No filters please

This morning I heard two things that deeply impacted me.  Firstly I was listening to a message from John 4 about the Samaritan woman that Jesus met at the well in Sychar. The woman had more than a bit of a past but Jesus didn’t hesitate to get into conversation with her.

The speaker spoke about how we can filter out certain people in our lives. It may be the rich or the poor, the sexually immoral, the educated or uneducated, foreigners or certain foreigners but we all place filters on others as to whether we wish to come into contact, socialise or get to know certain people but not others.

Jesus placed no filters on his life. He came into contact and spoke and ate with the rich or poor, educated, uneducated, prostitutes, tax collectors, foreigners – in fact anybody and everybody - even Samaritans. Jews and Samaritans didn’t mix – Samaritans were mixed-blood race of Jews and there was great hostility between them. 

The disciples who had gone into the village to buy food were more than a little surprised to return and find Jesus in conversation first with a woman and then a Samaritan but through his contact they all stayed two days and the whole village got saved.

The second thing I heard was of the Irish band Bluetree going to Pattaya in Thailand – a hotbed of the sex tourism trade. They went to minister in the city.  One of the brothel and bar owners asked them to come and play in his bar as it would be good for trade. Instead of being offended, the band worshipped for two hours in the midst of this bar and brothel and spontaneously the song God of This City was born.

Suppose the band had filtered out this brothel, the owner and the prostitutes as not an appropriate place to worship. Instead they brought light into one of the darkest places – surely bringing love, grace and hope.

I am challenged by who I filter out and yet I am encouraged by those who take the good news of Jesus and his love to the ‘least of these’ – the very people God loves and wants to rescue. As Christians we are all trophies of grace. None of us had anything to bring to Jesus and yet he came and rescued us. 

I pray God touches our hearts with compassion for the lost and shines light on our filters that we may see past our prejudices to people who need Jesus just as much as we do. 

Keep burning

Romans 12: 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord

Keeping our passion ablaze can be very difficult.  As I said in my previous blog “zeal needs a fuel” and the fuel is Jesus himself and our persistent pursuit of him.

Too often Christians look for a change of circumstances to keep their passion burning. Their thoughts might run along the lines of if only my husband / wife was a Christian it would be so much easier, if only I could change my job, house, car, school or even church I would regain my passion.  Some Christians go from conference to conference to keep their passion alight. 

But passion comes from the inside not our outward circumstances. We can be passionate people in the midst of the most mundane tasks when we get the revelation Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3: 23 – 24).

 In the day, I was a stay at home mother with four small children and there came a time when I resented this. Our church was hosting one ‘big name’ speaker after another and for various reasons I always seemed to be missing out at home.  One day I was having an almighty grumble to God about this and then very quietly I got the amazing revelation of how God viewed motherhood.  He told me motherhood is one of the highest callings a woman could have. (Please if you are single or cannot have children this does not mean you cannot live a fulfilling and satisfying life.) I thought of Mary, Elizabeth and all the nameless women in the Bible and down the years who had birthed and raised men and women of God. What an honour.

This changed my outlook on my life completely.  No longer was motherhood something to endure till I could get a ‘proper’ job but a God given calling. There were still many times in the midst of the domestic humdrum that I grumbled but now undergirding my life was a sense of purpose that sustained me through even the most tiresome of situations.

God also promised me that if we ever needed a babysitter he would provide and if I was unable to get to a meeting or conference because of childcare commitments, I would never miss out.  Immediately my heart was at peace and God has been utterly faithful to his promise.  My husband and I were even able to go to Uganda for two and a half weeks whilst a wonderful couple in the church took over our lives and children.  I can confidently assure you that 25 years later, I have never missed out on anything by looking after my children. Today it is my privilege to encourage other young ladies struggling with their calling to motherhood to stand firm against the voice of the world that says you can only find true fulfilment in going out to work.

As Simon Ponsonby writes our passion, our destiny and calling come from within not from our outward circumstances. The Westminster Catechism says, ‘Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever’. That does not come from our education, work, relationships or even church. It comes from our relationship with our heavenly Father where we can truly find satisfaction and fulfilment in even the most boring duties.

God has called us to a life of love with him and others. As we pursue him we find that our destiny is not in some mighty ministry or incredible career but in loving our family, the lost, the hurt, the rejected, those we find ourselves around every day. We are there to share God’s light and love with them and our part is to keep the light shining brightly through a passionate pursuit of the one who came as the Light of the World.