more on missional

One thing for sure: if you want to be on the look out for touching others' lives....those moments will NEVER be convenient. They won't even feel like real monumental moments. Looking back, it'll be when you were most likely to ignore someone because you were tired or really really busy....or extremely comfortable in front of your favorite TV show when the phone call came. The only time you might feel good about going out of your way is when you look back...in hindsight. Possible other feelings at the time of trying to be of service: a kind of weird fear that introverts are familiar with, ripples of judgementalism that might swim up in your throat, boredom when the problem isn't fixed in under ten minutes, and wishes that you could be anywhere else doing something "really important".

Here's a story for you. A dedicated Christian in an east African country is in his house church when they are invaded by the local authorities, for his religion is illegal in his country. He sees his father beat to death. Whereabouts of other members of his family are still unknown. He is able to flee, and with a fake passport, make it to our border where he turns himself in and asks for help. An even bigger crime occurred when, due to bureaucratic incompetency, he was put in a prison for hardened criminals instead of a detention center. There he was violated and is now HIV positive. Yes, of course he won his case and is now able to stay in our country and work. But, you can see where this is now a difficult placement. A humble hard working (and scared) man has been in a homeless shelter for months. What is the church's answer to this? And who among us can point fingers at anyone else, when we personally (no doubt) can't really help either. They say the emerging generation is not interested in buildings or bulletins but in how we can help our fellowman. Well, that can be pretty scary. But I'm glad they are forcing us to look at what a Christ follower might actually resemble.