WWMD

There was a time in my life when I wasn't focused on Christ at all. I was very self-centered. I needed someone or something radical to break me out of my short sightedness. Of course, Jesus has an amazing way of doing this. It’s call flipping things upside-down.

The Beatitudes-MSG

You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

You're blessed when you're content with just who you are—no more, no less. That's the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can't be bought.

You're blessed when you've worked up a good appetite for God. He's food and drink in the best meal you'll ever eat.

You're blessed when you care. At the moment of being 'care-full,' you find yourselves cared for.

You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

You're blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That's when you discover who you really are, and your place in God's family.

You're blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God's kingdom

Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

There is something amazing about the Beatitudes. Jesus over turns the status quoe, flips your expectations. Alanis Morriset sang about the irony in rainy weddings and dead men winning the lottery. I didn’t find anything in that song particularly ironic. But Jesus, now there was a man that knew how to reverse the outcome on you. He is the most ironic power ever.

He makes the weak strong. He makes the poor wealthy. In my own life, Jesus shook my out of my slumber in the most peculiar way. Jesus took the students and made them the most powerful teachers.

There is a saying around my circle of friends. WWMD. What would Megan do? Megan is a go-getter. She isn’t the type to spend a lot of time lamenting about a problem. She jumps in and starts working on solutions. She is hands on, positive and just doesn’t take no for an answer. If there were just more like her, the world would run out of problems. She has inspired me to push out of the safe borders of the known and into that uncomfortable zone where Jesus performs His magic. I learned so much from Megan. She is a blessing in my life.

Other Students have had a huge impact on my faith. I will never forget Cody Haner, a big bear of a boy, on his final mission trip. His group was waiting in line for an ice cream when they met a man just out of prison. He was had nothing not even have a pair of shoes on his feet. Cody didn’t judge him. He just saw a man in need. So he asked the man what size shoes he wore and took off his favorite pair of shoes, on the spot, and gave them to his total stranger just out of prison. That’s the type of generosity I want. That’s being like Jesus.

I also learned bravery from an unlikely source. I once saw a girl, no more than one hundred and twenty pounds, stand in from of her church and face down evil. She stared down her oppressors named gossip, rumor, and lies. She stared them down right there in the very church where she was baptized, confirmed, worshipped every Sunday, even from the same pulpit where she gave a Lenten message where she proclaimed her intentions to serve the Lord for the rest of her life as a vocation. There in the church she stood and with more courage than I could ever muster told them to leave her alone. It was the kind of moment that defines a person’s character. And she faced the force against her with bravery and love. Just like Jesus.



More and more I want to change my vision. I don't want to be a lofty person. I don’t want to sparkle and glisten in fancy robes. I want to be humble and Christ-like. I want to be like Jesus. I don’t want to be a slick televangelist. I want a quieter approach. I want my life to be a work of art for the Lord. I want to dedicate myself to helping those less fortunate than myself. I want to serve the way that Calla Johnson serves. I want to find a place in my life where I have gained wisdom from sustaining a long, patient walk with the Lord. I want to serve and lead others into service. I want my words to become quieter but my actions to become louder. I want to serve the Lord with Megan’s energy, Cody’s generosity, Amanda’s bravery and with a servant’s heart like Calla.

I am a long way from any of these things. I am not very energetic, nor particularly brave. Old Adam often jumps back in and I act selfish again. I am not very wise like my mentor-friend. But with God’s grace and my friends’ support I hope to someday have people telling tales about my escapades in radical faith. I guess I’m still a work in progress.