The title could be no more nebulous, I like that.
I am finding that all the intellect in the world does not matter as much as I might think. Being smart might be nice, I wouldn't know, but knowing God is the only worthwhile pursuit. No matter how much I could tell someone about the facts of Christianity (whichever facts I may believe) that is generally not what changes a person. What changes a person is meeting other people whose lives change other people. Great people inspire greatness.
There are few people who would have disrespected Mother Teresa. Her kindness was tempered with humility that almost forced people to listen to her speak. Her stature was small, I'm not sure she was even 5 feet tall, yet her presence was enormous. She had authority, an unassuming authority that graced people. She was not powerful, she was authoritative. It is authentic authority that people will listen to.
I met a man at the National Missionary Convention whose life will hopefully change me permanently. His name is Ash Barker. He moved from comfortable Australian living to an urban area of disaster. He moved with his wife into places that most people would consider untouchable. He did this in order to share the gospel with these down and out people. Ash correctly realized that a gospel that is not good news to the poor, is not good news at all. The gospel that Ash taught was not that the poor will become rich, but that the poor can have worth and value in the eyes of God, and hence in the eyes of God's people. It is in this that the people can then rejoice. For the community will take care of them, the poor can rejoice. Sadly, the community at large has forgotten this. But through Ash's work, the neighborhood he moved to became an area of hope.
Ash started an organization called Urban Neighbors of Hope (UNOH). With that, he moved his family (wife and daughter at the time, he now has a son) into the Klong Toey slum in Bangkok, Thailand. This community of 80,000 people live in 2 square kilometers, and do not have a proper sewerage system. The area is rampant with disease, the people are incredibly poor. This is not the type of place most peopel visit, let alone want to life. But because Christ has called his people to serve the poor, Ash went. He started a community center and began helping out in a local church. He is helping show God's love to people who need to hear some good news. Ash's voice to others is a voice of authority, no one can doubt the sincerity of this man. Yet probably the most remarkable of all Ash's attributes is that he does not condemn those who are not as active in serving the poor as he is. He believes (and rightly so) that Christians need to be invovled in solving proverty in the world, but he is not condemning of those who have not realized this yet. His attitude is not cynical, but grace-filled. He a person to whom people will and do listen carefully. He has authority.
Authority comes from knowing God. When Jesus spoke, he spoke with authority. His authority came from knowing God. May I ever be a person who knows God. May I always spend my energy on the only thing worthy of pursuit, knowing God. May God be as real and intimate with me as my own self. I wish to know God, I say. Better and better every single day. I wish to hear his tender voice. I long to have his blessed insights. His tender mercies to be my speach. His great love to be my reach. Within my hand he grace to give. And for his sake, my life to live.
And this is eternal life to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
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