New way to be human (taken from www.xanga.com/selaheto)

"we are all the same, human in all our ways and all our... pain"...

it's been almost three weeks since i last blogged. i've been trying to develop this entry for quite awhile now. i think it's about time for me to try and "write this on paper" and see where it'll take me. while we were playing at a coffee house one night in Grantham, PA, one of their very own missionary was sharing something along the lines of how he struggled sometimes as a missionary. he felt like he had to play "the perfect christian". that was the very same night that i felt God reaching out to me and screaming in my face. it's been awhile. it's about time again...

a common misconception about missionaries, i believe, is that they have to be somewhat "ready" for ministry. and hence all the sophisticated application procedures from all the missions organizations as well as churches. there's intensive training to ensure that people are "ready for ministry". there's nothing inherently wrong with that. i believe it's an essential quality to have - spiritual maturity, or even just discipline. it's important that people are signing up for what they're signing up for. it's true. but at the same time. that's what gives us the unnecessary pressure that we feel sometimes don't you think? as worship leaders, as missionaries, as Christian bands, or even, as Christians, we feel the pressure. we feel the pressure that we have to be somewhat "holy-er" than the people we're "ministering" to. we feel like we have to have life all figured out. we feel like we can't fail. we feel like, we just can't be "human"...

i'm often asked to write something on the blog from the ministry that i'm a part of this year. i'm often asked to share more with others about the things that i'm learning. i'm often asked by others to update them on what we're doing as a team on the road. when these requests come up, i feel the need to live up to a certain level of expectation. i feel like i have to tell them all these glorious "God-stories". i feel like i need to tell them about how much we're learning as a team, how much we're growing as individuals, how we're getting along really well, how we're traveling to all these cool places meeting new people, how all these lives are being touched and changed "as a result of our ministry". basically, i feel that people want to know that all is well, and that "their prayer" is "working"...

this time around, it's a little different... but not at the same time. you'll know what i mean in a moment... but this is my God-story...

"we are all the same, human in all our ways and all our pain..."

that's a line from the song We Believe by Good Charlotte that we cover. this, lately, has been one of my favorite things to share with whoever i'm "ministering" to on stage. i've been reminded that we ARE indeed, all the same. i was reminded that even though i've been chosen to be a "full time minister" this year, that i don't need to be perfect. i'll never be perfect. i need to STRIVE to be like Christ, but i will never... be Christ, himself. i was reminded that it's ok to struggle. it's ok to slip. i'm not saying that it's ok to indulge in sinning. but it's ok to be a sinner. it's ok to be human!

that sounds like Eliot is starting to be all apathetic about his faith and his walk with God...

think again. i think you're wrong.

"we are all the same, human in all our ways and all our pain...

(so let it be) there's a LOVE that could fall down like rain,

(so let us see) let forgiveness wash away the pain,

(what we need) no one really knows what they are searching for,

(we believe) this world is crying for so much more!" - We Believe, Good Charlotte

that's our message isn't it. we struggle. God helps us. we slip. He encourages us. we fall. He picks us up. we sin... over and over again... he died for us... ONCE and FOR ALL!

that's our message. our message is that we're NOT perfect. we're human. we're all the same. whether it's inmates, Christian students, non-Christian students, seniors, single moms, the abuser, the abused, the broken, the empty, the losers, the nerds, the rejects, the jocks, class clown, the pastor, the average Joe... we are all the same. human. that's what we are. that's who we are. we can't help ourselves. we are all the same. we can all somehow relate to each other. we're born sinful. we're sinful no matter how hard we try. we all struggle. we will always struggle no matter how hard we try. we are... all the same...

that's our message. we are all the same. but God wins! he conquered death and has washed away all our sins, that's only if WE BELIEVE.

so what do we do? I believe... you believe... but so what you might ask. well it might be somewhat of a rhetorical question. but this is why we do what we do - we believe... in this Love. we are just the same as the people that we minister to or maybe even just those that we come into contact with day to day - at Wendys for brunch, at Subway for dinner, at church setting up, at host homes tearing down, on the streets playing ball, and wherever else doing whatever else. we are all the same... the key word in this phrase is this... human in all our WAYS and all our PAIN! that's why we want others to hear the message isn't it? we are all human. we're all sinful. and as a result of a sinful nature... as a result of sin... PAIN! that's why we do what we do...

it's so easy, as a minister, as a Christian (i believe those two words are synonymous), to think that ministry is JUST a responsibility. it's JUST an obligation. it's JUST... part of what you signed up for. NO. i think those are all TRUE. but there's MORE. let me draw ANOTHER example from ANOTHER song that we cover...

"there are many prodigal sons, on our city streets they run, searching for shelter

there are homes broken down, peoples' hopes have fallen to the ground from failures.

there are schools full of hatred, even churches have forsaken, Love and Mercy.

may we see this generation, in its state of desperation, for your Glory." - Tears of the Saints, Leeland

the song goes on to say that "this is an emergency". that's why we do what we do, yea?

"there's a new way to be human"... a line taken from a Switchfoot song. im just stealing this line to develop my blog. i believe that MY new way to be human... is to EMBRACE the fact that i'm human. i failed. i fail. i'll always fail. He won. He wins. He'll always win. He loved. He loves. He'll always love... he can't NOT love. because He himself... is LOVE... we are to live with a sense of urgency, not necessarily to CONVERT people. but imagine this, there're people rolling on the floor with agonizing pain. on the other hand, you've got what it takes to heal the wounds. what would you do? it's not about scoring "Christian points". it's not about a salvation rate. it's about a love. it's about LOVE, Himself

"there's a love that could fall down like rain... let forgiveness wash away... YOUR pain..."

there's a new way to be human... just BE human... and not anybody else... embrace your humanity. embrace... his supremacy, sovereignty... and mercy...

Love. really is more than just a four letter word...

just speak without sound... that's Love...