Be Somebody.

There were two women I met at church today that really opened their arms to me and for that I am really grateful. I'm not writing this post to shame them or anyone who feels this way, but merely to take some time to point out some things I noticed as they were talking.

One of them started discussing how she felt God had placed her around a group of younger people in her workplace that also went to church. She went on to discuss that she wasn't entirely sure where they were really spiritually deep based off of some of their actions and that she felt she could make an impact by loving on them.

In response, the lady next to her replied that she had a similar, but different situation where people knew where she stood in Christ. For this woman, she was glad because people didn't bring anything considered sinful her way as they never would cuss around her or ask her to participate in certain things.

Personally, don't think either woman was particularly wrong for their heart for people and wanting those around them to know Christ. However, something stood out to me that concerned me with the conversation and I believe highlighted some interrelated issues within typical church culture that I wanted to point out.

Be approachable to anyone and everyone all the time when it comes to who others are and what they are dealing with. Our job within the church is not to partake of the world, but to be in it (Romans 12:2). Those who are in the world should see us as incredibly approachable and never shamed for who they are because it's God's job to convict, not ours. Besides, we don't have to shame them to know what's right and wrong because more often than not they already know what they need because there is a tug in their heart in the right direction.

So, let them. Let them cuss around you and not because you approve of it, but so they feel they can share their full selves with you. Let them have a drink around you.

Let them speak their true political beliefs and listen while they tell you. Ask them questions, because a heart willing to listen is a heart willing to be open and receive constructive criticism also. (Hey, you could actually be wrong about some things.)

Overtime, the people you are talking with will open up to you because you listened to them.

Think about what Jesus did for you in your darkest moments, didn't he listen to you and sit with you while you made decisions you weren't proud of? He never left your side. God has always been there even when your sins divided you from feeling close to Him yet He remained by your side through the pain regardless of the situation. God doesn't leave us and it is up to us to shine the same light to others so that they can see a tangible version of who God is in us.

Now, I am not saying that the 2 women above don't know this, but I am saying that these habits of division can tend to divide our cultures significantly making it seem too hard of a goal for others to reach.

The word of God and being a Christian was made easy and accessible to all. This is also what we should represent.

People need to know that even though we don't approve of sin, we still care and we will listen and that it is OK to have a different opinion as we are all making our own way to the one and only truth.

I'd rather have someone there helping guide me through the storm and to the truth then to never find it or get lost on the way. That's what the body is here for, being there for one another.

Everyone is fighting a different battle we know nothing about, it's true. Each person has a different path and story to getting to God and His love for us and it will look different than yours. Our job is to just be there to shine a light and show them to God, never to think that we can fix it all ourselves.

Again, I am not saying that any of this was assumed from the women above, but that we are walking our own journeys and to make sure that we remain approachable as God is toward us everyday.

Sending love and peace.

with love,

Katie