Get up all "in your face" or just live like Jesus.

Kelly: A few weeks ago, Holly and I touched on the subject on the two greatest commandments that we are to obey as Christians (Here is the post we are referring to). Today's is not necessarily a follow up of that post, but it is something similar, or at least I think it is. xtyz (oops, Yoda got a hold of the keyboard again). I feel though that in light of some recent conversation, comments, the sermon today and whatnot, I am going to throw out a disclaimer right now: the topic at hand we are discussing today has multiple sides, and we acknowledge and are aware of them. However, today, we are choosing to focus on just a few of the sides on this multi-faceted topic of discussion. This morning in Sunday School our discussion was about being more intentional about who we come in contact with. The Scripture we referenced was when Jesus met with the Samaritan Woman. The consensus we reached was that He didn't bump into her on purpose; He knew her story and He knew she'd be there at the time that He was there too. One of the questions that was asked was what are some of the most ineffective ways to tell others about Jesus. I gave the example of someone knocking on your door and getting all in your face, seemingly shouting "excuse me, do you have a moment to talk about Jesus?" or "Hey, I'm here right now to tell you about Jesus!" Now PLEASE do not misunderstand me; I am not against those means of evangelizing. I'm just saying, they have not worked for me. It made me uncomfortable, a bit uneasy, and obliged to initiate a response. Once they left, that was it. There was no room to get to know the actual person. I felt like just another check mark on their list of people to reach. We were then asked what were some of the most effective ways of telling others about Jesus. Holly said just being real with people. I followed up and said that Jesus got into the heart and soul of everyone He met, like Zaccheaus, the Pharisee and the Samaritan Woman. He knew their stories, and if He didn't, He learned them. He didn't intimidate them or scare them. No. He was real with them.

This leads into the next part of my portion. Today's sermon was about respecting humanity. The main point that was driven home was simple: it DOES NOT MATTER where any person, ANY PERSON, has come from, what they look like, who they love, where they're from, we as Christ's body are to give them, ALL of them the love and respect that they not only need but deserve. Did I stutter?

Holly: There was a story about Union Church (a non-denominational church in town) on the news a couple of nights ago.  If there are any of you non-Bereans who are reading this, one of the things that stands out about this church is that right out front there's a very large banner with a rainbow flag that says something to the degree of "ALL are welcome! No kidding! No exceptions!"  We posted the video below- please take the time to watch it if you feel led to do so.

What really gets me (and this was said this morning in the sermon) is that so many of us, including Christians, totally forget or disregard the second part of the greatest commandment, which is "love your neighbor as yourself."  It's simple concepts, really: Show compassion to others.  Treat others the way you want to be treated.  Freaking BE NICE to people.  And yet somewhere along the way the lines get blurred.  I've stated my views on love and acceptance and respect many times before, so I won't share them again.  But one of the ways we do that is by relating to people.  Just sharing life with others!  Being the hands and feet of Jesus by reaching out to those who are already on the outside looking in.  Heck, even those that aren't.  I feel that regular, every day conversations can turn into the spiritual, meaningful ones over time if we relate to people on all areas of their lives.  For me, like Kelly said, that doesn't involve loudly proclaiming "HEY YOU NEED JESUS RIGHT HERE AND RIGHT NOW NO IFS ANDS OR BUTS!"  The truth is, we ALL need Jesus.  There's a quote that says "You may be the only Bible that someone ever reads."  We ought to be sharing messages of love, acceptance, and hope; something this society so desperately needs.  I posted on my Twitter today that the message at Berea Baptist is one that needs to be preached but probably isn't.  Let's live like Jesus with our lives and words.  Let's reach out to ALL people.  No exceptions.  

Union Church story