Do You See Her?

Last week at LifeBridge, Rick Rusaw talked about loving your neighbors. A sermon I both resented and begrudgingly needed.

Here's what most stuck out to me. He looked at Luke 7, when a sinful woman, known to be a prostitute, comes and anoints Jesus' feet with perfume.

Those around Jesus scoff. In verse 39 the Pharisees think Jesus must not really know very much. Because if he really knew what kind of woman this was, he'd kick her out.

But Jesus reads their thoughts and tells a little mini-parable about how the more sinful the person, the more they need forgiveness.

And then he says this in verse 44, "Do you see this woman?"

I'd never really paid a whole lot of attention to that phrase, but I loved Pastor Rick's interpretation. This wasn't a vision test like, "Hey, see there's this lady here?" It was a heartfelt thought of, "Do you see her? Really see her? Do you see past the exterior of the life she's known for, into her heart? Do you see her hurts, her hopes, her dreams? Or do you just see her stuff?"

I for one tend to have a hard time seeing past people's "stuff." But Jesus never did. That's why he was always hanging out with tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners. Because to him they weren't just tax collectors and prostitutes and sinners. They were more than their labels. They were people.

I pray that I'll be able to see through the eyes of God, past the labels and into the hurts, hopes, and dreams of the people God has placed in my life.

Words

This week's sermon was about James 3. We've been going through James at church, and while I'm somewhat familiar with the whole book, I'm really familiar with the taming your tongue section. Not that I felt I couldn't learn anything from the sermon, because God knows my tongue is far from tame...but I didn't expect to make any new discoveries. Just to be re-challenged to shut my yapper.

But instead, the pastor took James 3 in a totally different direction than I'd ever thought about. He talked about the power of words. That just as the rudder of a ship can power the large vessel, our words have that kind of power. But not just to do damage (like wildfires)...to change the course of history. Our words have the power to change lives for the better.

Think about this: what are the most memorable negative words anyone has ever said to you? For me, a friend in college said of a guy who'd just broken my heart, "He probably just didn't think you were worth it." And for 9 years, those words have haunted me no matter how hard I try to push past them. Nine words, spoken by a college student...probably a lifetime of wondering if I'm worth it.

And that's what I always thought James 3 was about. Watch your words because you don't want to be the person who tells someone something that will land them in counseling for years. You don't want to be the offensive racist who loses her job because she used the "n" word once years ago. And I say all kinds of things without thinking, so I need to tame my tongue in the shut-your-yapper sense.

But think about this: what are the most memorable positive words anyone has ever said to you? The first ones that come to my mind happened in middle school, back in 1997. I was whining about something when a classmate said to me, "It takes very little in life to be happy. Take that quote and fly with it." A middle schooler said that! And here we are, 16 years later, and when I'm having a bad day I often think back to that moment, and it helps me regain perspective. 16 words, spoken in adolescence, have changed my outlook through many problems. (It was a complete coincidence that the 9-year quote was 9 words and this one was 16.)

James 3 doesn't just mean shut your yapper. It means speak up. Speak up for what's right. Be a voice for the voiceless like Martin Luther King, Jr. Speak words of inspiration like my middle school classmate. Make someone's day with a word of encouragement or a friendly compliment. Your words are powerful...so use them!

Superman has amazing powers. And he could've used them for evil—that's like the negative side of taming your tongue. But he also could've not used them at all. He could've said, "well I don't want to hurt anyone with my powers...but I'm not going to go to any effort to use them for good." And I realized, that's what happens when we think James 3 means to shut your yapper. We miss out on using something very powerful to do a lot of good and change the world.

And how do you tame your tongue? Not by trying to tame your tongue. Your tongue's job is to broadcast what's in your heart. Ask God to change your heart so that your tongue uses its powers for good.

"May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord my Rock and my Reedemer."
- Psalm 19:14

My Church

I've been doing a lot of "church shopping" lately. I had some pretty tough criteria and couldn't quite find something to measure up. And I know that when I settle for a church that's not what I'm really looking for, I end up just sleeping in on Sunday.

A few weeks ago, I found a church that I already love. It's LifeBridge Church in Longmont and it's just what I was looking for! Here are some things I love about it:

Worship: Worship is a priority at LifeBridge. They don't skimp on songs at all. It's a nice long set of worship songs. And they pick very God-centered songs, not the me-centered ones, which I can only assume is intentional. Plus, they're not flashy with roving lights and fog machines, which I find distract me from worship. Since I really don't like sermons, worship is the most important aspect of the Sunday service for me...so this has been great.

Size: One of the things I wanted was a larger church. One, for more opportunities to connect and find the small group type things I'm looking for. And two, because I love the feeling of worshipping with a big group of people. LifeBridge has 4 weekend services and I'd say the auditorium holds about 1,000 people, so it's a good size church. BUT...sometimes you can get lost in large churches. Somehow, LifeBridge has the sense of community that feels more like a small church. It's a great balance. And with three Sunday services, I can make one trip and go to my adult class, serve in Sunday School, and go to the main church service.

Welcoming Environment: Some churches you go to, you feel like it's hard to even find someone to talk to about your questions. Other churches, you get swarmed by 15 people at once and it's overwhelming. At LifeBridge, there were plenty of people around for me to talk to, and they were very friendly and welcoming when I did...but no one bombarded me. I also went to an adult class and everyone was super nice and friendly. It was just the right level of genuine friendliness and not scary over-friendliness.

Communion: Communion is done weekly. That's not something I've seen often at non-liturgical churches, but it's the one thing I did prefer about liturgical churches. So I love that!

Sermons: As I said above, I don't like sermons. So what I like about them is that they're pretty short. Mostly because they pack in so much worship, there's not as much time left for the sermon. I also like that there's no fill-in-the-blank outline provided. I hate those - and I never use them. To me they make the sermon about listening for key words the preacher thinks are most important, rather than listening for how God is speaking to you through the sermon in the ways that are most important for your life. And the sermons are applicable, which is great.

Adult Classes: I mentioned above the class I went to. I only have gone once but it is just what I'm looking for - genuine discussion. Like - we got through 6 questions in an hour kind of discussion. You know it's a good question when it yields that kind of discussion. It was interesting, stimulating, made me think differently, and there were donuts. Donuts always help sway my vote. :)

Last night I also went to a new thing they're trying out for the summer, called Anchor. Anchor is for 18-30 year olds so I just barely made the cut. Anchor was great because it was not a singles' mixer, as many 20-something groups end up being at churches. No one checked me out - in fact there were several married women at my table. We worshiped a bunch (I told you that's a high value!), we had a short message, and then we had a follow-up discussion to the message that asked real, connecting questions. I knew when I walked in and saw round tables instead of rows of chairs, I was gonna like this. LifeBridge seems to get discussion and relationships in a way many churches don't.

Community: LifeBridge has "neighborhood pastors" - many of the pastors on staff are assigned to a section of the community - one of them is Loveland. So I'm working with my neighborhood pastor to get plugged into a small group here in town. Since the church is almost 30 minutes away, it's great that they have something for us northern folk - and that they're strategic about it. That's a little slower going as the Loveland neighborhood pastor just started in this area, so he's pulling everything together right now. But I'm confident, based on everything else I've experienced at LifeBridge, that I'll find something that's a great fit.

LifeBridge is also involved in the community with mentors for at-risk kids. And they have a foster and adoptive parents ministry. They have a ministry called "glocal" - focusing on both global and local outreach.

I love that there's this great balance of worship (connection to God), relationships (connection to other Christians), and service (connection to the world around us). I'm super excited to call it my church family!