I’ve
found that all too often, Christianity is delivered to
people in a gift-wrapped sales pitch. It’s conveyed
as this wonderful life and following that will help solve
all your problems. It’s characterized as a life
full of smiles, but never frowns. The truth is that Jesus
will solve the ultimate problem of death by giving you
eternal life in heaven, but the day to day life at times
will be much tougher. Following Jesus with all your heart
isn’t easy. Thinking of other people before your
own interests isn’t easy. Giving a portion of your
hard-earned money away isn’t easy, but that’s
what Jesus calls us to do. That’s why the Lord calls
the way of following Him the straight and narrow. It’s
not easy, but it’s worth loving the God who has
done so much for His people. It’s worth the promise
of living forever.
Heaven
is also often portrayed as some far off place in the clouds
that we know very little about. It’s really not
like this. The Lord promises to return to the Earth to
reclaim what was lost to sin. Here, where we are now,
will one day be made perfect. The place that we are to
take care of for now will again be reclaimed by the one
who created it. Heaven is closer than you think. But again,
even though it’s right in front of our face, it’s
not easy to get there. We were never promised that.
The road that leads out of the desert and to the point
isn’t smooth. At times it feels like an overgrown
trail with thorns pushing into our bare feet. There are
moments when we experience sweltering heat and suffering.
There are burdens in our lives that make us feel as if
we are tired of walking uphill. But there are periods
of time when we overcome a situation after a storm, and
the skies seem so clear all the way to the ocean. There
are those instances when we can feel the Holy Spirit as
the wind blows across our face.
I
know the church and the people that belong to it don’t
act perfect. I’ve seen pastors lie. I’ve known
of Christian men who have cheated on their wives. I’ve
seen a pastor of a church have too much to drink. It’s
not okay by any means, but it happens because we are not
perfect without Jesus. Sometimes one mistake by a Christian
role model can ruin it for someone looking for answers
to Jesus. But just because these things have happened
doesn’t mean I will ever stop my pursuit of doing
everything I can to change the world. But no one can do
it alone. We all need to play our part in this story.
The world needs us. You need me, I need you, and God wants
us. We have to play our roles to make this world a better
place.
The
catch is that in the end, our perfect life cannot be reached
in this lifetime, but we can continuously draw closer
to who we are meant to be. The truth is that we are closer
to the point than ever before, to the place where we are
truly who we were meant to be, but we will never be there
in this lifetime. We must continually work on the parts
of our lives where we still struggle. When our weaknesses
show up in our lives, repeatedly, we must do our best
to develop them into strengths, each time they arrive
in our lives, learning from the experiences, and then
living a life as if we’ve learned something new
each time. Because so often, our lives are similar to
a repeat sign or a “da capo” command in sheet
music, calling us back to the beginning of yet another
struggle of the same sort—back to the beginning
of the same measure. But just like a good song played
over and over again, overcoming similar struggles throughout
our life can be a beautiful thing. Until we realize the
joy is in the process, not knowing what is in store for
us one day after the next, we will never be content. Until
we realize that we will never be perfect until we are
remade in heaven, we will constantly devalue ourselves
and others. But this doesn’t mean that we should
ever quit improving ourselves, because the adventure is
in just that, the adventure. Our lives here on Earth are
always going to be tough at times. But we try our best
because Jesus has provided us with hope. This hope of
the life to come is all we need to keep moving forward,
to becoming better people.
We
are not all the way to the point, because, individually,
we can all become better people. There is always room
for improvement. There is always an opportunity to love
someone. There is always an opportunity to make a difference
in your community.
To
continue reading, please purchase Da Capo.
