I feel that for the past year or two, that I have not reached out enough to people. I remember when I first became a Christian, I had a fear at the time of dying alone, and this motivated me to reach out to people I didn't know and to try and get to know them. Now however, I am married to an awesome woman, worship an awesome God, and have emotional stability that I haven't had in my life before.
However, I feel an urge to reach out. Like many of us I have found myself distancing myself from or judging other people that I see as "different." IE different socio-economic group, different denomination, different political or ideological views etc. But I was reminded of something yesterday. I have been allowing myself to let what I don't have in common with a person as a reason not to reach out. Or I have looked at someone and thought "what could I possible have in common with that person?" Well, as it turns out probably quite a bit.
We are both created by God. Odds are pretty good that she knows what it is like to feel lonely and afraid, or pure joy, or being hungry etc. Even though people have different views and way of dealing with things, we all have a soul. The greatest commandment found in the New Testament "love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." I feel that I have done a better job of the latter then the former.
No where in the Bible does Jesus say that Christians should divide themselves into different sects and denominations. This is what the Jews did. They became so concerned with the specifics of God's law that they forgot about the greatest commandment. I feel that in many ways we Christians to get caught up in these clashes of doctrine. But in the end does it really matter whose Holy Water is more blessed? Or if we should have traditional or contemporary music at worship? This takes attention away from the essential truth. We were made by God to serve Him, and glorify His name.
I look around me and see people reaching out to help the less fortunate. I think in my mind, "I'd like to do that, but I don't have the time." We often hear about giving more of our resources to the Church. When I think of this, I think of money. However, our time is also a resource. To take that extra 10-15 minutes to stop and talk to a neighbor and say more than "hi." One of my main goals in life is to become a person who lifts people up, and does not tear them down. I think I do a decent job of that with those close to me. But I find myself internally critiquing a person who has what I consider a funky hair style or way out there clothes. that doesn't change who they are.
We are all God's children and every Christian is part of the body of Christ. It is time that we start acting more like it. Not dividing our selves off into different denominations and thinking that our way of worship is "the best." Every week our pastors end the service with the phrase "let's go out and change the world." I often find myself asking am I changing the world? Or am I stuck behind my comfort zone.
I yearn to become a better person then I am now. I think that right now I am being called to grow as a disciple of Jesus. I feel that I have not done the best job of modeling His life. Would Jesus dis a woman who "smelled bad" or had "greasy hair"? No, he would wash her feet and serve her. That is the most powerful image I see in the Bible. Here is Jesus, the Son of Man washing the feet of his disciples. Yes we are to serve Him, but he chose to come among us as a human and to serve us as well.
Therefore, in the coming year I pledge to do a better job of reaching out to people and finding common ground with them, not a reason to shun them. As an introvert it can be hard for me to reach out to total strangers, but I have gone out of my comfort zone to do this before, and again I will push myself more. My goal is not to reach out to people and convert them, but just to be there, because life is all about relationships, and like when I met my wife, you can't go looking for it specifically but you can have yourself in the right place, because the time will come. Life is all about timing. Be in the right place at the right time, and I vow to put myself in the right place more often.
