Thoughts From the Riverbend

We had some great discussion on Phil. 3:1-16. These were familiar words for me, but this time a light bulb went on. I've always identified with Paul's "resume" in this passage. See, I have a fairly impressive religious resume of my own. I have long ago grasped the fact that those religious things I accomplished, however impressive, did nothing to make me righteous, but that my righteousness comes through Jesus alone.


A while ago, my "religious world" as it was pretty much exploded. Changes in my life came about and the resulting changes in my faith have placed me among nonbelievers far more than I am among believers. I used to be able to go days without encountering someone who didn't believe as I did. Now, however, much of my world involves nonbelievers or baby believers and many of them are much more than acquaintances, but are people I love, family members, coworkers and friends.



Here's what I've found: My religious resume carries no weight with these people. There are places, churches mostly, where I can enter with some level of authority and automatic respect because of my resume. I've written a Christian book, won state Bible drills, been to seminary, been church pianist, done Bible teaching and women's retreats, just to scratch the surface. But among nonbelievers, or people who aren't familiar with the church lingo, these accomplishments mean nothing. I can't expect automatic believability simply because of the blood sweat and tears I've put in at the church building.


So how do I learn to communicate on a level playing field? How do I let Christ show through me in terms that can be understood by the people who are part of my life, whether they be fellow believers or whether they've never thought of believing Jesus at all? If I'm honest, I must admit that much of my efforts to communicate with nonbelievers have been orchestrated in a way I thought would be impressive to believers. In other words, I tried to minister not with thought for the people I was ministering to, but with thought for the people who might be impressed by my ministry, thus adding more to my religious resume.

For me, Paul's words in this passage boil down to: "Forget what people think of you... both the religious people and the naysayers. Forget what you think of yourself and all the "stuff" you've done for God. Forget your past. Forget it all, except for Christ, and genuinely strive to move forward with what He asks you to do."

Perhaps it isn't my job to build a religious resume, or to try too hard to be approachable to those who don't "get" my religious resume. Perhaps my job is to focus on Christ and nothing more.

Ya THINK???

Rebecca



BTW... Newborn baby and going back to work meant it took me a while to complete this post... So since another week has passed, I just want to thank the Riverbend branch (and some of the Metairie) for coming out to support the kiddos in their musical. They noticed. Afterwards, Mackenzie said "Mom! I just realized we had house church at the musical tonight!!" It meant a lot to us, but moreso to the kids. Thanks for including the lil' members in the body too!!