Ordinary People

Within the past week or so, several people have made comments along the lines of "well, Christians don't act very Christian" or "most Christians don't act like Christ". At first glance, I might have agreed with them - but quite frankly, these comments have really started to bother me. See, there are a few Christians who have made headlines "in the name of Jesus" committing very bad acts - acts most (almost all) Christians condemn. There is a "church" in Kansas whose web address makes me sick "godhatesXXX.org". And on most days, I can point to at least one dozen things I have done that aren't very Christ like - and that's before breakfast. But here's the thing - there's so much that is going on that is exactly what Christ would have us do - but no one is talking about it.

See, Jesus told us "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing" so we are commanded to do our deeds humbly and quietly. Dilemma - in order to change the way people see Christians behavior, we have to talk about what we are doing - which Jesus told us not to do.

At the risk of being un-Christian and doing what Jesus told me not to do - I am going to tell a little bit about some ordinary people. This weekend, our church" left the building" - no services, but 2000 ordinary people doing service in the community - cleaning classrooms in schools where we can't mention Jesus, washing police cars, doing a "extreme home makeover" for a family, and collecting 5-6 tons of food for the local food banks. There's Adeye, an ordinary mom who just got home with her two newest daughters, adopted from the Ukraine - both with Down's syndrome - the five year old has lived her entire life in a crib has a heart condition that will require surgery and weighs 16 pounds. There's Lorraine, whose daughter adopted from Serbia has been in the PICU for 28 days - she posts often about how the Lord is blessing her and how her daughter will be a testimony to Him - no matter the outcome. There are my MOPs moms who brought us dinner for two weeks when I got home from China with Katie. The relief efforts that are still ongoing in New Orleans are almost all church based - and in Haiti, it was the church that was the first on the ground with help. The 17 year old heading to China for 3 weeks to volunteer in an orphanage.

There's not a book big enough to hold all the way that ordinary Christians make this world a better place. We aren't perfect and there are plenty of ways we mess it up every day - but that's the whole point of needing our Savior.

Next time someone comments how Christians don't act like Christians, I am going to pray that their eyes would be open to the abundance of ways that Christ lives here with us through these ordinary people doing what they have been called to do.