impact

i think a lot.  very often, i think about how i can do well in my classes whilst remaining sane and also not a complete hermit.  but for the past... oh, 6 months or so--when i haven't been thinking about surviving college--i've been thinking a lot about just how much i've received from people in my life, and about what i can give back to people, rather than just receiving from them all the time.  in a way, i've been doing what a lot of people my age (and, i suspect, other ages) do, which is trying to find "my place" in the world.  not so much like "Zuko, you must find your destiny," but more like your everyday, "what do i actually want to do with my life?"  because the more i think about it, the more convinced i am that finding a career path is not necessarily the same as finding what you want to do with your life.  there is so much more that i want out of life, and that i want to contribute with my life, besides having a job.  i mean, that's obviously a decent part of it, but not the whole by a long shot.

so anyway, i've been thinking about what i want to contribute to people, and what i can bring to the table, and so on.  as a Christian, it might be a bit easier, because i at least have a heading.  i at least have the knowledge (perspective) that Jesus is ultimately the Savior of the world, and that the world would do well to remember that.  in fact, it may just be the most important thing for them that people know and build their lives around this truth.  and i have spent time thinking about ways that people communicate this so that other people will listen.

an obvious solution for a Christian looking to spread God's truth is to become some kind of a Christian preacher or teacher or missionary.  now in a sense, all Christians are called to be preachers and teachers and missionaries, but i am referring to those who focus pretty much just on that, either as a career, or as something that takes the place of a career (like someone sponsored to do those things).  i think this is fantastic, and i think we need those people.  maybe someday i will be equipped and "called" to do that.

however, there is something else that has come into my mind recently.  i have not met very many people in my limited experience who did not know about God, but were open-minded enough for my words to make a difference to them.  i think it's because it didn't seem relevant to them.  God seemed distant and far off, unrelated to anything they were facing in their own lives, or maybe even antagonizing things about their lives.  obviously, this is pretty problematic, considering this was not God's design for people at all.  the solution?  make it relevant.

i remember spending a lot of time in youth group, and eventually time outside of youth group, learning how to make things relevant.  it has to do with finding out the heart of what God was saying when he inspired people to write the Bible.  usually the most impactful things were the ones that seemed to answer a need i had at the time.

but most people in the world have much more than emotional and mental needs.  and if those needs go unmet, a lot of people aren't in a place to receive what God has to say.  Jesus always recognized this in his ministry.  he would often heal someone, or feed someone, or restore someone, and then afterwards he would deliver God's truth to them--because then he had credibility to them and they were ready to listen.