A Sight to See

One of the things that we struggle with in our congregation is trying to be both full of grace and compassion, and yet at the same time actually call the people to holy living. If I am honest, I believe most often we have erred on the side of being nice instead of being faithful. Then, when we strive to be more disciplined, it seems to come from more of a political motivation than a spirit-led one.

In groups I lead, whether young or old, we tend to often find ourselves in these grace vs. law types of conversations. Last time I led Sunday School with our high schoolers was one of those moments.

As we discussed, I could see one of our shy kids pondering what was being said. She did not say much, but eventually I coaxed her into sharing. What she said surprised me in its depth.

Amy said, "I think...more than anything...choosing to follow Jesus is about seeing things differently. When we choose to believe in Jesus, everything looks different than before. We view the world differently. We look at our lives differently. We see other people differently. And then we act differently based upon what we see."

I think what she said is thought provoking. Isn't that what the imagery of light is about in both Greek thought and Scripture? That the light, which is Jesus, helps us see the world differently?

Some more words from teens to ponder....