Posted by jason on July 25, 2001 at 14:41:43:
In Reply to: Re: TO BOLDLY GO! posted by john on July 24, 2001 at 22:40:33:
Hi there!
I've had quite a bit of free time lately, and I've been spending it on the 'board...
I had a couple thoughts on some of the subjects that have popped up in this post...
I've read some of the posts of Bob Avakian on the site mentioned. I've thought about what Bob might be doing right now -- today. I can picture him at his computer typing up another inspired article to post on his website... I can picture him, still on the computer, looking up information on the latest news at the G8 conference... I can see him in his back yard mowing his grass... I can see him at the store purchasing a box of pop tarts... Regardless of what he's doing at this moment, but I can guess that at times he has "non-Communist" activities to focus on. Does this mean that he is no longer a communist? Even if he lived in the hills at some commune, and he's totally removed from the evils of the world (in his case - Capitalism), he still needs someone to interact with this evil in order to reach others -- like us. Anyway, the point is, yes, we need to be just as passionate as this guy, but he obviously has a gift to write articles and put himself out there, where John's gift might be to encourage his brothers and Kat's purpose might be to inspire others -- who knows? (Obviously, you must learn your own strength and weaknesses and follow through with them, so your desire to go do things is a good desire).
Quick mid-message note: Take all this whole thing with a big grain 'o salt (or your favorite salt substitute) -- by no means am I an authority in these or any other fields.
I used to spend quite a bit of time in the lovely Ybor city -- nowadays its way too commercial (yay Capitalism!!!). Anyway, hookers and theives don't exactly take kindly to strangers (not that I know any ;-), so I would let your passion for action to run away with you (again: grain of salt). These people definitely need help, but then so do I. So do many other billions of people on this planet. What's my point? I don't know!!! Actually, I'd like to tell a little story...
When I first moved to Cape Coral (which is where I currently reside), I started spending time with a group of friends at my new church. We would get together for bible studies, and began meeting after different events for "fellowship." Anyway, we decided one Friday night that we could head to downtown Fort Myers (across the river from us) and check out the scene. Well, when I first moved down, I had visited the downtown area somewhat frequently for recreational purposes (local music scene, etc.). I was very interested to see what happened when the two worlds met (collided?). Anyway, I saw a friend that I knew from Tampa and we talked for a bit while my church pals hung out talking, etc. Anyway, I'm not sure where he was at the time, but he had been known to partake in certain "heavy" controlled substances. I introduced him to my friends, and vice versa, and we eventually went on our way. We talked about our experiences on the drive home and two thoughts crept into my head in response to our discussion.
Thought one: One girl talked about how uncomfortable she felt when she walked into one of the bars. She said that she could feel the sin all around her and it made her sick. I first felt that this was a bit dramatic (ok, more than a bit dramatic, but anyway...), but reflecting on it now, I realize that she might have had some other issues going on. Suffice to say, I don't think it was a good idea for her to put herself in that situation -- 1. If it was drama, I would imagine that there could've been a "scene." 2. If it was the other issues, I think there are some people that feel unfomfortable in certain circumstance for good reason - I have a friend who avoids bodies of water, which is good because he can't swim.
Thought two: Everyone wanted to pray for my friend. This is great -- he needed, and still needs prayer (as we all do!). It just seemed that after everything was said and done, the "gang" now had a "charity" case to focus their attention on. I know that each of those people had friends or family members that have needs just as big as my friend. I was a bit turned off by their enthusiasm (wow, the honesty is flowing now!) -- anyway, I thought that if they would just put forth the effort in their own lives, they would find all kinds of people to minister to in many various ways.
I don't mean to discourage either of you -- or anyone else for that matter -- to head out and do some good work. I actually want to encourage you to be aware and keep your eyes open and follow your natural flow. As Christians, we sometimes get excited to be faithful servants and miss the mark because of our zealousness. The hardest thing to do is be brutally honest with ourselves.
Another story: An adjacent building to our office was recently refurbished and is now a shiny, happy, storefront church. The first sign they posted was, "Jesus came to this world to save me a sinner" -- I'm sure he saved me a sinner too, but I haven't had the pleasure of meeting that individual yet. The latest post says, "The church that preaches what the Bible teaches" -- I guess I shouldn't have gone to the church that didn't preach the Bible's teachings. I hope to meet the Pastor one day when I'm walking past the building. I hope to explain to him how his signs appear to make sense only in Christianese. Grammatically the first sign makes no sense unless you think of the world in the context of Christ and sin. How many atheists do you know that are interested in deciphering some goofy little "gas station church's" message? The second message assumes that the reader really wants to know what the Bible teaches. Is this reaching out to those blinded in this world?
Ok, I'm done with the soapbox for now. I hope that if anything else, you understand that I am completely in favor of you doing your thing -- I wish there were more that felt that way, just make sure to temper your efforts with pure, honest, painful Truth.
Thanks for listening!
Jason