This is what I was thinking about early this morning around 7:45(ish)...
Sometimes at our church there are many conversations floating around full of questions like, "Is it safe to have all these people in from the streets every Sunday for a meal?" or "I don't know if we're qualified to handled the amount of mental issues that are concentrated in one room on Sunday's for lunch?"
I suspect many churches who partake in like community ministries run up against similar questions.
The conversations seem to be birthed from the familiar tension of "wanting safety and to do the work of Christ."
Gosh, I want to be safe. Man, I want to protect those that I love. But what will that cost me?
I concluded my thoughts this morning on this radical and comforting fact. Jesus knew very well the pain and anguish that Judas would cause him. Yet, he called him to "follow me" just the same as the rest of the disciples. Judas walked with Jesus every day for three years and I can't help but wonder if every time Jesus spoke one-on-one with Judas if he had to put aside thoughts of the foreshadowing betrayal.
And still, he walked with Judas.
Judas is the enemy that we have to love. Judas is the terrorist, the fanatical Kansas church member who boycotts funerals, the homosexual, the murderer, the addict, the mentally disturbed, the drunk, the Muslim, the person you can't stand and don't know why. We must walk with every one of these people, share life with them, and love them. Yikes.
