Make us one.

I have been trying to reconcile some things... how affluence and celebrity exists along side hardship and poverty - within the same church (the church universal). How is it that we have mega-churches down the street from the food pantry that struggles to put food on the table?

I know there are many issues that try to justify these things going on in the same place and the same time..."that is their thing, this is ours"...but I just cannot make them jive with my Jesus. I read something that touched a nerve and I didn't know what to do with it. I have been irritable and frustrated about it ever since. Can I ever reconcile this? I don't want to be sad about those who have so much money that they don't know what to do...so they buy stuff, upgrade stuff... I don't think it's right to be irritated by the mention of multi-million dollar facilites and the thousands of dollars that get spent on cruises all in the name of the Kingdom. ...but I do. and maybe I'm just jealous. :-)

Today, Steve Cecil, a church planter here in Madison who is leading the The Journey- spoke about how paralyzing fear can be. Fear of not knowing what to do, of the unknown, of not feeling up to the task, not being capable...of getting out there and looking stupid. I began to wonder if it is feeling paralyzed that is bothering the most.

This week I was in a positon to serve a man who is facing charges for murder. His face was familiar, one who has been in the news for a murder recently committed here in Madison. I was actually surprised that instead of fear, I felt compassion. From a distance - it was so easy to facilitate fear and judgement - to justify why this man does not deserve hope. Up close, he was a man, a man who had no hope, a man who Jesus loves deeply. I realize now that as long as I am at home wrestling with this, reading about it, writing about it... I cannot see where Jesus really stands. It turns out if I pull to the side Jesus is on, I will experience his strength, His passion.

Here's what I read this week, this is what theReynoldsFam dreams about...

..when all is said and done the convincing, life-changing power of the kingdom will be experienced right where the Teacher said it would be - where the lives of his diverse followers are laid down for each other. Perhaps the world will catch glimpses of his reality when:

His efficient ones are inconvenienced by the slow;
the bright ones lavish their valuable time and talents on the ignorant;
those who have much sacrifice for those who do not have enough;
those who normally separated from each other on the basis of IQ, skin tone, age, or earnings place thier lives together intentionally, inseparable, for the sake of their Teacher.

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(taken from Theirs Is The Kingdom , Robert D. Lupton)

When the meeting was over, the Teacher closed in prayer. "Father, make them one." ...Make them so much a part of eath other that when one hurts, they all feel the pain. Make them inseparable, as loyal to each other as you and I are loyal to one another May their commitment to each other be so deep and visible that there is no doubt their love is not of an earthly kind. "My prayer for all of them is that they will be one, just as you and I are one, Father--that just as you are in me and I am in you, so they will be in us, and the world will believe you sent me." (John 17:11-21)