But They'll Only Buy Booze...

It's 11:06 pm and while I am incredibly excited, I am writing this post with a heavy heart.  I feel encouraged and enlightened, yet I am terrified.  I am ready to jump out of the boat and into the sea, yet it feels as if I am bound by a million ropes holding me back.  Fear is consuming me, yet my heart is willing.  Let me elaborate.

My entire blog has been based off of my convictions and I have written as the Spirit has been moving in me.  I never force a post.  I have never sat at my computer, opened up my blog, and decided I needed to write a post because it has been a while and I am losing readers.  Never.  Yet the second my thoughts become too heavy, or I notice myself pushing my convictions away, I can see my entire post laid out in my mind, paragraph by paragraph.  I hope my rambles have made sense to you and you have a found a way to apply them to your own lives.  I just wanted you guys to know that.  Anyways, no matter who you are, what you believe, or where you live, this one is about to hit home.  I mean it.

I have noticed the Spirit stirring a new season in my life for about the past four months...actually well beyond that, it's just been impossible to ignore as of recently.  If you read my blog, you know I struggle with materialism in more ways than one.  I am sickened by the consumption of our nation, including myself.  Tonight HGTV was doing a segment on decorating the White House for Christmas and I was so sad.  The dollars upon dollars that are poured into this showcase and then a TV show covers it, while I am sure a homeless man is sleeping under a tree only a stones throw from the iron fence that surrounds the house's premises.  I am deeply, deeply saddened by this, yet I do nothing.  My heart yearns to help, though I do not.  I am greedy and obsessed with the cycle of upward motion in the ladder of life.  I can feel myself being broken of this and I am so glad.  The question is...how?

So coming in second place next to Netflix ( I kid, guys), I totally love Jen Hatmaker.  She is so incredibly real.  I love it.  I feel like religion can often cause us to embrace a set of rules while Jesus waits for us in the background, always waiting.  Jefferon Bethke says it best in this video (which is seriously awesome):  Churches have turned into a museum for the good people, rather than a hospital for the broken.  I have been so turned off by religious people in my past, and I imagine many of you have been, as well.  After I learned about the ignition of the fire set by Jesus Christ, my entire life changed and continues to change every single day.  I can see this fire through Jen's words and I love it.  Coincidently, I am currently reading Jen's book, Interrupted, and it is TOTALLY INTERRUPTING my life.  The story is about God's interruption in her life and the turmoil that ensued.  Her call to "feed the lambs" became quite real, and I can feel that desire within myself.

So begins this: Justice for the poor.  

Yes.

If you live in the valley, have ever gotten off 81 headed into Staunton, Virginia, or really have ever seen a homeless person, then this applies to you.

I am so incredibly aware of everything I have and how much I have and am willing to give away, yet every single time I see these men I am skeptical.  I could give them money, but....they'll probably buy booze or drugs, or they won't really appreciate it.  So I just won't.  In fact, I'll just drive past them and forget them in about 15 seconds.  UGH!  You can relate right?  Or maybe you can't, in which case I commend you.  So listen to this:

"This is what God taught me through Judas at Jesus' table, eating the broken bread that was His body: We don't get to opt out of living on mission because we might not be appreciated.  We're not allowed to neglect the oppressed because we have reservations about their discernment.  We cannot deny love because it might be despised or misunderstood.  We can't withhold social relief because we're not convinced it will be perfectly managed.  Must we be wise?  Absolutely.  But doing nothing is a blatant sin of omission.  Turning a blind eye to the bottom on the grounds of "unworthiness" is the antithesis to Jesus' entire mission......Jesus came to the foulest, filthiest place possible (Earth), full of ungrateful, self-destructive people who would betray Him far more than they'd love Him (a whole planet of Judases).  He broke His body for rich people who would curse Him the second their prosperity was endangered (that's us).  He poured His blood out for those who would take His Word and use it as a bludgeoning tool.  He became the offering for people who would slander His name with ferocity, yet His grace was theirs for the asking until they drew their last breaths, even if all they could offer Him was a lifetime of hatred and repentance." -Jen Hatmaker

...Whoa.

Proverbs 29:7 says, "The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern."

Yes, those with nothing (and those with everything) will take advantage of you, they will let you down, and some of them will be ungrateful, but more will accept your graciousness than turn it away.  This is crazy, guys.  This is Jesus.  Straight up Jesus, the most beautiful, selfless human being to ever exist, yet he was rejected, just like the homeless man standing on the corner of 81 and 250.  Rejected.  Outcast.  Judged by those with everything, yet denied the right of discernment.

Set religion aside and embrace Jesus like he has embraced us, the scum of the earth.  To help others is to become broken, just as He was for us.  I want to help, but I am afraid of where it may take me.  Away from my family?  Away from my things?  Away from the United States?

Be open to letting the Spirit move.  Don't shut Him out or ignore that stirring within your gut.

Embrace the actions of Jesus, and shed the robes of religion.
More of Him, less of me.

My prayer is that my spirit, as well as yours, will be more deeply afflicted than ever the next time I think, "But they'll only buy booze..."

And lastly, I leave you with a quote from Robert. Kennedy.  I often make peace with myself when I do not act as I want to against areas that I am passionate about, such as social justice or food justice.  I sometimes lie to myself and make myself believe that my one action alone is incapable to making any type of dent on the misery that is clouding our nation.  If you ever feel like this, check it out:

"Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world's ills - against misery and ignorance, injustice and violence...Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation...It is from the numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." -Robert F. Kennedy