Adore

I don't have pages to write tonight but, sitting here listening to music and worshiping God, a very simple thought occurred to me. I find many people, especially in very recent conversations, with a very strong belief in God and a very adamant belief in Christian doctrine.

But very few times do I meet someone that simply adores God.

God is the most beautiful person I've ever met. His teachings are the best advice and guidance I've ever received. Jesus is the greatest man that ever lived and I wish I could be everything that he was. Loving, kind, caring, giving, joyful, funny, powerful but gentle.

I see a lot of people that believe stuff really strongly. I meet very few people that adore anything except themselves. And selfishness is a paltry form of adoration. As Christ followers, we can say that we adore someone so far beyond us and yet so close that he adores us more. Our God smiles when he sees us, he dances over us. He has celebrated every day that you've ever lived. I've never lacked a single thing. In every situation, he's provided for my needs and then more. So I know today, surer than anything else I know, that God rejoices over my joy.

I feel no need to be articulate tonight so much as to communicate how totally fixated I am on my Jesus, my God. Let my adoration be my testimony tonight.

Demonstration vs. Demonstration

As always, I really appreciate JD and Colbey's comments. Their response to my last blog caused me to think more about how Jesus took a stand against the conventions of his day that he opposed.

In general, people have a pretty ugly way of disagreeing with one another. A random sampling of the news today will verify this fact. Rarely do I find people/groups that can disagree with one another in a civilized fashion. And on this accord, Christians are as guilty as anyone else. In fact, with a mandate to be just the opposite, I'd say Christ-followers are doubly incriminated for their hateful displays of opinion and protest. It's doubtful that loud demonstrations have ever swayed the opinion of any great number of people but, rather, to solidify them in their views.

What we see in Jesus is an entirely different and loving way of demonstrating his opposition to the wrongs of his culture. But his methods weren't just different, they were far more effective. Jesus protested the culture of the day by demonstrating the alternative. He advocated his message by his actions and, by doing so, subverted the positions of those he opposed.

This is a very different kind of "demonstration" though. The term demonstration has multiple meanings. When you think of the first, think of shouting lines of protesters holding big signs stating their opinion on something. Think of the second, for example, as me demonstrating a product I want you to buy by actually showing you how it works. The first kind of demonstration involves much more talk, the second, a lot more action.

Jesus preferred the second, he lived out the message he was preaching thereby demonstrating its validity. This, I believe, presents a real challenge to many so-called Christ followers because yelling is oftentimes far easier than actually changing one's life to reflect Jesus' commands. I don't know whether I'm more amused or heart broken when all Christians do is talk about their faith and then wonder why no one is convinced. Honestly, why should someone else adopt a doctrine into their lives that we are either unwilling or unable to adopt ourselves. Our hypocrisy has drained the Gospel of its power and simply yelling louder compensates not for the loss.

As followers of Christ, we will begin to change the world when we, first, change our lives. If we pay attention to the One we claim to follow we'll see an example already provided. Christ's example shows us that his lifestyle is possible for those that are willing.

So the question becomes, are we willing?