Love.

The other day I was in Walmart with a friend that is not in church. There's no reason to discuss why this friend isn't actively attending a church, but the fact is that at one point he was and now he's not. During our progression through Walmart, we were there to purchase items for the coffee shop that I run at church, we ran into someone that I have always respected and looked up to because of their spiritual gifts and just overall being. We were still several feet away when I spotted and made eye contact with this holy person, but I was puzzled by the look that came across their face. A gaping mouth, head popped back shocked look at the two of us standing in the dairy department. As we progressed towards this holy person they turned their head and scratched the back of their head as if they were trying to avoid being seen by us. So I spoke to the person saying, "Hey, how are you?" Through disgust and gritted teeth this person replied but never looked at me nor my friend.

This puzzled me because I always knew this person as a loving, caring, social person who had gone out of their way to minister to so many people. Giving confirmed words of God that I, myself had been ministered to as well as others. So why in the world would this person do a thing like that? Then it hit me that it was the company that I was with.

 

When the person with me left the church, there were so many rumors that had gotten around and yet none of them were true. And even if they were, even if I had walked into Walmart with a convicted rapist, incestuous, murderer, baby killer; I would think that my reputation would supersede anything else because it's not like I was doing anything other than be pushing a buggy in the dairy section at Walmart with someone tagging along beside me. It made me angry. It made me think ill will towards that holy person, just thinking that this person is uneducated, unenlightened. But then I got to thinking how can that be? They minister to so many people and are on the front row every Sunday and are trying to evangelize to so many people but yet have no love for a fallen person, where's the distinction? Where is the love of Jesus in the situation? I remember reading about Jesus stopping men from stoning a whore! I remember reading about Jesus dying on the cross for the least of these sinners! But what got me even more upset is the fact that in my friend's life, he is seeking God and is through love, through attention, through patience that he has gotten back to where he needs to be.

 

No he's not but on the front row the church every Sunday, but he actively reads his Bible. He prays and talks to me about God. He talks to me about his relationship with God, he is seeking counseling for his marriage and counseling for himself. But none of that is showing out to the world. And it doesn't need to be because thats his personal business. But yet these disasterous, life altering rumors will always known. 

How did Mary Magdalene feel when she knew she'd given up the life of sin and was following God? Following His son and washing her Saviors feet with her hair! And yet others who had heard about her past and even heard stories that were true about her past, looked at her with shame and disgust! Those holy people that also followed Jesus, that were also changed but you couldn't see the change that God had done inside her. We've all seen pictures of the smokers lungs and how disgusting that can be. How unhealthy it is, the black tar smothered lungs that often kill smokers. Think about those being turned into brand-new, healthy, vivacious, full of air lungs! God can do that in instance with our heart, with our soul. But at no point does anyone else get to see or experience that change instantly. Yes overtime people will see the way that we act and know that we are changed because of that, but that initial point before we take a step out and start living our lives the way that He  commanded us to, nobody sees that. All they see is the same outer shell that once was a old creation. But out of love we can take someone who's been broken, beaten-down, has never known Jesus, who has known Jesus 1000 years and fallen and bring them back to a restored life of Christ. But out of not loving, doing the exact opposite, acting as the person in Walmart did, we can also push them a thousand miles away from God and the church and other Christians.

The next day was Sunday. I went to church and I worked in the coffee house and when it came time for me to go into the service, I went and sat down in the seat that have been saved for me by the person that walked along side me in Walmart, my friend who was no longer in church. I wanted more than anything for the holy person from the dairy section to turn and make eye contact with me because I wanted to see the look on their face, the reaction that you gave me last night where is that reaction now? Because this person is changing. This person is not gonna let the rumors that you've heard affect his walk with God. I thought about walking up to the holy person and saying something directly to them asking them, "what was all that about?" Then I realized, that you know what, it doesn't matter because just like the words that they heard that made them think so negatively about this one person, my words couldn't change their mind, they could've fallen on deaf ears. 

There's a saying about a ship being a huge vessel and the rudder being just a small part, it's often compared to our tongue. We have this enormous body and then just this one little thing that can steer us in so many directions. I don't know if me saying something to the holy person would have corrected the situation, but I do feel like it was probably more of a humanistic instinct of mine to say something and try to get it corrected. But I challenge anyone reading this to love. Love the widow that's across the street. Love the children that are playing in your front yard when you get home from work. Love the homeless person who sitting outside that smells like alcohol and has no teeth from their meth addiction. Love the person who sits next to you in church that you don't know their name. Love the person that used to sit next to you that you see in Walmart. Love your ex-husband. Love the person that treated you horribly. Love the person that you think will never come to Christ. Because in this day and age, with these type of people that are going around living their lives among us, love is going to be the one thing that speaks out to them. Preaching is an amazing thing that ministers to people's needs and wounds, but love is an unspoken word that can get you further than 1000 spoken words. 

When I was a child and I would get disciplined I would tell my mother I'm sorry. Her response would always be "prove it." I didn't understand what that meant at first. I thought well I'll go clean something to prove it, but then I realized that what she was saying is don't do it again and let me see you change. That's how to prove that you love someone and It will get you further in life than just telling them about Jesus. You can love someone without accepting their sins. You can love someone without preaching to them about their sins. You can love someone by just being there, letting them talk and let them listen to the voice of God  saying come back. That'll get you more responses and more friends than anything else. And friends are the only thing you can take with you to heaven. So I leave you with this challenge: love even those that have fallen away from God, love even those that have never known God, love every human as Jesus did. And it will be hard, there will be people that anger you. Pray for them! It is harder to be angry or hate someone that you're praying for. Not praying about the situation, but actually praying for them. Eventually the anger will turn to love and you'll be praying for that person so earnestly that when you see them and when you react to them they'll notice a difference. Their heart will start softening. So I guess I really am leaving you now with is do until others as you would have been doing to you, the golden rule that we learned as a child still applies as an adult.