Wednesday, August 1

am i a fool?


"our dedication to Christ makes us look like fools, but you are so wise! we are weak, but you are so powerful! you are well thought of, but we are laughed at. to this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, without enough clothes to keep us warm. we have endured many beatings, and have no homes of our own. we have worked wearily with our own hands to earn our living. we bless those who curse us. we are patient with those who abuse us. we respond gently when evil things are said about us. yet we are treated like world's garbage, like everybody's trash- right up to the present moment" -1 corinthians 4:10-13



   am i considered a fool? if not, i should be. i pray to be. when we are called to follow Christ, we are not destined to be considered sane in this world. i am no longer of this world. if we are not considered fools by this world, are we really wholeheartedly following Christ? for the ways of this world and the ways of God don't readily match up. we are called to love others no matter the circumstances. when someone takes takes your shirt, offer your coat too. if someone slaps you on the cheek, offer the other cheek too.
   i've been reading the book Jesus for President by Claiborne and Haw, and in it so much of what they talk about is being ordinary radicals. to love radically. instead of retaliating, surprise the person who offends or opposes you with love. forgive. "you must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others." (col 3:13)
   they talked in the book about how politics and national pride works into the Gospel. i've always not been a huge fan of politics and all that so it was refreshing to me to know other people are on the same page as me. why so much hate and unforgiveness among the nations? it doesn't say 'love your neighbor as yourself, unless they belong to the country who had a citizen bomb yours'. what makes America the country and people God loves and blesses and not France or Pakistan or anywhere else? when Jesus came he broke the exclusivity towards the Jews and opened it to the Gentiles. God so loved the WORLD, each of us, not just those of us in a politically or economically successful country or job or neighborhood. it's a touchy confusing subject, but violence always perpetuates more violence. WWI was the 'war to end all wars' but that didn't seem to work out did it?
   i know it's cliche and hippie-sounding to say 'lets have peace and love will break through', but it's also true. our witness for others through our lives and the way we love is how many others know God. people who don't go to church or read the Bible will get their greatest impression of who God is through our actions and words.
   so are we so radical in our love and our devotion to God that we're considered fools by others? are we radical enough in a way that is considered foolish because it's just weird and not what the world would do? but radical in the way that is also respectable, being radical with love and consideration and forgiveness, not in the world's common radical violence or superiority? to be considered fools but for that to be a compliment. to be so other-worldly that others don't understand it but can't not respect it. that's how i want to live. radical with my love, which is ultimately coming from Him. fully for God and embodying his attributes (to the best i can, i'm never gonna get there and be perfect), no matter what others think of me. so ask yourself, am i considered a fool? if not, maybe you should be...

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