In most ways it felt like we'd hardly been gone at all. There were occasional reminders: Heather learning how to use an iPhone from a septuagenerian in the JFK airport terminal, familiar faces markedly older (especially kids), clear air, and errant turns into the left-hand lane; Police sitting in cars; a lack of visible assault rifles, military camouflage and batting-helmeted security guards; Absolutely enormous cows, sheep and goats.
But for the most part it felt comfortable - normal, really. And that's probably the most frightening thing for me. I've learned a lot here in Kenya and when we return to the states in 7 months I don't want to live the same life I lived before. I want to live more simply - with less stuff (we've even got too much here!). I want to be more compassionate to the homeless and outcast. I want to be a part of the church outside Sunday Stained-Glass. I want to talk to non-Christians daily. I want to exhort people trapped in a rigid, idolatrous and empty christianity. Because I still fall into that deep pit all the time.
What if we go back and forget our privileged status in the world or that weird people are the ones God loves to show his most powerful work in, that church isn't really about Sunday at all, that Jesus spent very little of His time with the religious and that a faith wrapped up in Sunday-morning-best is smothered and dies?
Powerful and troubling thoughts. I think many people share in that desire to live outside the church walls and to live fully aware of their needs and excess. I do. I suppose that we simply need to have faith that our love for the Lord and the desire of our hearts will keep us in that mindset.
ReplyDeleteI hope that is the case. Otherwise I will need to go find my own Kenya to spend a couple years in~!
Thanks, Jeremiah. It's way too easy to get comfortable, complacent, and selfish. By the way, do you happen to know Cory Carey?
ReplyDeleteA very important post. Thank you for your honest and challenging perspective.
ReplyDeleteBest part:
"I don't want to live the same life I lived before. I want to live more simply - with less stuff (we've even got too much here!). I want to be more compassionate to the homeless and outcast. I want to be a part of the church outside Sunday Stained-Glass. I want to talk to non-Christians daily. I want to exhort people trapped in a rigid, idolatrous and empty christianity. Because I still fall into that deep pit all the time."