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People I Love,
Yesterday we prayed towards our experience with the two beautiful words interruptible and intentional as an essential part of mission. Because it is hard to fully unpack the reality that is embedded in those words I wanted to spill some words out here in the hopes of further clarifying and inviting.
To be interruptible is to maintain a posture towards the Holy Spirit that says I can be trusted and I want to be entrusted with what You want to see happen in all the circumstances I am a part of today. Every transaction, every encounter and every relationship is a medium for those around me to hear the message, taste the goodness and see the realities that only the Gospel produces in people.
On the other hand, to not be interruptible is to convey to God that what I am doing is more important that what You are doing. It is to waste your life constantly asking God to bless what you are doing without ever being included in what He is doing to redeem this world. Over time you lose confidence in your prayer life, God, the Church and the ultimate reality we refer to as Christianity because “it doesn’t work.” You begin to feel ignored by God instead of loved because He just isn’t blessing you like you’ve been asking. Eventually you erode into that Little League parent sitting in the stands cheering for your kids who still believe in things that you “realized” aren’t really real a long time ago. Nobody knows the depth of your cynicism but they do know you to be the person who critically evaluates everything the church says and does but rarely experiences any of it. You have to do this because if any of it is true, and it is, then what does that say about you or your life? Towards the end of your life you look back and realize that there are no Psalm 126:1-3 moments that still take your breath away. It is all explainable, predictable and dry and you mistakingly see this as evidence that you were right all along. When in reality, you weren’t right you just never were included. That feeling, my friends, doesn’t wash off in the shower or wash down with a glass of your favorite single malt. The Reality is that we are all invited, we just have to be willing to be interrupted.
To be intentional is to be deliberate, to live both with purpose and on purpose. To stop balking at the simple, clear commandments of Scripture as if we qualify for a hall pass on obedience when it comes to our morality and our money. Those people will never be trusted because they have proven themselves to be like ‘ol Jake Spoon from Lonesome Dove, “Much too leaky of a vessel to ever put much trust in.” Being intentional begins by realizing that, as we heard yesterday, “we’ve been entrusted with a message of reconciliation.” To have this bestowed upon us and do nothing with it is a tragic expression of disobedience that will not stop the Message from getting out but it will limit my exposure to and experience with things I was created for. Intentionality is not about skills, personality or opportunity. At the end of the day it comes down to our willingness. Our experience of the peace we all long for is directly tied to our willingness and our willingness is fueled by how we view the moment. The outcome is God’s responsibility, being faithful in the moment is ours.
Let’s pray for each other today as we seek to be both interruptible as well as intentional.
Seeking to become more of both,
Neil