Some dear friends of mine just bought a new house so Saturday night I went over to see it and see them. I hadn’t seen them in over a year, but we used to be neighbors and they are amazing people. Not to mention, she is an awesome cook! After chatting for a bit, we decided to head down to the riverfront where a friend of theirs has a little lemon-shake up stand. First of all, lemon shake-ups are quite possibly my favorite things in the entire world. That is the only thing that will ever entice me to go to a fair or street festival. And I love supporting people doing out-of-the box type of things. Like starting a lemon-shake-ups stand.
We got down there and bought our lemon shake-ups (which were amazing) and were standing there chatting. I am increasingly amazed at how blessed I am to have such wonderful friends in my life. Not only that, I am thankful for how uniting Christ can be. After chatting for a few minutes, one of my best friends walks by with a group of her friends from church. Our little party turned into a much bigger party. I have not ever seen a group of peopel so instantly mesh. It was like we had all been friends for years. We laughed, cried, prayed, and sang together for a long time. If you looked at our little group, we were as different as they come. In just about every way. Single, married, young, old, and a wide range of church affiliations involved. On top of that, we ran into a Harley rider who was one of the most on fire people I have met in a long time. He preached Jesus like it was his job. (which ironically it is all of our jobs, but still) I remember sitting there at one point thinking, this is how it is supposed to be. A group of seemingly random, un-related, and drastically different people coming together to encourage and support each other. In the middle of downtown. I made some amazing new friends. I connected with some amazing older friends. And in it all, realized that I am increasingly growing weary of so much of the bickering and agruing that goes on within the church. Christ commanded us to love our brothers and sisters in Christ and yet we pick fights, get involved in sticky and prideful church splits, and judge people because they don’t do this or do that. No wonder its so hard to get people interested in Jesus. We act nothing like Him most of the time. And yet, for two hours I saw Jesus. I saw him in a girl ministering through selling lemon shake-ups. I saw him in my friends who used to cook for me and who welcomed me home with excitement. I heard him in prayers, laughter, and conversations held between people that have little in common. And I saw him in the way in a few short minutes people lives’ were exposed to the gospel and to a group of people who lived like it was truly the best news you could ever hear.
This is how the body of Christ should function. This is how I want to function. I want to be a life that allows other people to see Jesus. Not see a church, a ministry, a brand. But one that displays the love and compassion of Christ. Because really, at the end of the day, that’s all that matters anyways.
