Indiscriminate Love

For God knows how long now, my mind has gone back and forth on one of the core scriptural texts of the Christian walk. Individuals anchor this text to whatever it is they are consciously or unconsciously trying to get people to do or believe. *Drum roll please* ... and that text is Matthew 28:19-20 which says: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (ESV).

Now, how different people as individuals or how whole communities attempt to live in obedience to that, how they practically apply that in different contexts, it will all not look the same. For me, the realization of that reality has been pretty liberating. Learning to be okay with the fact that God's ways are not my own, that He works in different ways, has definitely been a challenge, because in my own ways I have tried to take God and put Him in this "box". Then, when I come across people who are doing the same thing, and are more aggressive in doing that, there's this sense of guilt that sets into me that centers around whether or not I'm "reaching people" in the "right way(s)" ... when really, that is not even my responsibility! Only God can reach people! As a Christ follower, I am solely His vessel! So, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit should flow in and through me ... That truth sets me free from the burden and weight of guilt and even shame. To be honest, although some of that guilt is self-imposed, I must say a good deal of guilt is actually other-imposed, in other words, Christian-imposed. And man really, many times I REALLY don't understand why we do the things we do or say the things we say to one another or even worse, why it is we say the things we say about someone else to another?

The Christian walk, the Christian life is not a competition! It is a race in the sense that God has set before us this life to live, but it's not a race in the sense that whoever gets there the fastest gets a gold medal or something! Why is it that there are some out there who portray that and even worse, consciously or unconsciously teach that or model it for others? Okay, I went on a mini-tangent, but it pretty much ties into Matthew 28:19-20. I have always thought about how did Jesus do it? Since I am a CHRIST follower, I should be more concerned with how He does it and attempt to follow Him (especially because He doesn't impose guilt), versus trying to follow other people because they want me to or try to get me to. God not only tells me but COMMANDS me to follow Him and He is the God of the universe.

I love how Brennan Manning goes about sharing on how and why Jesus did what He did during his earthly ministry: "Jesus for, "in his body lives the fullness of divinity" (Colossians 2:9), singularly understands the tenderness and compassion of the Father's heart. Eternally begotten from the Father, He is Abba's Child. Why did Jesus love sinners, ragamuffins, and the rabble, who knew nothing of the Law? Because His Abba loved them. He did nothing on his own, but only what His Abba told Him. Through meal-sharing, preaching, teaching, and healing. Jesus acted out His indiscriminate love - a love that causes His sun to rise on bad men as well as good, and His rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike (Matthew 5:45)" (From "Abba's Child", p. 65).

Manning goes onto say, "Because the shinning sun and the falling rain are given both to those who love God and to those who reject God, the compassion of the Son embraces those who are still living in sin. The Pharisee lurking within all of us shuns sinners. Jesus turns toward them with gracious kindness. He sustains His attention throughout their lives for the sake of their conversion "which is always possible to the very last moment" (From "Abba's Child", p. 66).

Thank you Jesus for releasing me to fly, strengthening my "wings of worship" with every step. It is my hope that I continue to walk out this life of following You, as Your daughter (as I keep learning and practically applying what that REALLY means), I would do so in the most authentic way that is humanly possible, so that along the way others would be encouraged to come along and follow You, who is the Pursuer of all our souls.

I am eternally grateful that You chose to be the Pursuer of MY soul and to know that what I have with you is a covenant relationship ... I hope and am coming to know that You see, You have seen that over the past 15 years of being in this with You, this life has been lived and will continue to be lived in worship and obedience (my attempts at it) because to You, obedience is better than sacrifice.