People Have Choice

Have you ever been really frustrated because you couldn't help someone see just how special they are? Think. Put a face on them.

Is it the one who continues in addiction? How about the one who is being treated really crappy by the person they're dating? Is it the one who is bitter that nothing in life works out for them? 

This same frustration happens to people who work in churches, or really any place that deals with human services: prisons, social service agencies, schools, etc. They all hit the same reality that we each face personally. 

We can help some people know they matter, and others are just a huge puzzle for us: How do we get through to THEM? Why don't they see it?

Methods and language of Church World to solve it: spiritual maturity, discipleship, saving the lost, healing the broken, shepherding people, mentoring, spiritual growth, life transormation, feeding people. We search and search to find The answer, The solution, The key, and we act as if we're certain it's out there. 

Isn't this what God experiences? Do we really believe that we want people to know they are loved more than God wants them to know it? We may deny that we believe that, but our behavior indicates otherwise.

God has had to deal with the frustration of free will, that people have choice, and I believe what we experience is a mere snippet of that. God's love is beyond comprehension. God is love. 

We shouldn't give up, but we shouldn't live in frustration either. Leaders of the Church have an opportunity to model the peace of pressing forward when we don't have all the answers. It may be the most helpful thing we can do to point people to Jesus. 

This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. John 3:19-20

Comments

[Rindy Walton]

This is such a timely post right now. I know I've been on the side of 'not getting it' and now I'm sitting on the other side, doing all I can to help a friend 'get it'. Great words here--thanks!