Monday, May 10, 2010

Called to a...Christian Nation?

'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.' - Acts 1:8

This is a pretty familiar passage - especially when it comes to the idea of missions. It's gives us the idea that we should live a holistic, missional life.


So I am at the gas station partaking in the delightful '.$79 Thirst Buster', and, as I am getting ready to leave, I notice that there is a police officer hanging out in the parking lot. For whatever reason, he caught my attention; but, most importantly, he had God's attention. God speaks to me and tells me that I need to pray for that man. I take a minute to stand still and as I begin praying for him God speaks yet again. He tells me that I need to seek him out, find out how I can be praying for him, and then pray for him. I pay for my drink, get in my car, and head toward him.


As I am driving toward him I feel a sense of...peace. Granted, I am usually not shy around strangers, but approaching a police officer is always a different story. I pull up next to him and the challenge began: answering the call to live a holistic, missional life.


He politely tells the person he's on the phone to hold, turns to me and says, 'what can I do for you sir?' I answer back by saying 'Today is the National Day of Prayer (thank you K-Love!) and I was just wondering how I could be praying for you?'


Then there was just...


Silence.


After a few moments of just gazing at one another, he looks at me and says, 'to be honest, I am not really sure. No one has really asked me that before. Umm...I guess...my safety. That I would be safe.'


'Alright' I said. 'Do you have a wife? A family?'


'No. Well, I mean I did, but not anymore.' 


Did you catch that? There's a lot of pain in that statement. Perhaps he was married but went through a divorce. Or maybe he woke up one day and as he rolled over in bed to say good morning his wife was just...gone. To be honest, I didn't ask him to explain. I felt like I didn't need to.


'Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words.' - Romans 8:26


The Spirit spoke through him. Not only did the Spirit give me something to pray for, He also spoke gently to my heart. This man cannot remember the last time someone asked how they could be praying for him. That breaks my heart. And, to be honest, I hope it breaks yours as well.


My hope and prayer for this blog is to create a passion deep within all of us to see God's Kingdom come here and now. That God would remind all of us that there are people all around us at work, in our neighborhoods, at our local starbucks, serving us at restaurants, cleaning up after us at events, that have a deep hunger for the things that only God can provide them. 


That we are all called to be missionaries; even to a 'Christian Nation'.


Shalom. Come Lord Jesus.