Can't Make It Better Than It Is
Yesterday evening I had the privilege of going to a Honduran style taco meal, (rice, beans, taco) hosted by Caroline Nichols, (www.foreignheart.blogspot.com) who is a missionary my church works with. Honduras is in Mexico. This setting was provided as a time for an update of how things are going over there. It was encouraging listening about how everything was going over there, but there was one somewhat offhand remark that really got me thinking, more than everything else.
I don't need to try and make God look better than He is.
I didn't really get it at first, because I thought, "isn't it impossible to make God better than He is already?", which is exactly the point as it turns out.
Taking control of the moment is not a bad thing, but putting up a christian setting with the game that's "funner" or the food that's "better" than that other group, is not the point. God is the center, and the attracting factor. God cannot be made more persuading by anything that I try to add, and I simply subtract from Him when I insert to much of my humanity into the picture.
The fact is, God doesn't need me, to change peoples lives. He is using me because He wants to, not because of anything I'm doing. If I really want others to see God, the best thing to do is get myself out of the way and let God work. Simply living for the God who has saved me and is my everything is the best witness I can offer.
The reality is that God is love, and joy. And that is infectious. People forget games, food, music, people, talks, whatever. It's all fun, but what's really fun is Gods infectious, satisfying, and soul-completing truth, in love and joy. That is never forgotten, because it's true. Maybe it will be rejected, buried so as to never be remembered, but it's true, and people feel that.
Nothing I add can make that better. If I am overflowing with God's love and joy, and living with Christ first, what can I do that won't end up amazing and fun? It's not a trick question. Everything from the limbo to jumping on picnic tables to multiple person push-ups to cloud-watching to cards to garbage sweeps to staring contests becomes, insanely, ludicrously, God-filled. And that, is the best fun of all.
I don't need to try and make God look better than He is.
I didn't really get it at first, because I thought, "isn't it impossible to make God better than He is already?", which is exactly the point as it turns out.
Taking control of the moment is not a bad thing, but putting up a christian setting with the game that's "funner" or the food that's "better" than that other group, is not the point. God is the center, and the attracting factor. God cannot be made more persuading by anything that I try to add, and I simply subtract from Him when I insert to much of my humanity into the picture.
The fact is, God doesn't need me, to change peoples lives. He is using me because He wants to, not because of anything I'm doing. If I really want others to see God, the best thing to do is get myself out of the way and let God work. Simply living for the God who has saved me and is my everything is the best witness I can offer.
The reality is that God is love, and joy. And that is infectious. People forget games, food, music, people, talks, whatever. It's all fun, but what's really fun is Gods infectious, satisfying, and soul-completing truth, in love and joy. That is never forgotten, because it's true. Maybe it will be rejected, buried so as to never be remembered, but it's true, and people feel that.
Nothing I add can make that better. If I am overflowing with God's love and joy, and living with Christ first, what can I do that won't end up amazing and fun? It's not a trick question. Everything from the limbo to jumping on picnic tables to multiple person push-ups to cloud-watching to cards to garbage sweeps to staring contests becomes, insanely, ludicrously, God-filled. And that, is the best fun of all.
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