middle ground of evangelical Christianity - aware, educated, comfortable, but too often disobedient.  The place where Jesus is sold as the KEY to a good life.  And it feels great, but it's not the gospel is the problem.

So when confronted with the truth about the world - the inequality, the brutality, the injustice, the sin - what are we called to do?  And this is what I'm hearing, well you know surround yourself with people who want to talk about justice. write another song about justice, put on a benefit for a hip cause, but give all your money away? adopt a child from foster care? volunteer your free time to teach English or citizenship classes or driver's ed, live with poor people, invite someone into your home that you don't know, cross a social barrier, stop buying stuff - oh no that wouldn't be right, in fact that would be ridiculous!  Jesus doesn't want us to have our lives inconvenienced just because so many other people are suffering right?...no not right.  WRONG!  I think Jesus would want us to have our lives inconvenienced.  God's children are being raped, God's children are starving to death, God's children are dying of astonishingly preventable diseases, and you want me to tone it down?

I am only starting to realize I can't tone it down.  I have looked at the hard facts and by the grace of God I am starting to understand that I'm not special.  I am one of God's children, and I am called to do everything in my power to shine His light and to give a voice to those who don't have one and my fear is that you will read this and say oh good for her.  She's writing - not me - that you will patronize me and put me on a different plane, planet or pedestal.  One that you won't have to live on - no this isn't for me, this is for all of us.  And she goes on if you listen hard, you will hear Christ's voice too - the one telling you there is a reason you feel like screaming or crying when you watch the news.  It's Christ's voice. That lurking milieu that you have achieved the American dream, but somehow aren't happy - Christ's voice.  That dark part of your thoughts that's always asking what am I really suppose to be doing with my life?  - Christ's voice.

She closes this way...can't promise you the key to a good life, but I can tell you this - Jesus wants to be all up in the thick of it in the human condition.  He would have no problem telling you to sell everything and give it to the poor.  And when you say no..you couldn't possibly do that.  He would look on you with sadness, not just because He loves you but because He loves everyone. So sad that you might take a second look and reconsider and start dismantling piece by piece the many walls you have constructed to keep the poor and needy and kingdom calling away. God help us - no joke it's rough, but I sleep well at night."

I have absolutely NO idea who wrote this - but I listened to the sermon over and over and over again to capture every last bit of it!  The bottom line is...there are two stories.  There is story made up of a world of flattery, fear, insecurity and upward mobility behind a veil of advertising that makes it all shiny and glittery and there is God's story of the Cross...and now I beg the question...which story are you living into?

Stephen Ministry.

There is this ministry at church that I have been wanting to get involved in for YEARS!  And I literally mean years, no exageration there, and if I am honest, I have been thinking about it for four years.  FOUR years people - that is a LONG time, don't you think?  I was always turned off by the training commitment and the multiple retreats, and the fact that the training only happened once a year...I always found SOME excuse not to get involved.

Well this year I vowed that things would be different!  And Peter and I were going to get more involved at church...and guess what?  We have!  We signed up for Sunday School, which has been simply delightful, and I finally committed to Stephen Ministry!

So what is Stephen Ministry?

According to the website, "Stephen Ministry provides congregations with the training, resources, and ongoing support to organize and equip a team of lay caregivers - called Stephen Ministers - in the congregation."

And what is a Stephen Minister?

"Stephen Ministers provide high-quality, confidential, Christ-centered care and support to people experiencing grief, divorce, cancer, job loss, loneliness, disability, relocation, and other life difficulties."

Like I said before, this is a ministry I have heard about for years, and every single year I have felt a tug at my heart, but this is the first year I have actually responded!  I love the basis of this ministry and I think it’s because this ministry recognizes the fact that we are all broken.  And even though we are broken beings, in need of a savior, we are human and so often we hide our brokenness from each other.  Yet the truth is, there is something so beautiful that happens when someone enters into that brokenness with you.  And I believe that is what Stephen Ministers do – they enter into that brokenness with another in hopes that they will be fully reconciled to Christ.   And I love this – how can you not?

Just typing this post gets me all excited for our first training session tonight!!  I spent hours last night reading about what it means to be a Christian caregiver - and I would like to think that I am a bit more educated, but who really knows right?

And so begins the journey with Stephen Ministry...

xoxo,

Malia