Dancing with God
Recently, I received a phone call from someone who wanted to make a donation to our ministry. He reminded me of the time we met, as strangers, in a line waiting for a flu shot. I had spoken at an organization he is a member of and he had taken offense at some of my statements. Once he had me as a captive audience in a long line, he let loose. Here’s a recap of the old conversation.
“You said something that really bugs me. It is the way you talk about community.”
“Yeah? Tell me more.”
“Well, you know, you make it sound like if we don’t have a community of people that we hang with, we’re missing out. Listen, little lady, I used to go to church. What a bunch of hypocrites! I suppose you’re going to tell me that your place is different.”
“No, I can’t say that it is. We’re messy as can be. Just this week I heard yet another story of how one person in our community got their feelings hurt by someone else. And within a few hours, I heard yet another story that hurt MY feelings. It’s a terrible mess.”
That slowed him down. “Yeah, well, you’re probably going to do something about that, aren’t you? That’s what you minister types do—meddle. You’ll make everybody kiss and make up, right?”
I laughed. “Are you kidding me? I am one of the mad ones who has my feelings hurt. I think it might be counter-productive for me to meddle, plus, I’m not really interested in kissing and making up.”
“Hmmph. I bet you’ll send some deacon over there to fuss at them, and if they don’t straighten up, you’ll kick them out of the church, right?”
“Ha. You’re too funny! If we kicked out everybody who acted badly in our community, none of us would show up on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings. Frankly, this is such a big problem that I don’t know what to do about it. Plus, we don’t have deacons. We’re not that organized.”
It turns out that as a result of somehow managing to survive for all these years without deacons, lots of squabbles and hurt feelings and no wildly successful fundraising efforts, we helped one of his grandchildren find resources to help her explore sobriety. Today, he wants to help us out with a gift. Isn’t that lovely? And isn’t it lovely that he is willing to invest in a ministry that does NOT have its act together? Isn’t it sweet that he wants to give us a donation even though he thinks I’m a crackpot?
We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. God wants you to live a pure life.
1 Thessalonians 4:1-3 The Message
While you’re making that list of New Year’s resolutions don’t forget that it isn’t about figuring out some way to be perfect; it’s so much more about dancing with God, allowing Him to lead you through the messes. If we get confused and think a pure life equals a life with no boo boo’s, we’re barking up the wrong tree.
