Devotion - Wednesday, November 14

It may just be a phase, and we will see how long it lasts, but these days I am continually struggling with the question of how Christianity has become something we think about as opposed to a way of life.

It may have something to do with the recent election cycle.  The talk of how a Christian should vote centered on which candidate one ought to vote for, rather than the issues which matter to the Christian community.  There are some hot button issues, but (in my opinion) far too little discussion about the way in which scripture speaks to issues of war, and oppression, and equity.

Christianity seems to have become an opinion we hold with regard to some particular questions; rather than a way of life.  "Are you for or against?"  "Don't you agree that this is right and that is wrong?" 

I was reading Luke 11:37-52 this morning.  Jesus condemns those who heap regulations on others, while ignoring those instructions which apply to their own lives.

How can we make blanket statements about the behavior of others when we fail to even be willing to examine our own failings?

I realize that we all do some of this, in our own heads or in the privacy of our own homes.  But the reason Jesus established the Church was so we would have a place to help one another in these discussions and decisions.  Yet, it is impolite to have these kinds of conversations.  So we show up on Sunday morning and ask, "How are you today?" without ever being prepared to hear the answer and discuss the response.

I don't mean to scold anyone.  Do not hear this as anything other than an invitation to more fully embrace the opportunity set before us to experience community and togetherness in a way which few (very few) can even imagine.

Jesus didn't come to the earth to change our minds.  He could have done that by dropping information bombs from heaven.  Jesus came so that we might lived changed lives.  Let us hope and pray that did not come in vain.