Many of you who know me have never seen me write this down so publicly. I have said these things many times but not written them down. Why? Because I believe that writing is NOT fluid. It is black and white and is interpreted in the readers mind, not necessarily as the writer intended it to be. Therefore I don't typically write about things that are this close to my heart. I do not wish for this conversation to be misinterpreted. However because of a question I was asked lately I have decided to write about this.
Important things:
Religion: God is God. His truth will prevail. He will speak and teach those who will listen. He created us. He loves us. He loves all of those He created...not just those who talk to Him. He yearns for those who don't communicate with Him. Therefore religion is a man made thing but God is God.
He loves Muslims, Hindus, Buddists, Agnostics, Christians, Orthodox, etc...... He loves.
Love:
We believe that we should love as God loves. In the Bible, the book that Robert & I follow... we are called to love. Please do not get us wrong. We do not believe that Love equals always be nice, always sweet, always soft. For some who have seen us in action you know that love means getting in your face and telling you to knock it off now! Depending on the topic we can really not be nice. If you are in a fist fight, going upstairs in ignorance to be raped by five guys or doing drugs like meth, you will never find a "NICE" Robert or Debbie. You will however find loving Robert & Debbie. If not for our love we would simply go have coffee somewhere and let you be raped. Instead we stand fight and yell even occasionally cuss if we need to get your attention!
A Bible story goes this way:
A woman was caught in the act of adultery by the pharisees. They brought her to Jesus (it is my thought that they tossed her cruelly at the feet of Jesus). It was a test. Now he would have to break the law. But Jesus because He loved the prostitute did not say "It's OK. don't worry." Instead he look at the pharisees and said "those of you who have not sinned cast the first stone." The Bible does not say whether his voice was sappy sweet, whether He was yelling at them or whether He was obviously angry. I tend to believe that He was good and angry, a righteous anger. I so love His righteous anger and yet am so deeply afraid of it, as I should be.
I also wonder where the guy was that she was caught with. How did those Pharisees know right where to find her? Was her current employer standing right there in the crowd with all of his buddies the Pharisees watching? Hmmm...
Community:
A place where people know each other, respect each other, need each other and work together to a specific end... raising healthy kids, having a good life, keeping their surroundings safe, etc.
One day a couple of summers ago- I stood in a neighborhood watching kids play. It had been an odd day. On that day earlier- I was standing at the edge of the playground giggling with kids when a young man walked up to me who had been hit in the head with a stick. The bump was big. He was brought to me. We got an ice pack. We called his mom and the Dr. As mom was coming to take him to the doc a white van pulled up. (please remember we were standing on the edge of the playground where at least 30 kids from all over the world were playing.) As all of this was happening a white van with five passengers pulled up. The driver had a huge bottle of opened alcohol in his hand along with the steering wheel. The door to the middle of the van opened to let a very drunk black man fall out, to drunk to walk. An adult came from the edge of the playground and walked him home. When the body of the man fell it opened a view to the middle seats. A man from another country and a women from this country, were in those seats being very, hmmmm.... can't say it here as kids could read.... but let me say it startled me and I have seen plenty of gross. This was grosser. One of the adults in the community moved in front of the door quickly while another got it shut.
The woman in the passenger seat had obviously consumed plenty of the same beverage as her driver. She was a woman between 30 and 40, very heavy, unkempt and drunk. She staggered to where I stood with the young man, tried to pull him from me and planted a kiss on his head. "Cmere
It was after this afternoon, where so many people had done so many things and worked together to protect each other that I understood the phrase so important to Africans. "It takes a Village." I knew I was a part of their village.
Relationship:
Inside of the community that we live in there are many Muslims, so many I have lost track. Some are very devout while others have a so-so belief and still other drink, a little or a lot and even eat pork but still use the label Muslim. The same can be said for the people of the other religions that we know including the Christians. The labels therefore have lost their meanings for me. In truth I don't believe them only in God and His Son do I believe.
We have a Muslim man who has gone away to visit his country for a few months. He calls us regularly because he misses us. We miss him. He wants us to check on his family. We do.
We know a JW woman who loves us and trusts us so much her children and ours blend together as one. They fight together, play together and are bored with each other as siblings are. She doesn't knock on my front door nor I on hers.
We know a Hindu man who is learning to know us and we him. What each of us sees so far we like so we eat together, work together and get more acquainted.
Fast Fruit:
Many people of different religions want "fast fruit" They want the fruit to appear on the tree. They do not want to ready to soil, research how best to water and feed the tree. They do not want to think about what is the best for the tree as a whole they only want to reach up and grab a piece of fruit at the first of April when they want it, not in October when it is ready.
I liken this kind of "sharing the gospel" to a notch on someones bedpost. Yes I know this sounds contemptuous, and the reason would be that I have GREAT contempt for this. I believe that type of evangelism is done not for the person receiving but for the person telling. There is no thought about whether the receiver is ready, only of the reward for the person telling. It is a selfish thing. It is not only bad for the one piece of fruit but for the tree itself.
Seasons:
For everything there is a season. One must wait, work, plow, feed, water, and research the best ways so that one day far away God will drop a beautiful piece of luscious fruit at your feet. All the sweeter because of the tender care and love that the tree has been given.
A young man for whom I grieve:
As I tell this story I guarantee I will cry. It happened so many years ago and still I cry....when it comes to my mind in its entirety.
A young man came from a war. He had been in the war. It, as all wars, was an ugly war. He had been shot right through both face cheeks. When he came here he went through surgeries to repair his face. He was a kind spirited young man. He worked hard. He brought his sister and her children to America so he could take care of them. He brought his elderly parents as well. To take care of them.
He came. He wasn't a major drinker or smoker. He was quiet and soft spoken.
When Robert & I were young in ministry we did not want to be selfish with the gift God had given us of people. We wanted others to come with us. One year a church wanted to give gifts on Christmas. A few gifts on Christmas was great. Instead within days of knowing this family this group of volunteers had given house loads (literally) of stuff to them. As the leader of the family, this young man felt the burden on honoring the people who had given. As a Muslim man, they took him to an Evangelical church. His family followed him. He was asked to translate the Bible for his family and friends in this setting. He did it out of honor for the new friends who had given so much.
As time moved on, a few months, this small group of people continued to teach the Bible. While we watched from inside of the community. This young man was ridiculed for his teaching of the Bible. His family slowly pittered away and no longer came to the church. He left after the last of them were gone. He was stuck between cultural honor of someone who had helped and his community as a whole and his community.
Because we had introduced this family to him, the young man became cold to us. To prove his manhood inside the community he started to drink hard, to smoke more and was dabbling in drugs. He was angry, confused. After a few years of silence he was just beginning to talk to us, to warm up to us again when... he made a bad decision. He was a little tipsy and decided to drive.
He died, unconscious, drunk, in three inches of water. He had driven drunk, run off of the road and died. This game of "fast fruit" ended his life.
At his funeral, I stood under a tree working to regain my composure, when the woman who led the Bible brigade came to me, talking as if we were on the same team. "I just couldn't work with them anymore." she said "I haven't seen them in years. It was like throwing pearls before swine." Do you remember that righteous anger I spoke of earlier? This is the first time I remember the true flow of that kind of anger in my veins. I was angry. We love to think that we "give" the gospel. So often it is not true. Instead we "take"
The cost:
Christ gave His life here on earth. He didn't just die. He lived for us while he was here. He taught us. He loved us. He died for us and most important He rose again for us. Death was not the end. Only the glorious beginning.
The cost for us:
A life daily lived for God. A young man we love died wrong. We no longer share the lives of the people we love freely. If you want to work with us on a daily basis you too will have to earn a relationship, with us and with them, love the people and care more for them more then you do your own "fast fruit" reward system. This is not fast fruit. It is love. We take very seriously the present God has given us in the community that is around us. We must love. The type of love God gives us throughout the span of time we are on earth, before that time on earth and after the end of our time on earth. I write this down because of my love for all. As we share the pearls God has given us please do so with love, knowing this is God's season for the person and not just fast fruit. Blessings. Debbie
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