Count Down: 2 Days

Where is home?

Being a Christian, I have heard the phrase "we're not home yet." While I agree with what the phrase is saying, where would our "home away from home" be? While I am tempted to say "with my family" or "in my house" (both are true), that is not really the point of being "aliens and strangers" where we live. It does not mean that we won't or don't have a home down here (on Earth). Our homes on Earth are more like temporary living arrangements. It is like living in a tent. It is not something you would want to do forever, but it gets the job done. 

Aliens and Strangers

First let me define what I don't mean by "home." Home is not the building that you live in. To keep is simple I'll call that a house. House=building. Families move, but they still live in a home.

I also don't mean a place. Like "the mountains feel like home to me" is not what I am getting at. 

We are called to live as aliens and strangers. That means that we live our lives (according to the Bible) and because we follow the Bible, our actions will stand out. People who don't belong stand out. Let's say you see a picture. this picture is black except for a single green dot. What do you notice first? While you take in the black background, your eyes are drawn to the green dot because it stands out. In the same way a Christian's actions are to stand out against the world. 

Christians don't fit the world's idea of normal. They don't meet the status quot. However you want to say it, there is something that separates Christians from the rest of the world.

Re: Home?

So, if out home is not a building, or a place we live, where is it? Our home is with other believers. When I am in a group of believers, I get this feeling of wholeness. This thought of, this is where I am meant to be. Most people would call it contentedness. I think of it more along the lines of true freedom. When I am in a group of people following God, I can be who I am because they will love me no matter what. They will spur me on to be better that I thought I could be. They will be happy when something good has happened to me, and sad when something bad has happened. 

Each person might have a different race, gender, interest, or background, but we are all united by one thing: Jesus on the cross. 

Church Shooting

This week there was a shooting at a historic black church. When the shooter was caught he said his goal was to start a civil war between whites and blacks. Rather than causing racial tensions to become even more strenuous, it has had the opposite effect. It has united the black communities and the white communities. 

Nothing was more powerful than the picture I saw on TV. In a nearby church, a service was being held in honor of those who died. The entire church was full. Every seat was full. People were crammed in to every isle. It was like a massive sea of faces, half of them black, and half of them white. But in that church I noticed one thing even more--a group of true believers praying for a community, who, thorough tragedy, was slowly being healed.