Monday, January 7, 2008
To Disciple or Not to Disciple That is the Question
Like most of my generation I was the product of MTV, CDs, VCRs, credit cards, video stores, the mall, the Brat Pack, Star Wars, PCs, Atari and jelly shoes. We were technological infants weaned off of LPs, eight track tapes and cassettes, remembering back when Disney used to make read along books fitted with forty-five jackets. For those of you too young to know what an LP or a forty-five is, its a round black thing that played music on a turntable. Long before Halo, there was Space Invaders and long before Switchfoot or Skillet, there was Larry Norman, Petra and my favorite Punks Into God.
My niece's generation looks upon my generation throug the nostalgia of her parents, aunts and uncles wide eyed and well versed in our music, our television shows and our games. She dreams of owning her own MP3 player and cellphone but a part of her is attracted to an era she never knew and that she has only experienced through our memories and our possessions. She reminds me how in such a simple illustration we have completely overlooked the most basic of principles that Christ left for us, that a maturing process is brought about through intentional relationships.
I have three nieces all as differnet in features as they are in personality. I determined when they were born that I was goign to be intentional in my relationship with them. I wanted to be able to love them impartially and uniquely. I wanted to shower them with time and my undivided attention and truely find out who these little creatures were. I promised that whatever they wanted to know about me I would not hold back from them and that I would always encourage them to talk to me.
They are now ten, seven and six beleiving my three bedroom home is Disney World. This isn't because I have the best toys or the latest video games but because I give them piano lessons, play a board game with them, watch a video snuggled up under a blanket, or have a pow wow with me and their Uncle Todd as they present their problems and wait to see what advise we give them. It seems for human beings that time spent together, talking and getting to really know each other is paradise.
My niece's generation looks upon my generation throug the nostalgia of her parents, aunts and uncles wide eyed and well versed in our music, our television shows and our games. She dreams of owning her own MP3 player and cellphone but a part of her is attracted to an era she never knew and that she has only experienced through our memories and our possessions. She reminds me how in such a simple illustration we have completely overlooked the most basic of principles that Christ left for us, that a maturing process is brought about through intentional relationships.
I have three nieces all as differnet in features as they are in personality. I determined when they were born that I was goign to be intentional in my relationship with them. I wanted to be able to love them impartially and uniquely. I wanted to shower them with time and my undivided attention and truely find out who these little creatures were. I promised that whatever they wanted to know about me I would not hold back from them and that I would always encourage them to talk to me.
They are now ten, seven and six beleiving my three bedroom home is Disney World. This isn't because I have the best toys or the latest video games but because I give them piano lessons, play a board game with them, watch a video snuggled up under a blanket, or have a pow wow with me and their Uncle Todd as they present their problems and wait to see what advise we give them. It seems for human beings that time spent together, talking and getting to really know each other is paradise.
Greek Word of the Week
agape (26)-unconditional love which is proactive and sacrificial; not about affection but about searching out needs and meeting them; it is not based upon deserving but upon the choice of the giver; a love that is only charateristic of the divine and who is not just characterisitic but who God is (1 John 4:8,16).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)