G'day, mostly. :)
I still think it's funny how God uses women to get my attention.
This Sunday the pastor at Life Church gave a sermon on how to know if you should think about getting married to someone. One of his points, the one that struck me to the core, was this: If you can't tell they love Jesus within the first 30 minutes of knowing them, forget it. I thought, Hey, that's a good idea. Then I thought about all the girls I've met over the past few years and wondered how often they knew I love Jesus within the first 30 minutes of knowing me.
(Blush)
Yikes. That's really convicting. Not just because I want a great wife, but because it shows what I really love. I can talk about pararescue, crossfit, and a few other things right off the bat, but Jesus? I'm having problems. Wow. How sad is that?
I'm glad God got my attention with this. The righteous life is not an issue of shackin' up with a hot chick (who just happens to be my wife) and it's not about finding an awesome, Christ-centered woman of God. It's about focusing my attentions on the One who gave everything for me. It's about loving Jesus and loving people. It's about service and self-sacrifice. It's all about God. All of it. Period.
(I wish I could live the conviction with which I'm typing right now!!!!!)
Whew,
Danny
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6 comments:
Cool post homeboy. It's funny that we lose sight of the thing we should be foocused on, eh? Even trickier when that "thing" which distracts us often times seems "godly". Happens to me all the time!
Cool post homeboy. It's funny that we lose sight of the thing we should be foocused on, eh? Even trickier when that "thing" which distracts us often times seems "godly". Happens to me all the time!
Hey, uh...I think what that pastor said was kinda dumb. First impressions are important, but that gets you in the mindset that you're sizing up every girl you meet as if she's a potential wife based on your first 30 min impression of her instead of who she is as a person. Also, I've met a number of people around school or life that I don't know are Christians until many conversations later. It's not something that we need to necessarily TALK about all the time...we should live the example...that definitely is of far more impacting significance.
Danny, I don't think there's a soul at your base who wouldn't realize you're on fire for the Lord within 5 minutes. I mean that in the most genuine, loving way...as in, you have a good, solid, non-overbearing assertion about your faith and your identity.
Don't wife shop. You'll know you've met her and that she's the one without a doubt...
So, in the meantime, relax...quit being so hard on yourself...and keep on showing love to others. You're extremely gifted in that area.
Pastors should stick to exegesis of scripture not creating moralizing formulas. The advice in your post simply doesn't work. You're bound to meet people (if you haven't already) who will convince you that they love Jesus but they don't. And you've no doubt met those who do love Christ but didn't give you that impression when you first met them (perhaps they gave no impression at all). Jesus taught, "if you love me, you will keep my commandments." (Jn14:15). There is something to be learned from the old cliche "talk is cheap." The idea that you can learn anything about someone after 30 minutes of conversation (no matter how personal, passionate, and honest it may seem) is foolish (I'm assuming you can't do much other than talk in such a short period, normally). If there is any sure way to know someone loves Jesus, it is obedience. You can't fairly assess that in days let alone minutes.
Dolly, I didn't think about the wife shopping thing. Whenever I remember to I ask God to help me see my sisters as sisters and not potential mates (learned that the hard way), I should add that to my permanent prayer request list. Thanks for the uplifting words. ;)
Steve and Dolly, good points too. Other than personality differences though, I think the gist of what he was saying was when we talk to people we have a way of directing the conversations to things we like to talk about. If Jesus isn't in that category, chances are a person's priorities aren't straight. This doesn't include some types of conversation (like answering a question on a test with "Jesus loves you!") but could be an indicator. Nor does it involve giving a complete testimony and witnessing to someone.
Of course, none of this is Scripture, either, and I certainly don't take it as such. Anyway, you got me thinking about it. :)
Again, conversations about Jesus and true love are not the same ("If you love me,you will keep my commandments"). Some people love to talk about Jesus. I've met homeless people who will talk about Jesus all day long just to win your sympathy - even quoting scripture. Yet all they want is a handout (these are rarely the helpless/destitute that the bible teaches us to care for). I've met others, very emotional, who talk about Jesus/bible/church etc., all day long but their obedience is lacking. So talk is not enough and sometimes it means nothing at all.
On the other hand, you might talk to Dolly for an hour (and hours...) and you'll hear nothing but chiropractic. Does that mean she doesn't love Jesus? No, she loves her profession and that is how she serves him best - caring for the health and welfare of others. She might drop "God" or some other religious language in there now and then but not always.
A practical application of scripture should not be formulaic. The world doesn't work like that. If you must have a formula, then look for someone who LIVES like Jesus and somehow shows it in the first 30 minutes you know them. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Thirty minutes to tell if someone lives obediently to Christ...
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