Inward vs Outward?

As a child my family would go to the beach every year around the July 4th holiday.  Because my birthstone is chalk I  would burn just getting out of the car and walking into the hotel room.  I would then spend the daylight hours in the hotel room waiting for the night hours, because the I've never heard of anyone getting a moon-burn.  I stayed in the room unless I was covered from head to toe with sunscreen and had a long sleeve shirt, hat and socks (which I swam in).  I wanted to stay in because I was hurting.

Now because of the scars (emotionally not physically), I don't like the beach.  I don't like the sun.  I would rather head to the mountains than the beach.  Give me shade.  I'll go to the beach if there is significant shade for me to hide under, and I live in sunny Orlando, Florida - the sunshine state.  Don't tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor.

Life is hard!  We all have been burned at some point.  You have been hurt by people to the point that you don't want to put yourself out there again.  It is easy to become overwhelmed with your hurt and then turn your focus and attention inward.  It is easy to put YOUR problems at the forefront of your mind and attention.

We used to sing a song, in jest, around our house when we would get like this.  "It's all about me, Jesus.  And all of this is for me, for my glory and my fame.  It's not about You, as if I should do things Your way."  This is a direct reflection of the struggle of life.  We say that we are Christians with our mouths and even our church attendance, but when it comes down to it, we are so wrapped up in our own thoughts and problems that we are not focused on those around us.

Check out this verse:

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?  does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it?  For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend!  Be clothed in Christ!  Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup -- where does that get you?  Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?...Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove...The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse.  Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse. James 2.14-17, 18b, 26

  As Christians we are human as well.  We battle to keep the main thing the main thing.  We have issues and struggles.  We lose focus on what is really important.  We are here to be the witnesses of Christ - to be His hands and His feet - to be His ambassadors.  As Christ taught us to pray, "Your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  We are the instruments that God chooses to use to bring His will to earth.

My mind is wrapped and bogged down with the weight of life so many times that I miss the opportunities that God is putting in front of me every day to show others Him.  I get so consumed with my own life, that I am like that person that Paul just described.  I don't mean to, but I'm just giving lip service to people's needs.  Emotionally, spiritually, physically and/or mentally I don't have what it takes to help them at the moment.

I am self-absorbed.

It is time to break out of the inward focused life and start looking up.  It is time for us to open our eyes to people around us.  It is time for us break out of our shells and start recognizing the people around us need us and what we have - Jesus Christ, our hope and salvation.

We are the answer

Growing up my parents would take me to my great, great aunt and uncle's house in Georgia. They lived on 20 acres outside of Atlanta. This was a huge thing for a city boy like myself to head to the country. It was definitely interesting. I remember eating big southern country breakfasts (toast, eggs, grits, molasses, honey, fig preserves, etc.). Then we would head out into the field to pick corn, okra, beans, watermelon, squash, snap peas - you get the idea. It was fun for this city boy to head to the field and harvest the food that would be cooked for supper.

The fields are where I still am - and where you are as well. Check out this passage from Matthew 9.35-38:

Then Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. "What a huge harvest!" he said to his disciples. "How few workers! On your knees and pray for the harvest hands!"

That is usually where we stop reading that story. It is convenient because that is where Chapter 9 stops. But we have to continue to Chapter 10, verse 1. It is a critical component in this story.

The prayer was no sooner prayed than it was answered. Jesus called twelve of his followers and sent them into the ripe fields. He gave them power to kick out the evil spirits and to tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives.

What a great verse. The prayer was no sooner prayed and it was answered with the followers of Christ being sent out into the fields to kick out evil spirit and tenderly care for the bruised and hurt lives. So, this leads me to a question for myself and you,

"How are you doing in the fields? How are you doing at tenderly - yes tenderly - caring for the bruised and hurt lives of those around you?"

Many times I just walk through the mall, my neighborhood, my church, even my own home, and miss the bruised and hurt lives of those around me. Some times I add to the bruises and hurts. I am definitely not tender in my care of people. I definitely don't have a broken heart when I people watch at the mall, restaurant, or ball park. I have to admit that many times I'm so wrapped with my own bruises that I don't care to see others.

This is a huge problem. Because the call of the harvest is still going out today. Check out what Christ said as some of his final words on this earth:

Jesus, undeterred, when right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

You and I have all been commissioned to go into the fields. We have all been given the authority of the Father to drive out the evil spirits of this world and mend the bruised and hurting lives of those around us.

Think about this as you walk through the mall, halls of your work, or the living room of your home.