UMC20180408 Put down your walls

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UMC20180408 - Put down your walls¶

Where do you hang out on weekends? When was the last time you loved someone who the world has cast out as the worst? Have you ever sat with someone who is too ill to care for themselves? Have you had dinner with a prostitute? 

Why do we instantly feel tension when presented with these questions? So often while growing up I felt an enormous guilt placed on me as a young ‘Christian’ man to set the example to the world and not go to dark, dodgy clubs, or hang out with the wrong side of humanity; to do and say the right things. Yet, when I think about my past, my friends would often want to go to these ‘dodgy’ places and some of my friends would have been considered as the rebellious crowd. I was continually trying to figure out right actions vs wrong actions in the eyes of the church and right people vs wrong people. What would the people at church think of me if they found out I was at those places with those people? The result was that my friendship circle and my church circle never intertwined for fear of being discovered by the other side.  

As I have matured in my faith, these boundaries have seemed to dissolve. I seem to think less about right and wrong actions or right and wrong people and more about a relationship with ALL people and relationship with God; to bring God’s love into the world. I find it hard to explain in writing but maybe if you see me around you can help me put it into words. 

Jesus’ teachings always seem to go deeper than ‘whose in and who's out’ or ‘what actions are right and wrong’. Jesus seems to point to the heart and asks the question, “Are you bringing my love into the world?”. Let us bring His love to the world. Let us not hide from each other at church. Let us eat and laugh together! Why not invite myself or someone else in the church around for dinner this week?

Clifton