News Worthy

In the wee hours of the morning, I got home from the Organic Church Conference in California (after being delayed in Dallas for NO reason) and pulled myself out of bed early to give my good friends a ride to the airport for their vacation. Since one of my friends works for a major news network, we were chatting about the happenings over the weekend. On Friday, a girl in Baton Rouge walked into a technical college and killed two people and then herself. I asked him if he'd been sent to cover that story and his answer was "no, it wasn't important enough....really she killed herself too quickly for it to be news worthy". Now, this wasn't his decision, it was a network decision but I was shocked. The other "big" event in Louisiana this weekend was the presidential primary which did get major news coverage.

I think coming off of this conference where we talked so much about Christ, His Kingdom and His love for people, I was especially bothered by this. An act of violence that "only" killed three people was no longer sensational enough to warrant a major news story. Three lives were taken because something was so broken in this woman that she found the only way to fix it was to take a gun, kill two classmates and then herself....yet in our society that has now become less important than who will win the democratic primary. I think that must deeply grieve the heart of Jesus - the one who created those three lives that were taken....not only created them but created them in His image with a divine purpose for their lives.

Over the weekend, we kept singing a song taken from Isaiah 61. I've probably heard these verses many times before but living in the midst of the brokenness of life has opened my eyes so much to the hope of those verses.

The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon Me,
For the Lord has anointed Me
To bring GOOD NEWS to the POOR
He has sent Me to COMFORT the BROKENHEARTED
And to proclaim that CAPTIVES will be RELEASED
And PRISONERS will be FREED
He has sent Me to tell those who MOURN that the time of the Lord's FAVOR HAS COME.....
He will give a crown of beauty for ahses
A joyous blessing instead of mourning
Festive praise instead of despair
In their righteousness they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for His own glory.

Later in Luke 4, Jesus reads a part of this passage and says "The Scripture you've heard has been fulfilled this very day".

That really struck me, especially coming off of this conference. In Jesus and in Him alone is there hope, is there healing, is there what we need for the brokenness of the world - and He came to bring that.

So, it makes me wonder why we (the church) are so ineffective. It seems that we have more strategies, more money, more graphics and highly creative people than ever before but some how we're not brining this Jesus. We're bringing our very best but that's the problem - it's our very best rather than the Savior.

I guess that I'm at the place where I have to believe that only this Jesus can heal the deepest pains and it's not going happen if we do things the way we've done them for the last 50 years or so. Although I feel great despair when I look at the world around me. I also feel great hope about what is to come. I no longer want to live with a God that is convenient and neat, I want to live with God as He is - to know and believe and see that God. I have a feeling that it may rock my little Christian world, but I'm excited by the journey and thankful for the companions I'm finding along the way.