Hurrying Love

I've always loved the song "You Can't Hurry Love." Who among us hasn't song along with Miss Ross as she belts out "but mama said..."? Many times in my single days this song would remind me that I had to "trust, give it time, no matter how long it takes."

The song, is catchy, and is, I believe, in some respects true. I'm a firm proponent that waiting for who God has in store for you is a much better idea than rushing around to find someone. I know for certain that it worked in my case. A husband like mine is a rare jewel indeed, and looking back, every bit of waiting was definitely worth it.

However, while the romantic implications of this song may be true, there's another aspect of it that doesn't resonate. Sure, maybe we shouldn't be rushing to make someone into our soul mate, but I do think that, in a sense, we can hurry love. Now, before I lose you, this isn't another blog about how "you have to put yourself out there" - a horrible phrase if you ask me. Instead, I think we can hurry love of a different kind, the kind of love that calls people to Christ and displays His glory.

"How?" you may ask, and rightly so. The answer is that we must be that dispenser of love. Now, this doesn't mean that we will always get love in return. Christ expressly says that if we love Him, we will be persecuted. However, it does mean that as we reflect Him, and His love, we hasten people's reception of Him. We hurry love by acting like the One who is love personified, and in doing so, more people love Him.

Miss Ross's mama may have been right, but the Word of God is righter still. It says we should love others as Christ loved us. Let's hasten towards that goal, and in doing so, hurry others toward Him.

Questioning Faith

Death is not a topic that most people like to talk about. It's a little odd that this is the case since as George Bernard Shaw is quoted as stating, "The statistics on death are impressive." We all die, yet despite this shared state, it's a subject we like to avoid.

There are probably many reasons for this discomfort. We don't like to think of our limits; we'd rather focus on our accomplishments. For many in may be an uncertainty of what happens after we die, or it may remind us of all that we still want to do. Regardless of the cause, death is a subject, as well as an entity, that most people choose to ignore.

The problem with this is that if we all avoid talking about death, there is little hope that we will have ever confidence in what the afterlife holds. After all, there can't be an afterlife without the ending of life as we know it. And the concern is not for our lives alone. As Christians, we can know with certainty that we'll spend forever in heaven, but can we have the same certainty about our family and friends? Do our believing friends have the same confidence about us?

It's often been asked, "if you were put on trial for being a conviction would there be enough evidence to convict you?" Let us make sure that the answer to that question is a resounding yes. So that, when it is our time to add to the impressive statistic, no one questions where our faith stands.

Links in a Chain

I have one of the coolest jobs in the world. As the marketing director for a jewelry design and manufacturing company, I get the opportunity to be surrounding by sparkly things all day. It's pretty much a girl's dream job and because we make the jewelry here in the States, I not only get to understand the design concept, but get to see that concept translated into reality.

When people come to visit our factory, one of the things that I like to tell them is that no one realizes how complicated a piece of jewelry really is. Even a simple pendant has at least a half dozen components that go into creating it. All of these details have to be thought through in order to execute the design fully. Otherwise the strength of the design, and the strength of the product, would be compromised.

The amazing thing about all those components is that you have to have each of them for the product to be saleable. You can't fudge on one and expect to still have a pendant that someone could actually wear. Every jumpring, every casting, every link is important.

In her book "God Gave Us A Valley", Helen Roseveare writes about her experience returning to the Congo after rebellion had destroyed the land. Originally trained as a medical missionary, her return trip was primarily spent building a medical school where she found herself much more of an administrator than a doctor. Questioning the value of the years that were spent building the school and her own life calling as a missionary she was reminded that her latter work might not have involved a lot of personal evangelistic efforts, but that through her work multitudes of others had been trained and executed that call. "Not every one can be the last link in the chain" she was told. Sometimes our efforts have to be built upon others before the Designer's final masterpiece is complete. Being the middle link may not be as flashy as being the last, but they are all necessary.

As someone who feels that she rarely takes the opportunity to directly share about her faith, this brings me comfort. As someone who is involved in training the next generation to be witnesses of Christ's love in business, this brings me joy. For every Christian, it should bring confidence that all the work that we do on our Father's behalf is used for His purposes and therefore is valued and important.

Weather or Not

During most of the conversations that I have with my grandparents, eventually we'll get around to talking about the weather. This makes sense as my grandfather is a farmer. Although he has sold most of his land and his garden gets smaller every year, he grew up knowing that the elements would determine his family's wealth for that year. The proper amounts of rain and sunshine were required for their crops to flourish. This reliance on the weather was ingrained into him and so even now, all these years later, the outlook for the coming days is of utmost importance.
It seems to me that the same should be true for Christians. The One that we depend upon should be a regular part of our conversation because we know that our future is mediated on His grace. We tend to strive to be intentional about the sharing of our faith and as someone who is one of the world's most reluctant evangelists, I understand this focus. But I think our dependency should be evident even without a specific evangelistic outreach. After all, just like my grandfather can't help but talk about the weather, I should not be able to relate my life experiences without acknowledging Him who makes my life possible. The proper acknowledgment of His love and His justice is just as important for growth in my life as precipitation and sunshine are necessary for the fields. It shouldn't matter whether or not I'm trying to "tell someone about Christ"; Christ's influence in my life should be so central that my life story is His.

Long after my grandfather ceases to farm a thing, I can almost guarantee that the weather will be a primary topic of conversation. I hope that when I reach that age, the subject on my lips has also not changed.

Making the Most of An Opportunity

In a recent conversation with friends we talked about the opportunities for evangelism that airplane rides present. You have a captive audience and few distractions. In the course of the discussion I shared that although I know its not good, I often hope that the seat next to me will be empty. I look at plane rides as an opportunity to process, not convert. I don't like getting into discussions with strangers at a party let alone getting into theological discourses when escape options are limited. I happened to be taking a business trip that week and several people irresistibly teased me that they were going to keep me accountable about the opportunity. I steadfastly maintained that the likelihood that I would start a revival mid-flight was slim to none.

It turns out that my entire row was empty on the outbound flight so I no need to fear. But the lesson from the discussion remains. And I think that if I had the view of people that God had my motivation would change. It's not that I don't share with people my beliefs because I'm fearful of their rejection; at least that's not the entire story. More likely I'm fearful of presuming to know their needs when I mostly obviously don't know their lives. The proper perspective would consider this: Jesus was rejected more completely than I could ever be and that while I might not know their lives, the need they have is universal. Spurgeon once stated, " If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our bodies. If they will perish, let them perish with our armsabout their knees. Let no one go there unwarned and unprayed for." My efforts may be in vain, but let them know be unattempted for expansion of Christ's kingdom should be my primary aim.

Some may wonder what happened on my plane trip home. In God's great humor, He arranged it so that I was sitting next to a long-time family friend who happened to be on the same flight. Our discussions about God were more genuine and more vulnerable than could have ever taken place with a stranger. I also believe that they will prove fruitful in the end. It goes to show, even when our intentions may be the complete opposite, God can use us for His purposes