today for lunch i had a toasted, open face, advacado, tomato and cheese sandwich. it was yummo! as i was making it i was amused by the thought of me trying such a thing when i was younger…. or just 5 years ago for that matter. as a kid i asked for, ‘a plain ‘ol hot dog, please… no mustard. no ketchup.’
‘would you like some kiwi for dessert?’
‘um no, i don’t think so. that’s… you know – - – GREEN.’ [ew]
but over the years my taste buds have matured. i now love stuff like sushi, guacamole, espresso…. grown up stuff. i crave it. and the more new stuff i discover, the more i am willing to explore. today… i wouldn’t dream of eating a hot dog just plain! [bluck!]
it wasn’t that my mom wasn’t diligent to teach me the difference between things were good for me and the things that would merely keep me alive. my mom tried many different strategies. “sit there until you eat all of it”, or “3 bites and you can have desert”, or just simply “eat one bite – - please… for mommy?”. i knew they were things i should eat. i just couldn’t help that i didn’t like them.
as i get older i continually try old things in a new way. sometimes this process doesn’t work but sometimes it does. what is the secret to success? variety. don’t like broccoli cooked? how about raw? [yuck] no…. let’s try steamed. well, almost. how about steamed with a little salt? now we’re talkin’. the brocoli is still the same vegetable… it didn’t change. what changed is how it was introduced.
i think the same thing can happen for people that are disillusioned with their faith. as humans grow and mature we start to discover more and more the value of things that promote life rather than merely keeping us alive…not just physically, but spiritually too. it’s like god programmed us with this internal homing device that continually draws us toward him. the closer we get the stronger the urge to find him. but if we neglect to strive to find him… we grow cold and satisfied in our ignorance while quietly and slowly our spirits begin to starve.
the simple fact is god made us all different. the same thing that draws me to god may not draw someone else. and it does no good to try to convince someone the same way time and again. remember the definition of insanity? … doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. the way we bring truth to a searching society is as important as the word itself. it’s imperative that we all seek god’s heart individually for how he would have us reach out to people. there is no formula. there is no one way to tell the world about christ. we are all different because he made us different and we can’t reach different people if we are all striving to be the same.
there will be people at church this week who have tasted god before but didn’t necessarily like the experience. we will have the opportunity to give them another nibble. what will we choose to do with this opportunity? we could try force feeding or dole out an unending list of benefits of living the christian life. but more than likely… a little salt will do it. god said we are to be salt and light. we add flavor to the truth of who god is by being obedient to how god tells us to affect our world around us.
what’s important is that people get it. it’s naive for us to think that if they don’t get it the way we have to offer it that there is no hope for them. my prayer is that the people who walk out our doors no closer to finding god palatable than when they came in will try him again somewhere else. and so i pray for the churches and ministries across my community. because it is going to take all of us to reach our city…. all of us.
