Today at work I saw this large, 15 passenger, van at the gas station
No this normally is nothing to write about, I mean I see 15 packer vans all the time, I even drive them at work on most normal days. So the van was not really the thing to made me stop and think, and then write, it was things about the people and the van that struck me. First there was the fact that there were only three people in the van, a mom and two kids, and the kids were sitting in the back on different benches. Second, which didn't happen till we were both driving away from the gas station, I noticed that on the back of the van there were maybe 10 "Jesus Fish", which is cool with me I mean you are clearly either way into Jesus or way in to fish, but the thing that throw me for a loop was the bumper sticker that said "How much does an abortion cost? A life."
Okay now I get it you are trying to be pro-life and stand for what you believe in
But here's the thing. I was offend and pissed off and I myself am pro-life but it just seems so unneeded, so offering to simply throw a bumper sticker on your car and expect that to fully cover your story and the story of the people who have had abortions. I mean I get it abortion sucks. It robs someone of life and causes great pain in the, would be, mother who aborts the child. But don't for a second think that you know her story because I don't know what led her to get an abortion and I don't know what led you to have that bumper sticker on your car but I know for damn sure there is more to the story than what we know each other from a bumper sticker or a side walk outside an abortion clinic. And I can promise you that if I, as a pro-life person, am offend by your bumper sticker than whoever has had an abortion whats to kill you when they read that sticker.
I'm sorry for this becoming a rant but I think that this is important to talk about
I guess for me I wish that the person with the 10 Ichthys' and the offensive bumper sticker would have saved the 3 dollars they spend on that sticker and the 20 bucks they spend on the Ichthys' and would have used that money to drive to an abortion clinic and comfort the women who are going through with the hardest thing they will ever do. I wish that rather than a bumper sticker, that does no good to shine light into a dark and dying world, there would be a hand reached out to hold the hand of someone who simply needs a little love and a whole lot of grace.
Now I know that this idea seems crazy
What could a pro-life person and a women just walking out of an abortion clinic have in common? Simple! They both have stories to tell. They both have lived lives of good, bad, and ugly. And, most importantly, they both need grace and love.
I guess for me whenever I feel like finding my way onto a soup box and yelling
I think about how much I just don't know peoples stories. I don't know what got you to where you are. I don't know the pain and hurt that has led you to this place. I don't know what experience you have had with Christians and their bumper stickers. I don't know what led you to place that bumper sticker on your car. And I don't know the world behind your eyes. But I do know you and me need grace and love. We need living water. We need a hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on. And I know I WANT to know your story. Because before I can say anything about you and your life I must know your story.
It seems to me that before we can tell people what they should and should not do we need to know their story
Before we stand up and tell them how to live their lives we need to get down and tell them our story. Because I don't know about you but someone telling how to live my life just makes me resent that person and want nothing to do with them. And for sure a bumper sticker has never made me think "Oh man I should stop doing sinful things!" Or even for that matter "Oh I should vote for that person".
I guess the way I see it we, as Christians, have made things more complicated than need be
I think we have become to worried about evangelism models and far to worried about getting people to live "Christian lives" (whatever that means?). I guess when I look at Jesus' life here on earth the way he led people to himself was to simply say "Follow me" and I guess we should follow his lead. Rather than spending money on bumper stickers and shouting about how to live a life we should live amazing, on fire, alive, lives and say to people "Follow me to my Savoir." We should learn peoples stories and tell our own and allow people the chance to see that our lives with Jesus are great and worth living and that they should join us. We should stop trying to make the world live like us and do our best to be salt and light. We should find the story behind peoples eyes before we tell them how to live. And we should show love and grace in every situation.
Where do you struggle most with ungrace? What have you seen lately that bugs you about some Christians?
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