People on Mission #3

I ended my last post posing a question, "Do you like, love, stand people?"  Let's decide this is no longer a question we wrestle with, we've come to the conclusion that though people are flawed and there are some we prefer over others we've made a decision that we like, love or at the very least can stand people. 

The first obstacle we face before we move forward on mission is can we be on mission with people that aren't perfect.  I'm not trying to be presumptuous, obviously I know that people aren't perfect, it's just so much more easy to be on mission with those that are a little more sanctified than others, OK maybe that is being presumptuous.  But isn't that what we're looking for?  Aren't we stuck at a crossroad of imperfection that either we cross bravely or we go another direction.  Didn't Paul and Barnabas face this same challenge after their first journey together.  Young Mark just wasn't up to the challenge and when that arrived at Pamphylia he took off.  There was what the writer of Acts refers to as "a sharp disagreement" that arose between these two friends.  The Bible never clearly assigns a winner or looser just that they both moved on separately.  We can see that later in scripture there was restoration between these parties, but nevertheless Paul wasn't able to work with Mark in his current weaknesses.  How hard it is it work with people that are as imperfect as you are?  The Bible clearly supports the doctrine that we need to be working together in unity, the question is how does that actually happen? 

The answer to that question comes from the understanding of our identity.  I'm not talking about what is on your drivers license, lets be real I don't know how anyone can be identified looking at that photo.  If we can see people in their true form; meaning how that person is seen by Christ, it will allow us to see beyond peoples weaknesses.  My father (Keith Stroup) once told me that if I can't work with someone through their weaknesses I might as well stop trying.  A persons weakness is only an opportunity for God to reveal His strength. 

People on Mission #2

One of my favorite quotes is from Del Tackett, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?"  When I first heard that thought, I had to pause and ask myself what do I really believe?  If I believe in something, has what I believe become a part of my reality.  More to the point, is what I believe expressed in how I live my life.  I'm reminded of Paul talking to Timothy and saying to him, "faith without works is dead."  Dead Faith?  Am I among the "Walking Dead", people that say they believe but their life is not a reflection of that belief. 

Coming back to my last post on "people", if I believe because of my Biblical Worldview that me loving people is no longer a choice but rather something I believe to be true, or better yet an expression of my faith, than shouldn't my life be an expression of that belief?  Before we can be on mission with people we need to wrestle with our belief towards people.  There is a verse in scripture where Jesus is being questioned about the law.  I can imagine as the Pharisees and Sadducee's kept hearing Jesus confront their paradigm their questions became more frequent and more pointed.  This is one of those times when Jesus took their question in stride and answered a ten part answer with two, love God and love your neighbor.  This brings us full circle to my point, do we love, like, stand people?  If we are going to be on mission with people we need to face the honest reality of that question. What is your answer?

People on Mission #1

People, just imagine the difficulties that come with just that simple word, "people". Some of us intentionally stay away from people, even when we're around people we ignore them, or hope they'll just keep on walking or go away. "Why can't people just leave me alone!" Not sure if that's a good mantra, but some of us love that one. Before we can even begin to wrap our minds around what it is to be on mission we first must conquer our fear, hesitation, disdain for people. Here's one thing that might help you, just because you don't love, like, stand people doesn't mean that people not love, like, stand you. If we were only suppose to care about ourselves why is there so much caring going on all around us. People exist and because of that we being a people exist right along with them. Now to our like or dislike of them it really comes down to your worldview. A humanist or socialist or whatever type of -ist you claim to be by definition of their -ist does or does not have to embrace said people. Ah, but a person that is shaped and molded by a Biblical worldview is not given the luxury of choice, but rather finds them self compelled to love, like, stand people. The question becomes more rhetorical when you realize you already know the answer. People, those I'm designed to care for are no longer a loving option but rather a simple command, ":Love your neighbor...". Having a strong Biblical worldview myself, I no longer wrestle with questions with obvious answers I tend to just agree and move on. If you wrestle with people, than ask yourself the question what is my worldview? If you can't support or follow your declared worldview, maybe you're not of that persuasion at all. One's worldview really comes down to what one really believes.

Something to think about...