Sunday's sermon was about how we perceive God. "We tend to think," quoth Jim Watson, "that because God blesses us, it must be because we're doing something right... I. A. N. S. - It Ain't Necessarily So." Jim elaborated on this idea, reminding us that God makes rain fall on the just and the unjust, sharing an (always entertaining) anecdote from his own childhood, and exhorting us in the end to T. N. T. M. T. U (Try not to mess this up). But if we do mess this up, he added, God is still there. All is not lost.
How I wish I'd heard this sermon about - oh - a lifetime ago.
Choosing to attend college at LeTourneau was the first decision I'd really, purposefully committed to God in my four-year-old Christian life. I've never regretted my decision to attend LU. I made lifelong friendships there, met and married my hubby, established relationships with some truly wonderful mentors, and grew immensely in my relationship with God.
But it was *not* an easy four years for me.
I was thrust from my Dallas, city-girl, black Baptist, praise-dancing, Democratic-voting life into the middle of white, Republican, conservative country (and that's not even taking into account the school's east Texas location - that was a horse of a completely different color). To say I was shell-shocked would be accurate. Thankfully, I naturally gravitated toward a diverse group of friends whose backgrounds were as different from the majority of LU's population as mine was.
This is turning into a longer post than I intended, but stay with me. I think it'll pay off.
Jim's sermon so resonated with me because he was able to put into words what has so often bothered me about (some of) my LU contemporaries who assume that their own upbringings = what a Christian/ church should look like. If it looks any other way, it must be wrong (and therefore not Christian).
I. A. N. S.
Think about it.
Comment about it.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
2 comments:
I guess we sorta met in the middle. I mean, Longview for me was the "big city". Those crazy Evangelical types actually prayed out loud in their own words (not like my Catholic upbringing). Yeah, we were very white and Republican where I came from...much more extremely so than at LeTU.
And why did I go to LeTU? It had very little to do with God. I had the opportunity to play bball and sball just the right distance away from the 'rents. I didn't know if I'd survive if I didn't get into the cushy, new Gilbert Hall, so I applied plenty early. I got in, and it was settled. The 'rents were happy, so I figured I could be, too.
I don't think I went in as a Christian. I mean, I was defiitely chasing after good. I believed in God and knew the stories, but I don't guess I understood about salvation. I would say that happened in the summer of 2002 when I was driving in a tractor and listening to a radio preacher-man. Nothing was the same after that.
Anyway, that's very different from your reasons for attending and your experiences there. Thanks for sharing...I wish I could hear from more people about their reasons and their after-thoughts.
I think we Christians can too often judge before we think, especially if the church or other group of Christians do things differently from us. We see growth in the church as doing things right and failure to grow as doing things wrong. But as your pastor said, I.A.N.S. A church of 5 could be much more powerful spiritually and closer to God than a church of 5000. Good post sis.
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