While having coffee at Starbucks today with my friend Matthew, he made a statement that resonated with me in such a powerful way that I wanted to share it. He said,
"while our culture is telling us to go and find ourselves, Christ calls us to lose ourselves in Him."
Think about that and really let it soak in. What do you think?
This reminds me of Lauren Winner's comment in Mudhouse Sabbath about our indulgent culture. The idea of "Sabbath" has come back in vogue - you know, spa treatments, etc. But who is this Sabbath all about, who does it honor? "Why, the bubble bath taker herself, of course!"
My mind chased all sorts of rabbits when it came to the quote. Going and finding myself somehow led to a series of short statements that I have yet to form into a cohesive post response so here they are: -We have Christ's Spirit in us. -Finding ourselves could lead to finding how Christ is truly living in us. -Losing ourselves in Christ is, in a way, modeling that Christ lost himself "in" us.
Not sure yet what to make of all that. Thanks for the post. Hope all is well! ~JK
Amy, soon enough we are going to have to do a Starbucks date - even if it is 1000's of miles.
Josh, I hear you. I have thought about it through both lenses myself. When we find ourselves, or at least do the hard work of understanding our fears and our misperceptions and infuse our life with truth we are more apt to act and react in the image of Christ. However, when we are prepared to give up on the "our" part of life, we find the fulfillment of Christ in a more full way. Hmmmm
Absolutely everything about our culture is self-focused. Find yourself, pamper yourself...etc, etc. Yet, when we take the focus off of ourselves and actually look around, the most amazing things happen. Lon & I have some friends that go to Hillside Christian and, as I'm sure you've heard, a few weeks ago, the church passed out envelopes of money of varying amounts, with the instructions to "go out into the community and bless someone". The stories of blessing that came back the following week were amazing. One person told of seeing a young single mother only putting one gallon of gas in her car, this person filled it up for her with the "blessing money". My point is that for this to happen, that church member had to look around and actually notice how much gas that young mother was buying. Speaking for myself, when I am getting gas, I am grumbling the whole time about the cost of it and never notice what others around me are doing. And, even though it is alot more expensive these days, I still am able, by the grace of God, to fill up the tank. This story just made me realize that I need to lift my head up, look around, there are hurting people everywhere.
Great post. I think I will have a venti carmel breve latte. Yummmmmmmmm. I love coffee especailly starbucks. I love your blog sister. It is one of my favs. Keep up the great work. I hope you have a blessed weekend.
9 comments:
I think I would like to get a Starbucks with ya.
That is a great quote, and so true.
This reminds me of Lauren Winner's comment in Mudhouse Sabbath about our indulgent culture. The idea of "Sabbath" has come back in vogue - you know, spa treatments, etc. But who is this Sabbath all about, who does it honor? "Why, the bubble bath taker herself, of course!"
no pun intended on the "soaking in" part. :)
My mind chased all sorts of rabbits when it came to the quote. Going and finding myself somehow led to a series of short statements that I have yet to form into a cohesive post response so here they are:
-We have Christ's Spirit in us.
-Finding ourselves could lead to finding how Christ is truly living in us.
-Losing ourselves in Christ is, in a way, modeling that Christ lost himself "in" us.
Not sure yet what to make of all that. Thanks for the post. Hope all is well!
~JK
Amy, soon enough we are going to have to do a Starbucks date - even if it is 1000's of miles.
Josh, I hear you. I have thought about it through both lenses myself. When we find ourselves, or at least do the hard work of understanding our fears and our misperceptions and infuse our life with truth we are more apt to act and react in the image of Christ. However, when we are prepared to give up on the "our" part of life, we find the fulfillment of Christ in a more full way. Hmmmm
Absolutely everything about our culture is self-focused. Find yourself, pamper yourself...etc, etc. Yet, when we take the focus off of ourselves and actually look around, the most amazing things happen. Lon & I have some friends that go to Hillside Christian and, as I'm sure you've heard, a few weeks ago, the church passed out envelopes of money of varying amounts, with the instructions to "go out into the community and bless someone". The stories of blessing that came back the following week were amazing. One person told of seeing a young single mother only putting one gallon of gas in her car, this person filled it up for her with the "blessing money". My point is that for this to happen, that church member had to look around and actually notice how much gas that young mother was buying. Speaking for myself, when I am getting gas, I am grumbling the whole time about the cost of it and never notice what others around me are doing. And, even though it is alot more expensive these days, I still am able, by the grace of God, to fill up the tank. This story just made me realize that I need to lift my head up, look around, there are hurting people everywhere.
Susan, thanks for sharing that. You are absolutely right!
Arlene - I love the quote, and I believe it's totally true!
Jesus said "Whoever finds his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
I believe the only way we will ever have a life worthy of calling life, will be when we lose ourselves in him .
Your blog is great...have a great night.
That really is a great quote! I love it! I hope all is well!
Great post.
I think I will have a venti carmel breve latte. Yummmmmmmmm.
I love coffee especailly starbucks.
I love your blog sister.
It is one of my favs.
Keep up the great work.
I hope you have a blessed weekend.
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