The cold, misty rain
gives way to blue skies,
and then again to change,
to snow or heat or floods from storms.
And then we look outside.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Jesus Test
The e-mail set me off. Maybe I already was in one of "those moods" and only needed a little spark on my fuel-soaked last nerve. Normally, I breeze right through these e-mails, hitting delete. They usually come from well-meaning folks, often from friends and not people I want to totally screen from my e-mail box with some sort of "rule." I don't read them and I don't respond to them.
Not so this one. After scrolling through all the addresses that got this e-mail, I came to a series of photos of Jesus. Nothing wrong with photos of Jesus. I like Jesus. Then I got to the bottom, where there was a "Jesus Test." It was pass/fail, it said. Send the e-mail to 10 people and I pass. Don't send it, and I fail. "This is the simplest test," it concluded. "If you Love God, and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things he has done for you, send this to ten people."
And here I thought I'd passed the "Jesus test" when I had that personal conversation with Him several years ago. He said to me, "Stephen, without Me, you fail. With me, you pass." And I said, "I'm with You, Bro!" (that's the short version)
Now I find out there's another test. Dang it all. How did I miss the test?
The appropriate thing, of course, was to hit delete and go back to work. But I'm weak. That's why I need Jesus in the first place. I tend to offend. And I probably did with my response to the e-mail sender:
"I appreciate the sentiment," I wrote, "but I reject the suggestion that I somehow love Jesus less if I don’t send this to other people. I’m not ashamed of Him, but I’m not sending it to anyone. Hopefully, everyone I know already knows that I’m not ashamed of Jesus. How about this: If you aren’t ashamed of Him, go sit with 10 non-believers and tell them about your personal relationship with Christ."
How's that for overly blunt? Just me spreading a little Christmas cheer, right?
In retrospect, I wish I'd sent nothing or that I'd sent something gentle (not that Jesus was always gentle, but, hey, I know Jesus and I'm not Him). I can be a real SOB. But I stand by my point, which is why I feel the need to spend my lunch hour both admonishing myself and sharing that point here: Our test is pass/fail, all right, but it has nothing to do with forwarding an e-mail. It has to do with saying, "I'm with You, Bro" or rejecting His help. If we really accepted His help, others should see it in the "fruit" of our lives. So while that wasn't the intent of the e-mail, that's the reminder I got from it: To bear more fruit and less spam.
Not so this one. After scrolling through all the addresses that got this e-mail, I came to a series of photos of Jesus. Nothing wrong with photos of Jesus. I like Jesus. Then I got to the bottom, where there was a "Jesus Test." It was pass/fail, it said. Send the e-mail to 10 people and I pass. Don't send it, and I fail. "This is the simplest test," it concluded. "If you Love God, and are not ashamed of all the marvelous things he has done for you, send this to ten people."
And here I thought I'd passed the "Jesus test" when I had that personal conversation with Him several years ago. He said to me, "Stephen, without Me, you fail. With me, you pass." And I said, "I'm with You, Bro!" (that's the short version)
Now I find out there's another test. Dang it all. How did I miss the test?
The appropriate thing, of course, was to hit delete and go back to work. But I'm weak. That's why I need Jesus in the first place. I tend to offend. And I probably did with my response to the e-mail sender:
"I appreciate the sentiment," I wrote, "but I reject the suggestion that I somehow love Jesus less if I don’t send this to other people. I’m not ashamed of Him, but I’m not sending it to anyone. Hopefully, everyone I know already knows that I’m not ashamed of Jesus. How about this: If you aren’t ashamed of Him, go sit with 10 non-believers and tell them about your personal relationship with Christ."
How's that for overly blunt? Just me spreading a little Christmas cheer, right?
In retrospect, I wish I'd sent nothing or that I'd sent something gentle (not that Jesus was always gentle, but, hey, I know Jesus and I'm not Him). I can be a real SOB. But I stand by my point, which is why I feel the need to spend my lunch hour both admonishing myself and sharing that point here: Our test is pass/fail, all right, but it has nothing to do with forwarding an e-mail. It has to do with saying, "I'm with You, Bro" or rejecting His help. If we really accepted His help, others should see it in the "fruit" of our lives. So while that wasn't the intent of the e-mail, that's the reminder I got from it: To bear more fruit and less spam.
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