I was sitting and reflecting on what God has been teaching me lately through scripture and a few books I'm also reading and the biggest theme I keep coming back to is how Paul met with people on their turf to witness to them just like Jesus did.
"To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law." 1 Corinthians 9:20
This wasn't him becoming sinful or falling in step with the world but was him sinking himself into the depths of these people's lives, enough to relate to them so they also cared enough to bring him in. I bring it up because I actually had a moment with this after praying God would present me with these opportunities.
I am amazed at how immediate His response is when we are praying in line with His heart.
I started a conversation with a girl whom I don't normally connect with on a personal level and a topic was brought up that I happened to have a little bit of knowledge on because a few people around me had been through it. It was amazing how easy and fluid the conversation was and how deep it went despite it being such a "superficial" topic. What I thought would be a light and surface level chit chat became a meaningful and intimate way of growing into relationship.
I walked away simply amazed by how deep a conversation like that could go and how in a conversation like that, that I might have thought would have been pointless and superficial, was exactly what she needed to grow into a deeper relationship with me. I take no credit for entering this with such kindness and grace. That was simply God answering my prayer and loving her through me.
I'm just beyond grateful that I can walk away getting that much closer to loving on someone I would never have thought to love for Christ and with being taught how important it is to let Jesus take over how we witness and leave out the cloudy legalism that's so easy to accompany us.
God allowed me to enter her world and love on her without even bringing me anywhere close to sinning. I guess this is what it looks like to be in the world but not of the world.
I feel sometimes topics are brought up and we can't even imagine how certain subjects might lead to glorifying Christ but we are so limited by our 20/20 vision. We might be so quick to judge the situation or say "I can't talk about that because there's no way I would do that", and not because it's black and white sinful but because we feel like we need to monitor other people's moral standards. This isn't the way Jesus did it and this isn't the way we should be doing it.
If I am lucky enough to have someone bring me into their world, enough to share the depths of their heart, I have to jump on that opportunity to enter in and celebrate or cry with them. When we are invited into someone's home we are a guest, we don't start pulling down their art work and pull up their carpet because we don't like the colour. We take the time to see the beauty in their differences, their tastes, and how they are expressing themselves. When we are invited into the heart of people around us our response should be the same.
The thing she was excited about wasn't something I would have chosen for myself and was even something I could have listed off 100 reasons not to take part in, but that wasn't my place. I wouldn't have been shining Christ and I would have been pushed out of any chance of intimacy with her ever again. I want to be here to love everyone, exactly where they are at because that's exactly how Jesus loved and continues to love me.
I make choices that I know Jesus looks at and says, If you chose "this" it would have been easier or better, but instead He celebrates with me and cheers me on. He loves me through it all and gently waits for me to check my compass again.
“I worry the Christian community has accepted an insidious shift from laboring for others to prioritizing our own rights. We’ve perpetuated a group identity as misunderstood and persecuted, defending our positions and preferring to be right over being good news. We’ve bought the lie that connecting with people on their terms is somehow compromising, that our refusal to proclaim our moral ground from word one is a slippery slope. It has become more vital to protect our own station than advocate for a world that needs Jesus, who came to us, wrapped in our skin, speaking our language. If we were not too beneath Christ, who died for us while we were still sinners, then how dare we take a superior position over any other human being? How lovely is a faith community that goes forth as loving sisters and brothers rather than angry defenders and separatists.”
― Jen Hatmaker, Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity
― Jen Hatmaker, Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity
