the [in]glorious return of the Press Box

The biggest question I am constantly asking is how I, a Christian, should respond to “this” situation or “that” situation. In case you don’t know what I’m talking about here are a couple of example:

Last summer I purchased a couch from American Freight [YES THAT AMERICAN FREIGHT!]. Now I’m a pastor and a $500 is a big deal to our budget, so when 3 months had gone by and we didn’t have a couch, and American Freight wouldn’t refund us our money…I kept having to ask myself, “How should I respond to this?”
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I keep seeing all these little signs around my town. They’re black with a red snake on them and say, “Don’t Tread on Me.” Upon further review, it’s the local New Carlisle Tea Party advertising their local meeting times. When I hear people tell me that gov’t is the solution to our problems [because that’s what the Tea Party is saying…they’re just saying that a smaller gov’t is the solution to our problems] I keep asking myself, “How should I respond to this?”
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Our church purchased 100 chairs this summer at $50 a chair…do the math. We were told they would get here by the end of August. Well its nearing the end of September now and we still don’t have those pesky chairs yet. So while trying to get those chairs here I’m having to ask myself the question, “How should we respond to this?”
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This happens to me all the time. I’m doing something where people don’t know I’m a pastor. And somebody drops an off color remark in my presence. [This happened yesterday!] I often ask myself, “How should I respond to this?”
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You know what I’m talking about. This is life. Somebody fails you. You are working in business. You have children. You have friends. The question is how, as Christians, should we respond to this? This is the graying of life, this is where we live.

If you find yourself constantly asking those questions, you’re in a good place. If you’re searching for the answers, God will meet you there. If you listen God can and will provide a way for you; he can show you how you should respond.

The place you don’t want to be is where you are not asking any questions; where you are just going without questioning yourself, where you are mindlessly supporting one political group, where you are reacting to set-backs in life without prayer, where you are saying what first comes to your mind when somebody says something that offends you. This is a place where I think its best to, as a Christian, avoid.

So may you always be asking yourself what it means to be a Christian. May you always be questioning your loyalties and your actions. And may you walk in the knowledge that God will show you the right way to live.

GRACE + PEACE