Absence

I haven't posted for a couple of weeks as the preparations for International Christmas took over my life together with a number of other events. But this is on my heart.

The Purpose-Driven Life has a lot to be responsible for in this world both good and bad. The worse is that it encourages task-driven people to be even more task driven. The problem for task driven people is that the task frequently takes priority over being loving and being just. I am constantly challenged and saddened by the lack in supposedly Christian organizations, especially churches. I continue to be find heartache listening to cruel and unloving behaviour in the face of the command to love our neighbour as ourselves. Why do you, we, behave so badly?

There are two judgments or sorting into eternity. I like CS Lewis' image in The Last Battle where all come to Aslan and those who recognize him carry on through a door to a new Narnia while the rest cannot see this new country. This is the sorting of those who know God and don't know God. The second judgment is an accountability of what has been done with and in life. Those in authority with power or influence are more accountable than those with little or no resource. This second judgment is not really based on what we have successfully achieved but more on our faithfulness. Have we cared, fed, given shelter, visited etc? It is about our heart response to situations.

As we head into 2009 I really do pray that in a time of recession we find even more love for those around us. Treating people as valued by God and not things or tools or resources.