love : the path less traveled by
Life with Jesus sometimes feels like this picture.
Life without Him has a funny way of playing tricks on us. It likes to over complicate simple things and under appreciate what really matters. It trains us to keep our eyes on ourselves, always in search of the path of least resistance, hoping it leads to something better, bigger, and brighter. It convinces us that what we have isn’t good enough but what we hope for is unachievable. It teaches us to judge each other as good or bad / right or wrong when we were never meant to be the judge.
Oh, but then there’s Jesus; it all seems so simple with Him. Love. It’s the narrow and humble way. It’s the uphill path that leads to something of grandeur, something that we know is way bigger than anything our tiny eyes could ever fathom. Love was always meant to be the standard, the way of life. Sure, it’s difficult. But we can’t get to the mountain top until we brave the beaten path. Church, I’m talking to you. Let’s get back to love. Let’s not let life and the world tell us we have to forge our own path then judge those who are not on ours. Let’s choose love, seek unity, and follow the Good Shepherd to something better. Taking the path less traveled by is so worth it from the top of the mountain. Always.
So why do we question whether or not to take the path of love? Why do we say things like “I love you, but…” or “I see you but…” Why do we create excuses and point the finger at all the reasons why the other is to blame? Is it pride? Do walls of defense rise in an effort to self protect? Is it fear of what you’ll find (or not find) once you reach the top of the mountain? Is it apathy? Do we really not want to exert the energy needed to truly love people? Is it our own wounds and hurts that cause us to stagger upward, eventually giving up out of pure exhaustion? Whatever our reasons and motives may be, I believe Jesus will always be the solution and the answer. He’s the one helping us along, giving us strength to keep going. Knowing we can’t do it alone, He asks us to take His hand as we take up our cross and die to self protection, pride, fear, and apathy. He’s our hope, our strength, our motive and our reward. Life with Him is SOOO FUN and SOOO BEAUTIFUL.
I realize that it’s been a while since I’ve written, actually 10 months to the day, to be exact. Wow time flies. I just got back from a reunion with my squad and I left feeling encouraged, strengthened, and in the mood to write. During the reunion, I had some incredible conversations with my squad. Several of them surrounding the tensions in the world today and the Church’s involvement in them. Recently, I’ve come to terms with some resentment and unforgiveness I have towards a large portion of the American Church. Spending a year away from American ideals and values does something to a person. And coming home with a fresh set of eyes only to see the Church so heavily influenced by those American ideals hurts like hell to witness. I see a level of comfort seeking in the Church that prevents us from being willing to take the road less traveled by and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t influenced by that ideal since being home. It’s easy to get comfortable and comfort almost always leads to sleep. God is doing something mighty in this day and I know He is shaking the Church awake from its slumber. As I have been working through forgiveness, I know that I want to be an encouragement to the Church instead of just getting frustrated by it. My hope and prayer is that the Church in America wakes up, shakes the dust off and grabs a hold of what God is doing. I am confident this starts with Love. Love like Jesus loved. Love that starts with humility and ends with death. Love is the answer. Let’s not let life over-complicate it.
With all this being said, one area where Holy Spirit has really been challenging me to take the road of love is by joining in on the conversation about racism and the oppression of our black brothers and sisters. I’m so sorry for not realizing the severity of the issue and taking a stand sooner. Maybe I was just choosing to stay asleep but now I am awake. Although I don’t know what the solutions are and I don’t have all the answers, I am willing to take the road of love because I know it starts there. For me, it looks like having conversations, big or small and just listening. It looks like sitting in the discomfort and refusing to fall back asleep. I do not think it is a coincidence that these issues are rising to the surface in society at the same time we are praying for revival. I do not think it is a coincidence that COVID has brought thousands of internationally placed missionaries back to the States for such a time as this. Wouldn’t it be amazing if the Church was leading this movement to see the Body of Christ unified like never before? What if it’s that unity in the Church which draws more and more people into the Kingdom of God? And instead of chalking the issues up to a political agenda, I am asking God to show me where He is at in all of this. I believe unity is always on His heart. And unity always starts with laying down pride and picking up love.
I’ll leave you with a prayer from my favorite person to ever walk the planet.
“My prayer is not for [my disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” – Jesus, John 17
If this intrigues you, frustrates you, or you have no clue what I’m talking about, reach out, I’d love to chat.
Until next time,
Cam
