I was reading a post on my favorite site about a blogger's journey back to God, and it seemed to me that a lot of commenters were in agreement about a central idea: that going around "preaching" to everyone you come across often inspires just the opposite of the intended effect, and pushes people even further away from Him. And while I agree that the best way to show God's love is to display it through your character and actions "so they will see your good works and glorify our Father in heaven", I have also come to realize that (the first part of that quote is) "a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." And while pushing Jesus down someone's throat is never the ideal approach, I'm starting to see that the notion of "preaching" is solely based on the reception of it to those around you.
In other words, I'm just bragging about my perfect husband; you can take it any way you want to.
Furthermore, the common opinion seems to be that a person ought to be perfect in order to talk to anyone about God. If they know your flaws, then all you're proving is how much of a hypocrite you (and most Christians) are. I'm not exempt from feeling this way at some point in my life.
Yet this past Sunday, I woke up after a night of partying entirely too hardy in Austin, and numerous individuals informed me that I was telling everyone how much I love Jesus the night before (in several different languages). I don't remember most of it, and at first I was really embarrassed and disappointed in myself because I felt like a drunk person wearing a huge cross pennant and telling people about Jesus was not only incredibly stupid, but also probably validated everyone's opinion that all Christians are hypocrites. But after I thought about it for awhile, I just had to laugh. I laughed because I realized that even in my drunken state – even when I didn't know what I was talking about, and when I could only be honest because the Truth serum was flowing all through my veins – the number one thing on my mind was none other than the Love of my life.
And however anyone else perceived it was their problem, not mine.
When I look back, I realize that most of the time I accused someone of "preaching" to me (when I was in-between faiths), they were actually just telling me how wonderful God had been to them in their life, and I took it personally so I wouldn't feel so guilty or closed-minded for not believing. And every time I've been accused of shoving Jesus down someone's throat (don't even entertain that), I was usually just talking about how much I love Him and how my life has changed ever since He found me. I didn't tell anyone to go to church. I've never told anyone to read their Bible or confess their sins and be saved. I've never done any of the typical Jesus-pushing – because I've always acknowledged that in the same way that I never listened to anyone else until it was my turn to hear it, everyone has to make their own choices and live their life according to their own free will.
But in the same breath, it only took one person telling me about their journey in faith to make me examine my own. So what if God entrusts me with the task of telling my story to someone at the very moment He opens their heart to it, and I pass it by out of fear of offending them? How has our desire to be politically correct and inoffensive somehow surpassed our longing to please God? Because it shouldn't. Because at the end of the day, when everything else fades away and everyone else has disappeared, the only thing that matters is what we do for Him. I'm not talking about converting people or knocking on doors or shouting Bible verses from street corners. I'm just talking about letting your light shine before man.
If you feel like I've been trying to convert you all this time, please understand that is not my intention. I talk about Jesus most of the time because I'm in love. I try to fit Him into every conversation, I try to bring Him up when no one was even talking about him. He crosses my mind, and it makes me blush. He brings me sunshine, and I can't stop smiling. I don't want you to know about Him because I want you to have Him for yourself (though I am willing to share); I want you to know about Him because you just happen to be listening or reading or just in the vicinity of my presence, and I just want to brag about my boo to someone for a little while. If that means I offend you, then I guess that's your burden to bare, cuz I'm not gonna hold it in anymore. If that means we can't be friends, then I guess I have one less friend (or reader), but that's just a risk I'll have to take. If that means you're sitting there thinking if you hear or see His name one more time, you're gonna strangle me and burn the next church you see, then guess what? Jesus.
I love Him. That's all. It just isn't about you.
Jesus is the light of my world.
And I'm gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
2 comments:
Just like if you brag and constantly bring up a new boyfriend in a every conversation, people at some point may start getting annoyed and offended regardless if it's unintentional or not. Kinda unhealthy to those relationships.
Constantly bringing up any love interest (what's done for you) is hardly ever helpful and just end up being an earful... In my opinion, for ANY new love interest wouldn't it be more helpful to talk about certain key aspects or general developments of your relationship that may prove to be useful if abstracted so others can apply it to their lives? Maybe like a "things to look out for" in relation to a love interest with a similar dynamic of yours... Otherwise it is pushing stuff down their throats. But any good friend finds it hard to tell another friend to STFU once they start talking about their new love interest in the effort to not sound like a hater. Is it really just their problem? Doesn't such display's of love interests where the significant other is a human sometimes yield alienation and neglect on a friend's concerns and feelings? Why should one allow that when its Him? Does He want that? If He did, I would be surprised... Any one who loves you wants to see your connections with others blossom not grow stagnant (if the connection isn't unhealthy or harmful to what they share with you). I would imagine, He is sensible. But that's only how I imagine Him, I guess...
Write more, so I continue to read (umm... lurk?) more. lol
my fellow proc freak;
data relationships;
set past (drop = fake friends acquaintances users);
do I = 1 to 100;
do until I = married;
out = whatyouputin;
end;
end;
dont run;
just kidding... sorry couldn't resist.
Thank you for your thoughtful and honest comment. I actually thought about what you said, and how I used to think, compared to how I think now. At some point, yes, I would completely agree that a friend who talked about their boyfriend or husband all the time would be extremely annoying to me, and cause a rift in our friendship. But honestly, now that more and more of my friends are married (and now that I know what it's like to be in a long term relationship), most of my friends DO pretty much just talk about their boyfriends or husbands or girlfriends or what have you, and it's just part of life. Because once we get to a certain age, our relationships (aside from our job, and who really wants to talk about that) are pretty much what define and mold us. It's not ALL we talk about (just like Jesus isn't ALL I talk about, even on the blog), but I would say 75% of out conversations have to do with marriage, relationships, or (in my case) new crushes. Because that's what's exciting and new in our lives.
I guess the only real difference is that people can't really call me BRAGGING (as it would be if I went on and on about how wonderful my boyfriend is) because, as the title of this post implies, HE doesn't just belong to ME (and anyone can have this joy). If my friendships have been severred as a result of my relationship (or verbal excitement about my relationship) with God, then I would argue to say they probably weren't my real friends in the first place. I put up with everyone else's drama (well, actually I am happy to be there for other people when they need to vent/praise/just talk about their hubbies/wives because that's what friends are for), so naturally I expect people to give what they get. Especially since I'm not over here bad-mouthing Him, as it usually is with friends and their significant others.
Once again, your point would be valid if that's ALL I ever talked about, but it's certainly not and most likely will never be. Thanks for coming through!
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