Big Opinions
I wanted to share a couple quotes with you that have been on my heart this week.
They really stuck with me from the recent breakout session that my friend and I led at our Women's Ministries Retreat. It was titled "Loving Well in a Broken World" and it was a beautiful conversation about grace and acceptance.
So many people are searching for balance and instruction on how to treat others when their opinions or actions do not line up with our own beliefs, convictions and experiences. I mean, most of us agree that we're supposed to LOVE - but what does that really look like?
In this breakout, we started with a deep dive into the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and examined it from multiple perspectives:
The Prodigal (who acted like a jerk, walked out on his family, lived recklessly and got his hands really dirty)
The Father (who didn't stop looking out for his rebellious son, even when he had abandoned the family - and celebrated his return, despite his "unclean" appearance and status. Also the same father that had to pursue the other son that was already under his roof and "living well," who refused to join the party because life wasn't fair.)
The Older Brother (the one who refused to enter the party because - gosh darn it - he has never abandoned the family, he has worked crazy-hard and respected his dad and HE never got a party thrown in his honor! Yet his dad favors his punk brother enough to kill the fattened calf. What gives?)
The Servants (the on-lookers. Those who witnessed all of this, including both the father's and the older brother's drastically different responses to the situation. What a dichotomy! I wonder how this impacted their life, their walk, their behavior? Their perception of grace and forgiveness?)
It was a great session and I'll do another post on the strategy we recommended - but for now, I leave you with these beautiful treasures of thought...
“Arguments won’t change people. Simply giving away kindness won’t, either. Only Jesus has the power to change people and it will be harder for them to see Jesus if their view of Him is blocked by our big opinions.”- Bob Goff, Everybody, Always
“Jesus is striking at the heart of the problem we have with grace: we don’t like it. It seems unfair, but in reality it is perfectly fair. God is gracious to all. It smacks against our performance-based acceptance narrative. The chief point is that there is only one thing that separates us from God, and it is not our sin. It is our self-righteousness. Our self-righteousness does not turn God from us, but us from God. It is not my sin that moves me away from God, it is my refusal of grace, both for myself and for others.” - James Brian Smith, The Good and Beautiful God
They really stuck with me from the recent breakout session that my friend and I led at our Women's Ministries Retreat. It was titled "Loving Well in a Broken World" and it was a beautiful conversation about grace and acceptance.
So many people are searching for balance and instruction on how to treat others when their opinions or actions do not line up with our own beliefs, convictions and experiences. I mean, most of us agree that we're supposed to LOVE - but what does that really look like?
In this breakout, we started with a deep dive into the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) and examined it from multiple perspectives:
The Prodigal (who acted like a jerk, walked out on his family, lived recklessly and got his hands really dirty)
The Father (who didn't stop looking out for his rebellious son, even when he had abandoned the family - and celebrated his return, despite his "unclean" appearance and status. Also the same father that had to pursue the other son that was already under his roof and "living well," who refused to join the party because life wasn't fair.)
The Older Brother (the one who refused to enter the party because - gosh darn it - he has never abandoned the family, he has worked crazy-hard and respected his dad and HE never got a party thrown in his honor! Yet his dad favors his punk brother enough to kill the fattened calf. What gives?)
The Servants (the on-lookers. Those who witnessed all of this, including both the father's and the older brother's drastically different responses to the situation. What a dichotomy! I wonder how this impacted their life, their walk, their behavior? Their perception of grace and forgiveness?)
It was a great session and I'll do another post on the strategy we recommended - but for now, I leave you with these beautiful treasures of thought...
“Arguments won’t change people. Simply giving away kindness won’t, either. Only Jesus has the power to change people and it will be harder for them to see Jesus if their view of Him is blocked by our big opinions.”- Bob Goff, Everybody, Always
“Jesus is striking at the heart of the problem we have with grace: we don’t like it. It seems unfair, but in reality it is perfectly fair. God is gracious to all. It smacks against our performance-based acceptance narrative. The chief point is that there is only one thing that separates us from God, and it is not our sin. It is our self-righteousness. Our self-righteousness does not turn God from us, but us from God. It is not my sin that moves me away from God, it is my refusal of grace, both for myself and for others.” - James Brian Smith, The Good and Beautiful God
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