If you have been reading my blog lately you may have noticed the WLYAS at the end of my recent posts. If you are like my wife you may wonder what it stands for. It is short hand for the theme of my spiritual journey for this year. Each August i go on a spiritual retreat and God invariably hits me with a truth that rips its way into my soul. This year i got hit hard.
While stuck in traffic outside of Seattle i noticed a homeless man walking in the wide median of I-5. (He was moving faster than i was.) Up ahead there was a squat under the freeway interchange. He was going to his home before the rain started. My heart broke as the scene before me combined with Larry Norman singing, "Without love, you ain't nothing, You ain't nothing without love." In that moment the Holy Spirit spoke to my mind and said, "If you can't reach out to someone like him, you ain't s--t." In a colorful way, God had just given me a very heavy truth that burned through all my petty little insecurities.
Most of us who have been to church more than once or twice know the scripture reference for this thought. i thought i did. But now 1 Corinthians 13 (Listen) says so much more to me. i keep seeing that homeless man walking to his squat. My heart just breaks with compassion. If our Christianity does not make a real difference for other people then we are nothing. If the emerging church does not reach out in Love, then it is empty and pitiable.
WLYAS = Without Love You Ain't S--t
This is so much more than a mere slogan to me. It is a reminder of what all of this Jesus stuff is about. To love and care for those created in the image of God. There can be no higher calling.
WLYAS!
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