it's been - interesting

Ok...so the only thing I have to say before I share an article with you is this:

I'm scared to be in my office.
My laptop was stolen out of my office last Tuesday (June 20) when I ran home to get some lunch. It was clearly a planned burglary. That means...I was being watched. That's one of the few things that scares me more than I can even comprehend.
I don't enjoy being scared.
I don't even watch scary movies because they give me nightmares for weeks - sometimes months.
I feel like a basketcase.


Well...in other news. I want to share an article with you that I just read from the newest issue of RELEVANT magazine. It's a great article that definitely got me to think. But it also frustrated me because there are some people in my life that really need to hear what this is saying. Don't judge people - especially if you don't know their heart. Anyway, here goes:

The Most Perfect Generation
By Cameron Strang

After reading the feed back that poured in surrounding a discussion on a recent RELEVANT Podcast, I realized something about our generation that is truly amazing. Did you know we have a gift that has literally bypassed every other generation? One that is so significant, so unique, it affects many of our thoughts and actions on a daily basis.

In a nutshell, we're faultess.

It's really a wonderful thing being perfect. We know so much more than everyone else, we're able to spot flaws in almost everything. And, being good stewards of this gift, we make it a point to let others know what we think. Continually.

Frankly, our gift has a myriad of uses, but it is at its absolute best when applied to spiritual things. Whether it's letting everyone know when we think a sermon was weak, or that the Relgious Right is a bunch of hypocrites, or that the model of contemporary church is completely wrong, we feel compelled to wear our opinions on our sleeves. And good for us. How else will everyone else know how right we are?

The only possible problem with our acute correctness--and this is just a minor, minior possibility--is that we might not always be exactly, completely right.

The problem is that annoying Matthew 7:1-2:
"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you" (TNIV)

Or, as The Message puts it:
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults--unless, of course, you want the same treatment."

Crap.

Does this honestly mean we have to consider the fact that, just possibly, there could be validity to opinions, choices and lifestyles other than our own? Say it isn't so.

But did you hear about the preacher who signed a $13 million book deal and has a jet? That's completely wasteful. He should give that money to the poor. If he has money, that means he's relying on his bank account and not God. I'm going to go blog about it.

But did you hear about the pastor who wrote a book that sold more than 60 million copies? He gave a ton of the earnings away and has committed his life to engaging the church to help the poor and leading people to Jesus. I'm sure he lives a financially blessed life, but his actions sure imply that his focus isn't on the money those books have earned him.

That's where our perfection gets sticky. We only know what our opinion is, which probably isn't the full story. Protected by our fortresses of pride, we feel emboldened to lob arrows of judgment at all of the easy targets: friends, pastors, people with more (or less) money than us, bosses, you name it. The problem is, those arrows could be just as easily pointed at us. And they probably should be.

It's easy to think having a mansion is wasteful. But on a normal income, is buying a $4 coffee at Starbucks wasteful? Or what about buying an Xbox 360? The Bible talks about not loving money, but nowhere does it say having (or using) it is wrong if your heart is in the right place. Our heart's focus could be just as off-the-mark making $18,000 a year as it could be making $18,000,000.

We all have different callings, convictions, styles, paths, and passions. Just because we may disagree with someone else doesn't necessarily make their path any less God-honoring than our own. We need to be careful about jumping to conclusions. After all, the only heart whose motive we can know for sure is our own.

I wish that sticky "do to others what you'd have them do to you" thing would quit rearing its ugly head. That simple idea might actually force us to have to stop jumping to conclusions and forming one-sided opinions about people and situations that don't involve us. It might require us to consider where the other side is coming from first. That's a problem, mainly because it could unravel our generation's most endearing trait. If we're not always correct, then what are we?

People who need to get over ourselves, listen and be known for our love and humility. People who need to die to our pride and self-worth so we can see the things God is trying to get our attention about in our own lives if we'd just stop nitpicking and pointing out the flaws in everything else long enough to listen. People who need to change.

Then again, I could be wrong. Nobody's perfect.



ok...that's all.
~jen