People Keeping

Free time . . . . I don’t have as much as I thought I would in my last post. Before we had Angelina I thought I wasted lots of time on frivolous things. The fact is, I keep too busy as a general rule.

(So . .  .how did I find time to blog today? I strained my back while doing routine home maintenance. I’m currently reclining in the front room waiting for the painkillers to take effect as Angelina sleeps.)

My daughter now takes up what free time I did have. It is a great privilege to care for her and help her develop. I have to make-the-time, as it is hard when there is so much that needs to be done.

My daughter has taught me so much about following Christ and being truly human.

In American culture we have historically been able to quote the heart of the Christian faith easily as the following phrases indicate.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,”  AND  “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

These phrases center on how we care for others.  As Rikk Watts my professor at Regent College would say, “It’s all about people keeping.”

Caring for my daughter only highlights the centrality of people keeping to me. She is 7 months old now and completely dependant on my wife and I for her survival. If we put our own needs over hers her care would suffer, as we would not have the time for her. Socially, we call that neglect at best and child abuse at worst.

How do you keep your own children?  Most of us would answer – “Rather well thank you.”   YET ask someone (if you dare) how he or she treats the transient or people who live outdoors and you may get an epistle on laziness, drug abuse, alcoholism, free choice, or some other answer.

A cloaked way of saying, “Am I my brothers’ keeper.” Cain asked the question to cover his sin of murder. Today, we ask that question in a more sophisticated way to cover our hardness of heart toward our fellow man.

Are you your brothers’ keeper?

In America we commonly act and think as if the answer is NO yet Biblically the answer is YES.

Our 16 month kingdom experiment ~ home Church ~ Micro Faith Community ~ what ever label you are comfortable with ~ is a practical experience in people keeping.

What has been the biggest hindrance in our practice of people keeping as we follow Christ?  Being too busy for others outside of our community!