A Moment With Mullins

Thanks to everyone for all the kind birthday wishes yesterday.  I am also amazed to have passed 35,000 hits to this blog.  It was a great day- and I don't feel a day over 50!

In the very first days of creation, in the book of Genesis, we find a question that has been debated throughout the history of humans.  Cain had just murdered his brother Abel, and God comes to him in Genesis 4:9- Then the LORD said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he replied. "Am I my brother's keeper?"   God spends much of the rest of the Bible answering that question with a definitive YES!  Over and over again in scripture we are called upon to love one another, encourage one another, enable one another, support one another and protect one another.  The entire story of Jesus is a love letter from God to each of us.  He sent his Son to die for us because He could no longer bear being separated from humans.  Scripture (1 John 4:7-8) tells us "God is love."  Jesus taught us in John 13:35- By this will they know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.  Notice it does not say, "They will know we are Christians because we don't curse, drink, chew or go with girls who do"- but that often seems like our creed.  Why is it that Christians are so often the first to point fingers and the last to show love?

The late Rich Mullins thought it had something to do with the fact that many of us in the church tend to see ourselves as "saviors" rather than as "lovers."  We want to correct behavior, not love people despite their actions.  Rich said it like this:

God has called us to be lovers.  So we "love" as long as we see "results."  We give of ourselves as long as our investments pay off, but if the ones we love do not respond, we tend to despair...and even resent those we pretend to love.  Because we love someone, we want them to be free of addictions, of sin, of self- and that is as it should be.  But it might be that our love for them and our desire for their well-being will not make them well.  (From the book Rich Mullins:  An Arrow Pointing To Heaven by James Bryan Smith, 2000.  Broadman & Holman Publishers)

In other words, our job is to love.  God will handle everything else in His way and in His time.  You cannot prevent me from sinning- but you can love me anyway.  I used to say quite often that in this "fairy tale" that is life, the job of the church is to kiss frogs.  Not all will turn into princes;  some will give us warts.  But God places us here to kiss frogs.

Rich wrote the song Brother's Keeper to express his thoughts on this subject.  The chorus says:
                                                 I will be my brother's keeper

Not the one who judges him

I won't despise him for his weakness

I won't regard him for his strength

I want take away his freedom

I will help him learn to stand

And I will, I will be my brother's keeper

Listen to and watch the video below.  Then consider the question Cain asked of God all those years ago.  Are you ready to be "a lover of souls?"  Will people know you are a Christian by your love?  If the answer is YES, then I praise God for you.  Because I am one "brother" who needs some keeping...