Skip to main content

Haiti 2012: June 1

I started early today and worked on my last day of school for the year until a little over an hour before we had to be at the church to leave. After a send-off prayer, we left for San Francisco International airport. The drive allowed me to get acquainted with a missions leader at the church, named Bill. From him, I learned something about my assumptions of other Christians: I tend to believe that Christians are so concerned with conforming to an image of the ideal Christian that they bury any opinions that might be seen as judgmental or cynical. Bill, however, was open and forthright in our conversation, and I wholly respected him for that.

The truth is that I have this assumption of other Christians because I see it in myself. I'm learning again, though, that God set us free from the chains of habitual and uncontrolled sin, not to strip us of our personalities and opinions so that we fit some uniform cultural perspective and lifestyle; but freed us instead to be "conformed to the likeness of his son." This means living out our lives with purpose and using the gifts God gave us to serve him. It doesn't mean conforming to a culture, but finding yourself, your uniqueness, and to see more clearly the blurred image of the perfect creation God originally intended us to be, free from the bondage of sin and at peace with him and each other.

All of this served to reinforce something I've learned through my own experience: to borrow from C.S. Lewis, I was reminded that God doesn't want nice people, but new men. Now on the flight from San Francisco, at 11:30 or so and among the lively chatter of close-quartered conversation, I found myself able to rest, knowing that I learned something today, not realizing at the time that God would bring further lessons.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Savior

This wasteland cold and dark runs free Its fearful creatures speak to me One fateful day one nudged my hand To set my eyes upon a tree He knew I could not understand For I was in his native land His signs became our common speech To lead me through the deadly sand Now stuck I saw him me beseech He could not lift me out to reach The firm foundation of a cave Outside the boundaries of this beach Withal, the beast became more brave To risk his own my life to save To carry me, its life it gave To carry me, its life it gave. This poem was inspired by Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." That poem, like this one, has four four-line stanzas of eight syllables per stanza. Its rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD.
Post a Comment
Read more

Evil, According to Republicans and Democrats

Please note that the following thoughts are only my observations. Please consider the evidence you see in the behavior of both parties for yourself. In our politically polarized climate, I was thinking about how Democrats and Republicans are different, and where those differences come from. Democrats seem to place more hope in institutions, and seek to reform those institutions when there is something wrong in society. Hence, there is more willingness to levy taxes to offer more social services as a support to those with less than others. They see the state as a way to equalize society. Thus, evil, to Democrats, seems to be a social issue: if there is a problem in society--poverty, racism, climate change, etc.--it is a problem with the structure of society and must be addressed as such: repair the system, and you will solve the problem. They are generally accepting of a larger state bureaucracy because they believe that increased accountability within a state structure will prevent evi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghosts

Exercising at a gym seems to be pretty important in our culture, but it's kind of weird to see the social dynamics when you're there. Usually, if you're running an errand, you see others doing the same thing, going about their days and focusing on what's in front of them. The same thing happens at the gym, only everyone is relatively stationary. They don't really go anywhere, except from one machine or area to another. One might think this lends itself to lots of interaction between members, especially since they're all there for the same purpose, but it isn't true. Not only do people generally avoid talking to one another, but they also avoid even looking at one another. It is as though there is no one else there, even though there are dozens on any given day. Most people follow this unwritten rule, unless something in the environment-- say, two people wanting to use the same set of weights-- gives them common ground to interact, or unless they've alr...
2 comments
Read more