Some Thoughts on Being a Christian

Alright....here it is:


Our Christian walk is not about us. It's not measured by how we feel...if we felt joy today then we walked closely with the Lord, if we were pissed and afraid, then we were far away from Him and not walking with Him.

That's the heresy..plain and simple.

It's about loving others. It's about are we living the righteous path not because we are joyful and feel like it but because...what else are we gonna do with what we know about Jesus...are we loving others and meeting them in their need with love and tenderness so that they can feel the hands of Jesus?

That's it.

It makes me think of how C.S. Lewis said, "I don't think God is particularly concerned with our happiness. What He really wants is for us to grow up! He wants us to love and be loved!"

So if that's true, then He would never measure our closeness with Him based on our joy. I do think that when we get to really dark places, we need to cling to Him...pursue Him...His word...others who will not try to fix but will bring us to His lap by just rubbing our head and saying, "Me too."...because while He uses those dark places...He would never want darkness to control us.

The discipline of going to Him when we're dark is where Ann Voskamp's "One Thousand Gifts" comes in...naming the gifts, slowing the moments, remembering who He is.

But I think the biggest mistake that many Christians make is that they think trust and clinging to God looks like joy and feeling good.

In my life, the closest I ever felt to Him is when I am just plain desperate for Him...I can't eat enough of His word, cause it's the only way to get the darkness to back off...and I cry and pray and try to remind myself of who He is...but it aint fun and it sure aint what I would call joy.

On the contrary, when I am light-hearted, feeling easy going...lots o stuff going well...that's when I may be farthest from Him.

Besides, didn't Jesus start His most important sermon with the words, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And doesn't the rest of the sermon on the mount depend on this first assertion?

Funny.

I think the old women at CBS, who have genuine smiles, warm hugs and greetings to all who come to them have found the secret balance of the Christian walk. They've spent years clinging to Christ, desperately eating His word, forging storms...they have the wrinkles and the Christ-gleam in their eyes to prove it. And now they just pour out love, cuz they've learned...it's not about me...it's about Him.