Do you really believe....

So I've been thinking a lot lately about some stuff...and been sharing it with a couple of trusted friends.

So here's what I've been thinking.

I've been thinking it's time that Christians stopped using lingo such as "got saved" or "get them saved"...I've been thinking that we're already saved. We've been saved since the day that Jesus died on that cross. We're saved people. The world is saved. What we need to start seeing our job as is not "saving people" but turning them to the cross...introducing them to Jesus. Always Jesus. He did the saving. They're already saved. We just need them to acknowledge that. To really understand that Jesus loves them. That God loved them so very much that He knew the only way to save them from a life of death and destruction was to send His only Son to die so that they may live. We can't save them, we are not the Saviour...the real Saviour the one who actually died for them...did that thousands of years ago. He came to earth and died for THE WORLD, not just for Christians, but for the whole world, then, in the past, in the future and of course now. So we need to shift our thinking a bit on what our purpose in life is... I think our purpose is not to "get them saved" but to turn them to Jesus so HE can show them they've been saved so that they may live both eternally and in the here and now!!

I've been thinking that Christians need to stop being so freaking arrogant all the time. You know what I mean, this goes for me as much as it goes for anyone else... We act as though we're better than everyone else, and it's not the truth. You see, my dear friend Ann spoke at the Forge Gathering, about how at the foot of the cross, we're all equal. And for the first time, I realize that yes, that's what I believe. That even though I acknowledge that Jesus is my Lord and Saviour, it doesn't make me any better than the person next to me who doesn't acknowledge that. It also doesn't make us any better than the homeless person, the drug addict, the prostitute or even the muslim. Because at the foot of the cross, we are all equal. Jesus died for all of us. When we start at that point, the point of sheer undeserved grace - it makes the whole task of evangelism very easy... because you stop judging people for what is wrong in their lives, and start from a point of grace - the point at which Jesus always always started from. Our arrogance doesn't help us, it hinders the cause...that is showing what an amazingly gracious and loving God we serve. Plus, you'll also miss out on the chance of learning something about yourself and your own faith... so many times the people I was trying to "help" or "serve" ended up helping and serving me more than I could ever imagine. I'm no better than anybody else... we are all created in the image of our God, and have all fallen short...at the foot of the cross we're all equal.

Finally, I've been thinking that it's really hard to find people who want to see the best in you...who see you for who you are, and who love that person. Just as you are, not how they want you to be. You see, I have a few people like that - they are more precious to me than any jewel I could ever own. They don't even know it - though I hope that they know that I love them and they're important to me. They probably have no idea that every time we speak, my soul and spirit is edified by them. I met a new friend like that last week. He's been such a blessing to me, and he has no idea. I hope that I can too, be that to some of my friends. That I'm the sort of person who looks at your heart and loves you for who you are. I want to strive to love you for who you are and who you can be...not who you try to be and who I want you to be. I'm seeking heart connections not shifting and changing fair-weather friendships.

So that's where my head is at currently - yes it's confusing and all over the place - I can't help it - as the Collingwood crew would playfully tease - I am a Four after all (check out the eneagram, you'll get it then). It's filled with melancholy and hope. It's filled with lack of belief in self but total belief in a Christ who believes in me... and finally.... It's ever broken but always hopeful.