Friday, January 20, 2012

That was uncomfortable..............

Ok, here is a post that just opens my heart for all of you to see. I realized today that I have become too comfortable with my surroundings because I am around people like me.

I spent today attending a baseball coach’s conference in Alpharetta that most of all the high school and middle school coaches from around Georgia were attending. My “job” today was to man a booth that would have information about our mission trips to the Dominican this coming summer. I had a poster board display with photos from last year and nearly 200 flyers to pass out with all the trip details.

As I spent some time meeting coaches and checking out all the other really cool vendors (thankfully I didn’t carry any money with me) I realized that not a lot of folks were coming by to talk about the mission trip. I also began to listen to conversations that coaches around me were having and I couldn’t believe some of the topics of conversation. At this point I realized that I wasn’t surrounded by my usual group of folks. It finally struck me……this is uncomfortable. Two thoughts came to mind immediately. One, this was me about 10 years ago and two, I have been surrounded by some strong believers for quite some time. Either way……I was uncomfortable.

As I got in the car heading home this evening I made the hour drive back to McDonough in all quiet. No radio, no phone, nothing. I began to ponder, have I separated myself from the fallen world? You see, for the last 6 months I have been surrounded by a family of faith that has built me up during this transition into the ministry. I believe STRONGLY in Proverbs 27:17, “ As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” We are called to spend time together and minster to each other but is that the only folks we are “called” to be around? Absolutely not! Jesus is our perfect example. He spent time with prostitutes, beggars, pagans, etc.

So, my challenge. How are the lost or fallen expected to see something different if we’re not available for them to see it.

1 comment:

Chris Gilliam said...

Yep. It is good to be where you are now. You have compassion for both...the lost and the unconnected saint. Now to introduce the 2.