Thoughts from today...

I spent another 6 hours in the car today so I had a lot of time to listen to podcasts and think. It's funny how seemingly random events can turn out to have some kind of theme to them. I think God was trying to get my attention about something today.

A couple thoughts that smacked me in the face...

The tragedy with christians is not that they don't care about poor people, but that they don't know any poor people.

If you don't hear the cry of the oppressed, maybe you are a part of the system that's oppressing them.

As I was thinking about the statements above feelings of guilt immediately rose to the surface. I'm not doing enough. I'm part of the problem, not part of the solution. How can I help people I don't know? How can I make a difference? I don't have the time. Don't have the resources. Don't have the know how. Why do we serve? Why do we try to reach people? What's the point?

For me...I'll be honest, I serve mainly because I feel I'm fulfilling my "Christian Obligation" as a follower of Jesus. It's service out of duty and responsibility rather then joy and love.

But I realized something else today. Serving and helping people is just as much about me as it is them. It sounds kind of selffish, but in a twisted way it makes perfect sense to me. When I put myself in a position to serve, when I see the needy, the poor and the oppressed I'm reminded they're out there, they exists. I'm forced to take the blinders off, I'm forced to feel uncomfortable and uneasy. I'm forced to face the ugly realities of our world. And my heart is stirred. Compassion and love flood my soul again and the dulling pain that I've so easily ignored becomes alive and throbs once more, compelling me to change. Change something. Change everything. Change the world. Change myself.