I watched ABC’s World News Tonight piece on Backpack Buddies tonight, and I wasn’t struck by the program itself, but what the pastor of Kayla Brown’s church said:

Her pastor, Greg Newton of Lighthouse Baptist, doesn’t believe Americans are callous, but, instead, are often just too busy.

“We used to be a people that looked around — what can we do to help our neighbor, our friend? And we’ve become so busy today that we’re missing that opportunity to help our neighbors,” Newton said.

When did we go wrong? Well, maybe that’s not the conversation we need to have. I think the discussion we need to have in our church congregations is simple: why are we not actively seeking the needs of the community around us? Loving God’s people is what we’re called to do, and honestly, it’s evangelism.

The American ethos has so thoroughly infiltrated our churches that we’ve become insular—we’re all about building our new buildings. A pretty building is great, sure, and I belong to a church that is primed for growth and really needs the space. But all too often I see the major focus of congregations being, “Look what God is doing in our church body!” Yes, great … but what are you doing for God’s people?

Time and again, I come to two focuses for our church congregations: an inward focus on discipleship, and an outward focus on evangelism. While it’s vital that we equip our congregations with knowledge and truth so that they may live with the mind of Christ, I fear that we do not actualize our congregations enough in helping them find opportunities to serve, locally and globally. I find myself frustrated because I don’t know what my new city needs, and I get the response back in my head that it’s up to me to ask the questions.

I’m coming around on the users-required-to-comment thing—I’ll write more on that soon in a more appropriate place—so I’ve repealed my decision to require a login for comments here on Imperfect Mirror.

One of the things I’ve taken to doing lately is going through UpperRoom.org’s devotional every morning as part of this insane checklist I do every day. [You laugh, but I get a lot done because of this checklist.] UR ain’t perfect—there are times when I stare at it and wonder where the editorial staff is—but, if nothing else, it prompts me to read through the Bible every morning.

Today’s devotional—and I haven’t even read the UR part, just the Bible part, as I type this—dealt with Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth:

²³“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ²⁴Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. ²⁵Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁶For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” ²⁷If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁸But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—²⁹I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? ³⁰If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks?

³¹So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. ³²Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, ³³just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

– 1 Cor. 10:23-33, English Standard Version

I’ve highlighted the bit that hit me the most. It reminded me of two things my friend Bryan has written recently. Bryan is active with his church’s youth group, and the Weblog he maintains on Xanga [I know, I know] has seen him mention the drinking of alcohol in the past. One of the elders at his church brought it up to him, and so Bryan set out to write a clear defense of the appropriate consumption of alcohol by a Christian. I think that the did an excellent job with all that, and I’ve told him so on the phone.

The other thing, though, is that Bryan zinged me in a comment for my often profane speech. He and I talked soon after that on the phone about something else, and I brought it up. [I wish I'd brought it up with a tone of penitence and gratitude, but I don't think that I can honestly say that I did.] He said that the discussion had come up in his church group about such things, and that he’d thought of me. That stung, but only because it was the truth.

See, when folks talk about all this “speaking the truth in love” stuff, this is the kind of thing that they mean. Thank you again, Bryan, for setting me straight on this.

Interesting, this … and no, I’m not surprised that Mississippi is far more Methodist than Alabama is. What does surprise me, though, is the Delmarva…

I was going to go see Bishop Willimon speak at FUMC Huntsville tonight, but I’ve decided that I need to conserve some energy. As it is, I’ll be at MUMC every other night this week with Holy Week activities, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be able take Good Friday off from work as I’d hoped to be able to do.

The great thing about forgiveness is not just the act, but that the act pushes us forward towards mending and harboring relationships. I did get the forgiveness that I sought last night, and I’m fully aware that I have an opportunity coming up in my life for a far larger dollop of forgiveness from, unfortunately, folks I’m afraid are far less likely to do so.

But the thing about forgiveness, again, is that it spurs us towards making it a habit. We’re made to be social creatures, and as such we care about relationships. I’m trying to be optimistic about the upcoming opportunity that I’ll have for that reconciliation. Father God, give me the courage to continue forward with a contrite heart.

Whoever noticed that we so often are angered by attributes in ourselves that we don’t like expressed by others was quite correct. I blew up today at a person I barely know over a slight that he didn’t seem to intend. There was definitely miscommunication on both sides, but what set me off was a perception of “I Am Right and You Are Wrong” being tossed down at my feet as a gauntlet. Rather than burying the hatchet there, I chose to bury the hatchet right through his rib cage—exhibiting the same “I Am Right and You Are Wrong” attitude back.

Stupid, frustrating, and predictable. Yes, I’ve asked for forgiveness. I hope to receive it.

²²So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶and they may escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

– 2 Timothy 2:22-26, English Standard Version

That’s quite convicting to me tonight.

This week’s study focus in Harnish’s Living With the Mind of Christ is about humility, and … that just hits home with me. Harnish discusses the subject in a number of ways, things that I’m still unpacking at this point and hope to make time to write about later this week. The key thing that he noted, though, is that true humility is neither being a dormat nor a license for an inferiority complex writ large, but rather is a focused attitude that is mindful of the fact that none of us is any better than the rest of us.

I’m sure that the ideal of humility is one to which we can all aspire, but for practical purposes, I think we largely suck at it. Yes, that’s why we have grace, but boy, is this ever something that we should press toward.

More when I’ve unpacked this some more.

As many heterosexual Christians do, I struggle with concepts relating to homosexuality. For one, it seems pretty clear that God believes that homosexuality is immoral and a sin. But on the other hand, you have the proclamations of many homosexuals that they feel born into their homosexuality and feel as if they have no choice. Like many Christians placed at this crossroads, I find it hard to deny their argument—because it’s never seemed to me that I’ve had a choice in my heterosexuality.

For some reason, a thought popped into my head this morning: being born homosexual is no different than being born a glutton, or an alcoholic, or a pathological liar, or any other such predilections. Frankly, we all have our own unique predilections to sin; great among my many sins is pridefulness and a need for recognition for good works that do not truly originate within me, but from Christ within me. [Case in point: I weblog discussion points I'd never make at church.] We cannot control how we are made; we can control what we do with our deficiencies and how we let them rule us. Not because it is easy—for it’s truly hard—but because, freed for joyful obedience, we must do so.

Or so goes my working theory of the moment.