traveling light

WWJD

(Right now my husband is across the room furiously typing on his computer, and I have no doubt we're blogging about the same thing. But, no matter, you'll just get 2 Wallace perspectives for the price of one...er...something...). We just returned from Club3Degrees where (thanks to my NWB comp tickets) we saw Sanctus Real & the Afters. It was a rockin' show...the Afters were pretty good, and Sanctus Real was really good. We sat at a table up in the balcony, directly overlooking the massive sea of young people swarming in front of the stage. It was everything a rock show should be (well, except for the Gilbert Gottfried-meets-Richard Simmons MC, but that's another blog :))...there were flashy lights, loud guitars, kids jumping up and down, just rockin' out. There was a lot of other great stuff going on there too - positive lyrics, Compassion International promos, etc. As the charismatic frontman of Sanctus Real scurried around the stage and into the swarm of kids, belting out his songs with great passion, and as the lights flashed and the music blared and I looked at all the teens in the crowd, I thought "Man, I wish they had this when I was a teen!". When I was a teen, Christian music consisted of Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, the Newsboys, and maybe Dc Talk and Jars of Clay. Any other rock bands were either really obscure, really bad, or both. We didn't have Christian clubs, we didn't have nearly the variety of good Christian music that exists now. Now, don't get me wrong - people like ME liked Michael W., Dc Talk, etc....but, let's face it, to the rest of the world, it was a joke. Liking that kind of music went along with being a little...different. That's not the case anymore, which in many ways is really cool. On the other hand, another thought it me tonight: it doesn't take as much courage to call yourself a Christian these days. The "Christian" culture is finally, in many ways, cool. We've got the music, we've got the lights, we've got the show. Not that any of this is bad - it's not, and I praise God for the way He uses alot of that stuff in kids' lives. But saying "I'm a Christian" is no longer necessarily the kiss of death to your coolness status. No, it doesn't take courage to say you're a Christian - but it still does take courage to live it. That thought came to me as I was watching the show, and stayed with me as we exited the club onto the street...

If you've been reading Mark's blog, you know he just read this book called "Under the Overpass". I first heard about this book when all of these middle aged women started coming into my store asking for it because they'd heard about it on Focus on the Family. :) Usually this means it's something good, or at least interesting. It piqued my curiousity, so I picked it up, gave it a read, and was inspired. I won't give a full review of it or anything, but it's the story of 2 young guys who decide to live as homeless men for 5 months. It wasn't the guilt trip I half expected it to be; but It left me with the reminder that no matter where someone is at in their life, or what sin may have led them to where they are at now, they were created in the image of God, Jesus died for them, and the least we can do is be a reminder of that to anyone we encounter. So that's been a topic on our hearts the last couple days...just last night we were tossing around the idea of getting dollar Bibles and thinking of alternatives to cash that we could carry in case we run into anyone in need. Well, of course you can probably guess what happened the minute we got onto the street outside the club. There was a crowd of people, but through it all, a young guy wearing a t-shirt and baseball cap looked straight at us and asked if we had $4. (Um, can you say divine appointment?) Normally I'm sure the answer would have been a polite "sorry", but this time Mark stopped, shook his hand, asked his name (Ryan) and asked him what his story was. It was a short conversation, but I felt like I could see in Ryan's eyes that it meant something that someone would stop and talk to him. At least I hope it did. I have no idea if what Ryan told us was true, but the bottom line is that SOMETHING - sin, hurt, or both - led him to that very moment, where he was asking for money. We were together and in a setting where we could talk to him for a couple minutes, so we decided to do that. What a feeling of joy it was leaving that little encounter - only wishing we could have done more.

I'm not saying that everyone needs to stop and talk to every single person that asks them for money - obviously, for example, if I were by myself, as a woman, it may not be the best idea to stop to converse -- however, at the very least, when we run into situations like that, I find myself challenged to remind myself that Christ died for this person, that there are no chance encounters, and finally to ask myself "What is something I can I do in this situation?".

Anyway, that's just one example that hit home for us tonight of what it means to walk as Jesus did. Not just wearing the t-shirts or singing the right songs, but living it too. We got a little taste of that tonight, and were blessed by it. I'm challenged to think of other ways to really live for Him, and inspired by those all around the world and in our country, who are doing that, on many different levels. Feeding the poor...taking the gospel to unfriendly cultures...saving babies...smiling at the tired looking clerk in the grocery store...sitting next to the lonely kid in the lunchroom...

"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children...and live a life of love, MAKING THE MOST OF EVERY OPPORTUNITY, for the days are evil..." -Ephesians 4

posted by Nikki @ 9:55 PM