Houston we have a problem...

Everyone is familiar with the 1st part of the 23rd Psalm “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death...” it’s read at funerals mostly. But what is death? True death is a separation from God. We are promised eternal life, so what then is the “shadow of death?” Could it be sin? Sin separates us from God. Fortunately for us, God sent His son to overcome death and sin, but most of us aren’t immediately freed from the bondage as soon as we accept the Savior. We spend time in the shadows, looking desperately for God to be near us, to comfort us, to keep us from fearing life outside of our sin. Or, in other words, life as we are so accustomed.

As Christians many of us live by the rule that we are to hate the sin but love the sinner. But the reality is most of us don’t know what this looks like, because the sin makes us too uncomfortable. We’re fine with it if the sinner turns from the sin the 1st time they walk into church, but what if they don’t? Do we have the ability to walk beside them through the struggle to overcome their sin? Or what if they don’t even see it as sin, what then?

That's where the problem comes in. We go to church looking for a community of believers who will accept us, and love us, and walk with us. Even if we are still in the shadow. But the church community isn't always very good at it. Or at least I'm not always very good at it. I sometimes feel like I live in a bubble. I am unaware of many of the real life, everyday struggles that many people, Christians included, are going through. And if I become aware of them I'm not always sure of how to handle them, so I tend to shy away from the reality of them. The truth is that I have a lot of learning to do.

When I first started in marriage ministry I was told to continually educate myself on marriage matters. What if the same thing was done by all of us, in any area we were unfamiliar with? Not only would it help us guard our own hearts and minds, but also help us, help others. It's a win-win.

Convergence (see following post) is a good place to start. "Where faith meets life." Our intent is to have events throughout the year to give people the opportunity to get the help they need, or the education to help those in need.

Either way you can't lose.