At the beginning of the month, Bishop Scott Jameson Jones spoke on what it means to be radical Methodists, and in his lessons, a theme that seemed to pop up was "how people can call themselves a Christian when at the same time, they don't love their neighbors".
Today my truck's battery was low (hopefully because of leaving some things on overnight - hoping it's as simple as that), and I made one phone call and someone was came by and gave me a jump (Thank you Bill!!).
I could have called others, but did I have the time to repeat a process of explain Jesus' words of love while also talking about Christian humility?
Jesus said to love one another... he didn't say that we had to like them - but to love them. And if people want to talk trash and show pride, instead of admitting their sins - so much so that they'll refuse to give to their church, find a way to hold it hostage with threats, make church a "my place, not theirs", or they can't admit that they messed up.
Saying that you care doesn't mean you get to set limitations. It means caring above and beyond yourself. It means being nice, even when nice hurts. It means looking in a mirror and seeing your own faults before others.
Take my dog, Dingo, for example. She is trained in watching, protection, and such, but only by command. Any other time, she's SO friendly that she'll lean against a person on her two hind legs just to get more love and show more love (yes, this can be annoying at times, but...).
Dingo understands when people are hurting, and she'll go and comfort them. She understands when people are being nice, even if they have a problem. She understands love.
How? Why? Beats the heck out of me.
So while people are so busy trying to climb some invisible ladder, trying to be better than others, I'll be down here with Dingo, letting people climb.
... Because the higher you climb, the more swaying in the ladder - and the more swaying in the ladder, the higher the risk of falling - and when you fall from such a height, well, "ouch!"
Love one another.
Enough, already, with the pride.
=)
