Posted on February 26th, 2010 in Blog | 2 Comments »
Our church during Lent is reading “The Hole in Our Gospel” by Rich Stearns. There are small groups meeting using this book as a catalyst to reflect on their own journeys. Starting today, I’m going to initiate conversation and invite reflections on my blog so that we might engage in a virtual small group.
Micah 6.8 says, “What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to have mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
*What do you think God expects of you?
Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision said, “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”
*What do you think breaks the heart of God?
In what way(s) do you allow your heart to be broken by the things that break the heart of God?
“The Hole in Our Gospel” notes, “We have shrunk Jesus to the size where He can save our soul but now don’t believe He can change the world.”
*Is your Jesus God-sized or have you shrunk Jesus to your size?
ACTION IDEA –
A child dies every 21 seconds from a water-related disease. This amounts to nearly 6,000 deaths, or the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day.
*INVEST 12 hours experiencing a day without water.
*Place sticky notes in your water faucets as a reminder that 1 in 6 people worldwide do NOT have access to clean water.
*Carry an empty water bottle all day.
“The one who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water.” Isaiah 49.10
(Resource: The Hole in Our Gospel Daily Action Planner)
2 Responses
Hi Steven,
George and I are at the coast and I have been able to spend quality time reading and writing as well as crabbing and exercising. I want you to be clear on something. I am neutral as to the question of whether or not a large mission project our church might undertake needs to be Presbyterian. I think our main goal should be “Where we are headed.’ If our youth have “had their hearts broken” by the children in Ethiopia, we should listen to them and learn from and with them as we follow. I like what I am reading in “Hole in Our Gospel” because I believe he is someone who is truthful and genuine in his search and response. I liked what he said about the real sin of Sodom being their unresponse to the poor and not the sexual immorality we associate Sodom with. Yes the numbers of those who break God’s heart are overwhelming, but each number is one. One child, one adult, someone hurting by lack of opportunity or justice. If we listen, won’t we be led to the one we are to reach out to?
I am on Chapter Four of The Hole in The Gospel, and the book has me thinking. One of the significant themes I’m aware of as I read through the book is just how important a regular practice of prayer was for the author – for discernment, confirmation and emotional restoration along such a difficult journey. The other things I am thinking about as part of this conversation are ‘anger’ and ‘forgiveness’. Surely, to help others who suffer also requires us to challenge the status quo – but in so many ways, we are conditioned to just look the other way. We are rarely coached on the other stuff – the hard road of challenging practices, organizations, beliefs that reproduce inequality. Forgiveness – we hear a lot about that. Seventy times seven; turn the other cheek, etc. I feel more vague about what I’m supposed to do when called upon to protect someone. I’ve had to remind myself at times that it’s o.k. to be angry, that Jesus got angry, and Jesus challenged what He saw as wrongdoing. How do we, as a church, a congregation, a believer respond to some of these situations? Do we serve the poor, without challenging the systems that create the inequality? And if we do work for change at that level, how do we behave in such a way that is in alignment with the other values espoused by our faith? Is helping ever hurting? Is it ever ok to say, I’d rather not? Or, I can’t do that anymore because it hurts you if I do it for you?