I had a truly wonderful weekend with my family and a few very dear friends. It was so cool to see Camille and my brother's kids (Ty, Alyssa and JT) interacting now that they are all getting older. We celebrated my dad's 70th birthday (my mom bought him a Wii, how trippy is that?!?), we hung out, we went to the beach... we just enjoyed being together.
Family and Friends. Believe it or not, Verizon wasn't the first to market the idea. God was. And what I was reminded of this weekend ... or what I blessed by this weekend ... was the beauty of long-lived love.
The "very dear friends" I visited with were Gary and Sheri Webber (and their 4 kids). Gary is now the Sr. Pastor of the church he grew up in and we both interned in college. He and I served 3 churches together (the one he pastors now, one in seminary and another one between seminary and my coming to wb). As a result, we have seen A LOT of what I affectionately call "church crap" ... and have probably left a trail of it a time or two ourselves. But through it all, God's grace enabled us to hold on to our friendship, and as a result we have learned things about each other AND about ourselves that we otherwise may not have learned.
I believe the same is true with family. Long-lived love seems to be an endangered discipline. Maybe you, like I, have too many friends who merely endure their family visitations. Sure family can be annoying and sometimes even smell funny, but do you really want to challenge the Divine decision that made them your family in the first place? (count to 10 before you answer)
Which makes me wonder if the same could be said of church-life? Do we miss out on God's blessings, God's lessons, God's cool-sovereignty-thing when we bail on serving, leading or the church entirely? Just as folks run cycles in relationships and jobs, is it possible to run cycles within church-life, and dump our current church because it's just not fun anymore or to go date a younger and cooler church?
Long-lived love ain't easy but it may be one of the greatest tools God uses to create holiness in his children.
If I love God, I should also love others.
If I don't love others, I don't love God.
~ Craig Groeschel
(but I'm pretty sure Jesus said it first)
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