Undone!

I was undone by what I saw tonight. A young girl walked up to the front of the church toward our pastor right in the middle of his sermon. Our pastor stopped everything and just knelt down by the girl. He listened to her for some time. Everyone remained silent…many praying. Our pastor then gave the girl a hug. There was a roar from the crowd as everyone stood to their feet. Our pastor then shared with all of us that six months ago this girl was going to commit suicide, but feeling loved and accepted at the church, she changed her mind.

I have never seen anything so beautiful in a church. Everything stopped for this one precious girl. What took place WAS the sermon.

I think people can be so turned off by church these days for a variety of reasons. For me, church generally has been a place where I’ve experienced judgment and inauthentic people. What I saw tonight was love without limits. Acceptance. Kindness. Care. A real judgment-free zone.

We start this new week wondering how we can make a positive difference in an increasingly hostile world. We are all so weary of these mass shootings. Our hearts are beyond broken and we can feel so helpless. Yet, God calls us to a life that’s different.

Bob Goff, in his book "Everybody Always", writes "The night before Jesus died, His prayer for us was that we would be "one." He knew what it was like to be "one" with His Father, and He said He wanted that for us. It was a prayer for unity, not sameness. He knew that the gospel wasn’t a bunch of rules to obey; it was a Person to follow and be one with. He wanted us to live into the beautiful, unique creations God made us to be. Simply put, we can be "one" without being each other." (This, by the way, is the verse John 17:21, the YMCA’s theme verse. Can you imagine what our Y's might be like if we live this out as staff???)

Why do we point our fingers at others in judgment? We do we treat some as less than and others as more than? What do we cling to our cliques? Why are we so critical? Why are we so consumed with what everyone else is doing? In keeping up with our "friends" have we forgotten the power of keeping our eyes on the One who loves us, accepts us and wants to spend eternity with us?

Did you know that God has picked YOU to spread His love to a very dark world? It’s an extremely high calling and if done with His power, you can make a big dent of positive change in this crazy, fragile world. But, you gotta know Whose you. Tethered to God’s hand, I encourage you to go and make a difference.

Nancy Abbott is the Chaplain for the YMCA of Greater San Antonio.