Breaking Free
CSLewisDaily twitter for today: "You must believe that God is separate from the world and that some of the things we see in it are contrary to His will."
After daily walking the streets of Kolkata it is easy to see the oppression and injustice that consumes this unique city.
While I found the common humanity, I lost my desire to live.
Now before you go and call my counselor, let me explain.
In Numbers 11 the Israelites are in the wilderness whining yet again, this time because they want meat. Not only is God upset, but Moses is over it and complains to God, saying that it is not like he gave birth to them. Why should he have to deal with them and their bellyaching? And in Moses' dramatic form he says in verse 15 "If you are going to continue doing this to me, then kill me now. If you care about me, put me to death, and then I won't have any more troubles."
When you see such injustice, such oppression it can be difficult to remember that life was not meant to be this way. It's hard to not get angry and it's near impossible to not want to give up if ever so briefly.
When you get to the place where you see yourself sharing in someone's common brokenness, you realize you have nothing to offer. You are in just as much need of redemption as the next person.
It's a brilliant revelation, except when you live there thinking this is just the way it is going to be. FOREVER.
I only saw what was in front of me, and it wasn't a pretty picture.
I stopped trusting God, taking my eyes off of the one who can make a difference. This world we live in is contrary to the world God designed, it's contrary to His will. And truth be told, He might just want to use me, the broken one from Nebraska, to help.
Greg Boyd says in his book titled, The Myth of a Christian Religion, "Our call is to trust that the foolishness of self-sacrificial love will overcome evil in the end. Our call is to manifest the beauty of a Savior who loves indiscriminately while revolting against all hatred and violence."
After daily walking the streets of Kolkata it is easy to see the oppression and injustice that consumes this unique city.
While I found the common humanity, I lost my desire to live.
Now before you go and call my counselor, let me explain.
In Numbers 11 the Israelites are in the wilderness whining yet again, this time because they want meat. Not only is God upset, but Moses is over it and complains to God, saying that it is not like he gave birth to them. Why should he have to deal with them and their bellyaching? And in Moses' dramatic form he says in verse 15 "If you are going to continue doing this to me, then kill me now. If you care about me, put me to death, and then I won't have any more troubles."
When you see such injustice, such oppression it can be difficult to remember that life was not meant to be this way. It's hard to not get angry and it's near impossible to not want to give up if ever so briefly.
When you get to the place where you see yourself sharing in someone's common brokenness, you realize you have nothing to offer. You are in just as much need of redemption as the next person.
It's a brilliant revelation, except when you live there thinking this is just the way it is going to be. FOREVER.
I only saw what was in front of me, and it wasn't a pretty picture.
I stopped trusting God, taking my eyes off of the one who can make a difference. This world we live in is contrary to the world God designed, it's contrary to His will. And truth be told, He might just want to use me, the broken one from Nebraska, to help.
Greg Boyd says in his book titled, The Myth of a Christian Religion, "Our call is to trust that the foolishness of self-sacrificial love will overcome evil in the end. Our call is to manifest the beauty of a Savior who loves indiscriminately while revolting against all hatred and violence."
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