Church Connoisseurs, What it Means to Love Others, Etc.

This is going to be rather like stream consciousness so bear with me...

Last week I was sitting in the library and I read the opening line of Psalm 14. It reads as follows: "The fool says in his heart, there is no God." That's a pretty blatant statement to get thrown at you, but there's no way to interpret it any other way. It suggests that all these people around me searching for knowledge and success are fools and that's a hard pill to swallow and acknowledge.

However, there just doesn't seem to be any other way to look at this, but we do have to compare that with our own state. We are no better, because we too are fools. However, in our case we are fools for the Gospel. In essence out of our minds for Christ, which seems utterly ridiculous by the world's standards. In other words, this Psalm totally flips the paradigm denouncing the way of this earth, but also beckoning us Christians to live a different sort of life. One of humility, compassion, and one where we are totally in love with our Lord Jesus Christ.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today I was thinking to myself about the old adage, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." In many ways that statement has weaved itself into my daily life. I like to call it tact, being considerate, and tasteful. But it got me thinking is not saying what we are feeling or holding onto that annoyance really any better than the alternative. What if instead of saying something that tears down, or not saying anything at all, we do the radical thing and say something that is honest, vulnerable, and ultimately fosters a greater connection with those around us.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Recently I have also been thinking a lot about what it means to find a church home. I am a very loyal person and I want to find a body and a family that I can get connected in and stay with through thick and thin. I am against division, for harmony and the like. College years are in one instance hard, because there is a likelihood that we will not be in the same place for a long time and yet the last thing that I want to create is a pattern of church hopping. In The Screwtape Letter C.S. Lewis aptly callas it being a "Church Connoisseur." But I can take solace in the fact if I live in the spirit God will put me in the right congregation. It's important to note that right doesn't always mean easy. That's an important disclaimer that should be put on the Christian life in general.