Being a parent is hard work. At every interaction, it seems as though there is a choice -- to exhort and encourage, or to scold and correct. I will confess that for me, it's far, far easier to scold and correct. It's easier to notice and say something when my child is doing something wrong. I so terribly often miss the opportunities to praise my children... maybe I take it for granted, maybe I gloss over it. I don't know. It's hard. I want to be an encouraging voice in my children's ear, but it seems like some days all I do is tell my children 'No'.
It's easy for the church to do that as well. In the church, it's easy to look at the world and see all the things that are going wrong in the world. It's easy to go out and scold the world. And, if we're honest, the world may well sometimes need a good scolding! But how can the church be a voice of encouragement, a voice of hope, a voice that points to a future that is rooted in hope? How can the church go into the world and affirm that people are made in the image of God, and start with the fact that we are all on the same playing field -- none of us can claim superiority over another? If we start there, then maybe we can find ways to encourage one another and then invite others to come and find the source of our hope, the source of our joy, the Living Water that pours himself out so that others may live!
No comments:
Post a Comment