Is Jesus Really All That Great?

Shocking title I know. That is kind of the point. The shock value of that statement made by someone who claims to love Jesus with all their heart is high. It was hard to even type it.  But as I read my Bible in the comfort of my home this morning, as I pour over my music that I will bring as an offering to the God I love so desperately this coming Sunday, this is the question that came to my mind.

Is Jesus really all that great? Because most of the time, we sure don't act like it. 

I was at a conference last week and heard the story of a woman (Christine Caine) who has been called to start a ministry to rescue other women from the sex trade. (more about A21 here) She told the horrific story of a girl who had been held captive and taken to another country for the purpose of working in a red light district. This girl was one of the few who even survived the journey. She was eventually rescued from the sex trade and brought to a safe house where she encountered Christine who told her about Jesus. 

Wonderful you might say! Well, yes it is wonderful. But the girls response? "If your Jesus is so great, why did it take you so long to get here?"

I heard another story from someone just getting back from a mission trip to the jungles of Africa (literally.) They went to tell people who had probably never of heard of Him, about Jesus. When speaking to one woman about Christ and His plan of salvation, they ask her if she would like to accept Him into her life and her Lord and Savior. Her response? "Yes! I have just been waiting for someone to come and tell me how."

For me, both of those stories bring deep sorrow and conviction because more often than not, I am the one who is taking to long or waiting to tell someone about my Jesus that they so desperately need. 

It seems such an obvious thing - share the one who saved your life with anyone around you who will listen. And yet we keep silent out of fear or embarrassment, or a host of other reason we have on a long list of bad ones. 

I don't know about you, but I am always eager to hear a great story. We are transfixed by the story on the news of the man who risked his life for a total stranger by pulling them out of a burning house. We stop what we are doing to listen to the story of the hero who foiled the armed robbery with a selfless act of bravery. If you were the one in those stories who was rescued - you would be more than willing to sing the praises of your hero to anyone who would listen out of gratitude. Right?

I had the privilege of being a part of the filming of  of some awesome stories last week. Stories that made me laugh and made me cry (always the sign of a good story - right?) Stories of people whose lives have been saved. Stories of people who had no hope and now do. I am so very grateful that they decided to share their stories with me. 

Each of us has a story. I look at my story compared to some and tend to minimize the value of it because in my eyes, it is not as dramatic as some. I am coming to find that thinking that thought is toxic to me and those that God has put in my life. Just because I was not rescued from the sex trade or some other tragic situation does not minimize my story of redemption. I am a sinner, saved from a future that I surely deserved, given the gift eternal life with my Jesus forever.

I say that I believe that Jesus is "all that great" but when I hide his redemptive work in my life by not telling my story, I have to ask myself if I really believe that. 

Someone needs to hear my story because it will speak to them and maybe, just maybe show them that what they need in their life is Jesus. So I will speak my story boldly and ask God to use it for His glory. 

What is your story? It is the most important story that someone will hear for the one who needs YOU to tell it to them. 

Tell your story to someone today, they might have been waiting for you!

Modern Day Slaves

Did you know that today, April 21, 2010 there are more slaves in the world than ever before in human history. It is estimated that there are somewhere between 27 & 30 million slaves, but some counts are as high as 200 million. The most distressing fact is that 80% of those are women and children forced into some form of sexual slavery. 80%!!!

Last night I went to a advanced screening of a new documentary film done by a group of students (Artists for Abolition) at Texas A&M Commerce called Worth Fighting For. The event was compelling to say the least. To walk into the room and be confronted with girls behind a chain link fence holding signs with their age and how much it would cost you for an hour of "pleasure", all the while being explained the process by the "sales man" - well it was extremely unnerving! One of the most disturbing parts was that as the girls got younger - the price went up. It made me sick, especially since the girls portrayed were the same ages as my girls. I learned that 6 people are sold into slavery every 2 minutes. In the time it takes me to write this blog post, there will be about 60 more slaves on this planet, some as young as 4.

When the film began, there was not a sound in the room, except the occasional sound of tears being shed for those oppressed. One of the guys that helped create the film said something that will be burned into my memory forever (I HOPE!) He said that when he was confronted with the reality of this injustice in our world he wept. He went to his campus and laid face down with his open bible on the quad cement and cried out to God saying "Lord, I want someone to weep with me." He then felt God answer him by saying "I want someone to weep with me too."

I think we have become so callused to the injustice in our world that we forget that God weeps over it and he longs for someone to weep with him. It brought to mind a line form one of my favorite songs that says "Break my heart for what breaks Yours..." a line that in daily life is pushed to the back of my mind and replaced with my everyday, suburban to-do list. What on earth has happened to me that I have become so comfortable in my life that I forget that God weeps over the enslaved and the broken hearted and the lost?

Well, as I am still trying to process all of this and what it means for my future, I know one thing for sure - I have been changed at my very core and now I have a decision to make: Will I sit and let apathy kill me and others, or will I  embrace this new adventure God seems to have put in front of me, let Him take the lead and just follow?

"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, Now I will arise," says the LORD; "I will set him in the safety for which he yearns." - Psalm 12:5