Saturday, July 25

Today’s Readings: Psalm 5; 2 Samuel 6:12-23; Mark 6:30-44; Acts 21:37-22:5; Psalm 84

There was a woman who belonged to the church in which I was baptized and raised named Irene. Irene had an attitude that was typical of many regarding how people should conduct themselves in relation to their church community. Irene felt that people from all walks of life could be welcomed in the church. Once they walked through the front doors, however, she expected them to edit their faith journeys so that they would seem to be perfectly respectable to the rest of the group. “We can have people struggling with alcoholism,” she would say, “as long as they don’t talk about their struggles with alcohol. We can even have gay people in our church,” she would continue, “as long as they NEVER talk about being gay.” Irene’s goal was to have a perfectly respectable church family – at least by society’s standards. I doubt that Irene would have appreciated today’s passage from Acts – for in that passage one of the leaders of the emerging Christian community steps forward and spills his guts. He begins by establishing his credentials with his largely Jewish audience by talking about something safe like his education. Then he reveals his bloodthirsty side – admitting he was “ready to kill for God”. All of this culminates later on when he admits to the crowd that he has become a follower of Jesus. I’d call Paul’s story anything but respectable by society’s standards! Today’s passage from Acts reminds me of the importance of NOT editing our faith journeys. For in order for our faith journeys to pack real power, we have to have the courage to be honest enough to share all of the twists and turns that got us to where we are today! In the days ahead, I would invite you to think about finding someone to share your entire faith journey with: not the sanitized version – but the whole kit and caboodle. The idea might seem scary at first, but the act of sharing your entire story will have more power than you might ever have imagined! Til next time…