Our Stories
I've Missed the Point
By Aaron Soderlund | posted 05/22/2008
"'Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.' When he said this, he called out, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'" (Luke 8:8)
So I think that after 29+ years, I've missed the point. That might be a little harsh and extreme, but it's a little true, I think. Bear with me though because I'm just writing thoughts and they certainly haven't all been fine tuned yet.
I'm realizing that my idea of life as a follower of Jesus is not quite fully on target. There are major tragedies in the world and I sit here in Redmond, WA moderately indifferent to it all. For that matter, there are major tragedies in Redmond and I'm still indifferent to it.
Last night, I was on Facebook and I saw that a friend of mine's 'status' was a link to his blog where he was talking about the cyclone in Myanmar. So I went to his blog and was exposed to the disaster that has left over 22,000 people dead (so far) and another 41,000 people still missing, and potentially 1 million people homeless. (Keep in mind, I don't watch the news much which is partly why I hadn't heard the seriousness of it). Wow. My first thought was, well he's a pastor so he's going to be more concerned about that than me. Ummm... what?! Then I saw another friend of mine's status that said something about how devastated she was about the people in Myanmar and that she's "looking for a way to help." She's not a pastor. I don't even know what she thinks about Jesus. But I did realize one thing... My lack of concern is certainly showing to me.
Jesus cares about those people in Myanmar. And He wants me to care too. He cares about the people in New Orleans that are still recovering from Katrina. He cares about the people in Iraq, whether soldier or innocent bystander. He cares about the people in Africa not eating every day. He cares about the people in Redmond, WA that are struggling to get by each month. He cares about the neighbor that is going through a divorce. He cares about the couple that just had a miscarriage and lost their baby that they never even got to meet face to face. He even cares about me and my easy life that I have. And what He wants is for me to care, too. And He wants them to care about me.
It's not about how many people we can meet and bring to Christianity. 'Christianity' as a religion isn't even the point. The point is Jesus. It's that Jesus' heart is breaking for these people. And if I'm really following Christ, shouldn't my heart be breaking too? It's not about a religion. It's not about me. It's not about my church putting together a 'great' Sunday morning so more people will come to our church. It's about all of these people feeling the love of Jesus, through us as His disciples. That's the Jesus they need to meet. Jesus is cross-cultural. Cross-economical classes. Cross-everything. That's the Jesus that all people can relate to.
My first thought was to blame 'the church' for not teaching me to be more concerned than I am about this stuff. And partly, I'm OK with that. But the church cannot and should not be my sole source of faith. Could 'the church' have made me more aware of the world, and not just that we need to go to places where Jesus is unknown and introduce Him to them? Sure. But I think that's only a small portion of it. They probably have told me plenty and I didn't listen. Jesus said, "let those who have ears to hear, hear. And those that have eyes to see, see." So mostly it's me. I'm trying to break through the shingles that are covering my eyes and ears. I want to see as Jesus sees, sort of. I'm scared of that, however. But I think I'm starting to see that I've missed the point, a little.
To respond to this message, email Aaron at aaron@windermere.com.
