Calling all Sheep

The first line of Psalm 23- “The LORD is my shepherd” hints at this ancient truth for all Jesus-followers: “We are not our own, but belong body and soul to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ…”
We tend to approach life, and the question of God’s call, with another pre-supposition: “I am my own, and I will voluntarily give a part of my life to serving God….isn’t that good of me?”
“So, God, I am all yours: Mondays and/or Wednesdays, (after soccer season), (most) Sunday mornings until 12, three hours of prayer and Bible reading a week, (give or take three hours) and three light relationships of your choice (pending my final approval) with a combination of: tiresome family members and/or needy people who don’t have my cell number.”
I think we make many decisions weighed down by prerequisites we don’t know we have. God calls us on a radical journey of self-emptying, and I see us tentatively starting out on it, but dragging with us a large duffel bag full of these good things which our desire turns into heavy idols:
* Others' expectations, affirmation, recognition. (Do what I “should do”, attain a certain level of career advancement and success)
* “Common” sense- go for recognized results, have “balance” for myself (Don’t be too radical, serve on my own terms, out of my excess time, energy, and resources)
* Need for concrete details (Just how are you going to care for me, God? Show me the money!)
* A home with good resale value in a "safe" neighborhood (Good stewardship, right?)
* An income level that I deserve, have worked hard for, need for my mortgage, or that I am used to, with enough diversion (toys, vacations, entertainment)
* Solid future assured (401, property value, kids' college and inheritance, my legacy and reputation) Obsession with these good gifts can become the idols of fear and lack of trust.
* Comfort. (My best life, now!) Control. (Help me with my life, God)
These can all be good gifts from God, but only if we “seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness! THEN all these other things will be given to us as well.” Mt. 6:33
Bridge of Life is a uniquely diverse ministry where nothing less than community transformation is God’s mission and our calling. It’s big. How to start? John Perkins says that we must respond to the brokenness around us with compassionate action, the way Jesus did, and we can best do that with our neighbors. Just being in the neighborhood or doing it “for them” will never cut it. He notes in Beyond Charity, “… it is only when we really come shoulder to shoulder with the people at a specific spot … that we can begin to discern ways that the gospel will become meaningful in that context”
At Bridge of Life, we are learning more and more to live the gospel with each other on a daily basis. We are asking questions and praying, sharing lives and drawing closer to God and each other in some amazing ways. Some questions we are exploring together, with brief answers: Who are you? Broken, needing a savior; forgiven and Loved Child of God. Whose are you? All His. Then what is He calling you to be and do?
We have followed God’s call in fits and starts, dragging our bag of idols with us, leaving it at times and running headlong after Jesus, our Shepherd, who provides for us so well….then we fearfully run back to our bag of idols, gaze at them and often set up camp there among them. Will you pray for us in this struggle and continue with us on the journey? Then we can recognize the voice of our graceful Shepherd, and say together, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in the house of the LORD forever!”