It Makes Me Think.........

Like many others, I greeted the pending rapture on May 21st with sarcasm and a certain amount of righteous indignation (or I would like to call it that, anyway).  Who the heck does this Harold Camping guy think he is??  The night before, Kurt was watching the news and I was half heartedly listening as he was interviewed regarding the expected event.  He one moment compared himself to Noah, and then, when asked about his failed prediction in 1994, compared himself to Benjamin Franklin?  Something along the lines of the idea that Ben Franklin didn't get the light bulb right the first time either.......um, excuse me sir, but Ben Franklin was INVENTING electricity, are you now INVENTING the rapture??  We laughed almost to tears!

I will, however, say that the whole thing had me thinking.  Jesus stated plainly in Matthew 24:36-39:    ³⁶ "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,^[a] but only the Father. ³⁷ As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; ³⁹ and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."  So, there it is.  That man is one of the nutty people that make it so very difficult for many to trust Christians.  Even Mahatma Gandhi says "I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians.  Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."  Sad that Camping isn't the first and won't be the last of his kind.  Tragic that so many are misled.

So, on the morning of the anticipated rapture as I drove to work I was thinking and praying about all of this.  As I pulled up to the toll booth to exit the turnpike I was greeted (as always) with a smiling face who happily took my fifty cents as she wished me a good day.  (I take the turnpike every day.  Yes, I know it saves me a little change to get a K-tag, but honestly, I really enjoy seeing the people who work there.  They smile, say good morning, never mention laundry, homework, or a lack of milk in the fridge.  They wish me a good day and I wish them the same, then off to work I go.  It's a glorious start to my day.  I only wish they served Starbucks, it would save me a stop.)  On this particular day, though, I found myself wondering if she knew Jesus.........AND, if there really was a rapture would I see her there?  AND, would she be surprised to see me?  OR, would she think "of course she's here!  I recognized Jesus in her all along!"  What about others?  What does my life say to them?  Am I a Christian that validates Mahatma Gandhi's statement or am I a Christian who might make him think twice? 

Furthermore, what exactly does a Christian look like that might make Mahatma Gandhi rethink his words?  Well, the answer to that was, of course, given to us by Jesus in John 13:34-35: ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  Paul reminds us again and again of how we should treat one another.  One of my favorites being Ephesians 4:32: Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.

It's true that some days are harder than others.  Humans are messy.  We step on each other's toes, hurt each other's feelings, and even break each other's hearts sometimes.  It's easy to get caught up in our emotions, good or bad.  It's easy to forget that love is a verb.  And, it's easy to forget who is really in charge.  Sometimes we get in the way and struggle to let God be God in every situation.  For this, there is the grace of a loving heavenly Father.  And for this we can offer each other grace.  For this, I am grateful every single day.

The real deal is this:  Guys like Mahatma Gandhi and others who "like Christ" but not necessarily Christians don't realize that they "like" Him because He was God in flesh..........think about that for a moment.......OF COURSE PEOPLE "LIKE" HIM!  He's the creator of the universe, who wouldn't look back on His life and teaching and at the very least "like" Him???  He loved completely and unconditionally.  He instructed us to live better, but showed love in spite of sin.  He lived what He taught to the point of death.  When he rose and returned to heaven to be with the Father, He sent His spirit in His place.   SO, if we have committed to follow Him......if we allow His Holy Spirit to lead, guide, and live in us........if we are truly following His commandment and instruction in how we live our daily lives......then we will be the kind of Christians that make Mahatma Gandhi eat his words.  AND, we will be the kind of Christians that cause others to want to know Jesus well enough to fall in love with Him as we have, not merely "like" the man that He was, but LOVE and KNOW the God that He IS still to this day.

So, it's food for thought.  Clearly, God is in charge and I'm so glad that He is.  Because if my life had gone according to my own agenda I would have missed out on so very much.  And because of all that He's given me, I want to live in a way that lets others see that He is bigger and mightier than the chaos of humans, in spite of the Harold Campings of the world.