What If...continued

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Shane totally gets it. I wish I'd have gotten it when I was his age. I'll start at the beginning.

In my last post I pondered over whether or not Jesus really meant what he said, because if He did then why do we live like He didn't? In his book, "Irresistible Revolution", Shane Claiborne asks the same question. In his search for the answer he decided that he needed to give up Christianity and just follow Jesus. Sounds kind of radical. Shane says he's an ordinary radical. Following Jesus, really following Him, is costly. Just ask the disciples, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Mother Teresa, or Corrie ten Boom.

Shane spent a summer ministering in Calcutta with Mother Teresa where he heard her say things like, "We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it." There's the real clincher; it is often easier to "do" than to love. But we are called to love like Jesus. Touching the untouchable, loving the unlovable. That's no easy task.

I wonder if while I sit in my comfortable pew every Sunday, worshiping Jesus, singing songs of praise to Him, if He would just prefer that I got off my butt and went where I could actually be Jesus to someone. And not just on Sunday, obviously.

So how does a middle-aged mother of 3 really make a difference in a broken world? Being a Sunday School teacher just doesn't seem to cut it for me. How can I be an ordinary radical for Jesus and still be a good mom who makes sure the laundry's done, supper's fixed, and the house doesn't look like hurricane Katrina just passed through?

I don't know yet, but I'm not giving up on finding out because it's as important for my kids as it is for me.