The Tenth Chapter of Acts

About two years ago I was sitting and talking with a man in our shelter. I asked him where he was at with God and he patted his chest with his palm and said, "I have Jesus in my heart." The first thought that entered my mind was, "And who am I to say otherwise?' Even though his life bore no resemblance whatsoever to that of a "Christian", I had no more basis on which to question his salvation or his walk with the Lord than I do for anyone else - at least, not based on his lifestyle. Things are not always what they seem.

I can remember, at the age of 19, hitch-hiking from Nova Scotia to Ontario. On this particular trip, almost every ride was from a Christian. Some tried to evangelize me, some rode in peaceable silence, some talked. I'd been home a couple of days and went to a party at a friend's h0use. Another guest and I were talking and I mentioned the obvious preponderance of born-again believers on this trip and said, "I think God is trying to tell me something." I had no interest in following the Lord at all, but there he was, talking with me, all along the highway.

Tonight I had a conversation over dinner with a heroin addict. He's been an addict for over 30 years. He isn't going to get clean - it's that simple. He was stoned tonight when we talked - he's at a point in living with his addiction where he subsists on only enough to stop him from feeling sick, from having the fear come back. He mentioned that he lives with fear, and only wants peace. I prayed for him and simply asked that God would make his love real, that God would make him to know how treasured and loved he is. He lifted his head and with a stunned look on his face said that he had been praying for the very same thing before he came in tonight. That's when it dawned on me - the  heroin addict I was talking with is a child of God.

I've talked and prayed with drug addicts and alcoholics and homeless men. I've had conversations with men about God who wore prison tattoos and realized that there was no way I wanted to know what their crime was. I've heard their stories, heard them talk with great respect for the Lord, heard them share spiritual truths so profound as to leave me breathless and stunned. I can't explain it, don't have the theology for it, don't have anything to say except that I now understand this one thing - this one, simple truth that tonight has changed everything - this too is the body of Christ.

Drug addicts and drunks, dope smoking mamas whose children have been taken from them, ex-cons, filthy homeless men, single moms who are pregnant again - we are the body. And we are starving, and we are dying, and we are walking the streets at night and, before we go to the shelter for a free dinner, we are praying and asking God to love us, and to let us know we are loved. 30 years of heroin and he doesn't want to be cured, he doesn't want his enlarged liver healed, he doesn't want to have a life and a home and car and an ipod and a flat screen tv. All he wants is to know that God loves him back, and it's all I can do to keep the tears from my eyes.

We are the body.

Comments

[Dustin]

Wow, such a powerful post. I have come to love your blog and check it daily in the hopes of finding new and insightful thoughts which challenge me to the core of who I am and who God has made me to be. Thank you.

[Brian Buriff]

I've never been to medical school. I've never had a college level human anatomoy/physiology class. I can only imagine the deepth and width and breadth of the body that I'm not ever aware of. And if I did study it, it would simply raise more questions and curiosities that would cause me to study it and learn even more. Yes, the body of Christ - so much that we take for granted and so much greater that we'll ever understand. The more we learn of it, the less we really know.

[bobbie]

the verses in matthew 9 come to mind - "Jesus, overhearing, shot back, “Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I'm after mercy, not religion.’ I'm here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

why is it that the church spends 95% of it's time coddling insiders?

moving thoughts, thank you. i may not have the tattoos or show my own broken parts as obviously as those you deal with ever day, but i do know what it feels like to be an outsider - and i'm so glad he came for the likes of me.

[lorna]

we ARE the body - all of us :)

and btw I love what bobbie commented too

[bobbie]

thanks lorna!

[V.]

I am journeying with a group of people who are finding themselves in a place of being draw to 'Christ the church' in exactly these ways. We have all been 'churched' and find it sorely lacking on the sides of mercy and compassion.

We see Jesus in strange places. Some of us have been braver than others in walking into those places.

You have said this so well, I will undoubtedly be passing on the link to a few others who will enjoy it / be inspired by it/ be moved to action by it.

Thank You.

[Robert]

Some people have not learned or have not chosen to disguise their pain and hurt. This post makes me wonder how the church became alot more like a social club as opposed to the body of Christ??? I pray we will all learn to see everyone as a person who Jesus loves and not make any distinctions based on appearance or social pressures or anything thanks rwk!!

[dudehead]

Thank you.

Your post made me think of this:

Yet we had been seeing another kind of flight, a spiritual liberation from this world, people who rose above their problems. They said God made these things possible, and we only smiled. We had seen spiritual release, but liked to tell ourselves it wasn't true.

Actually we were fooling ourselves, for deep down in every man, woman, and child, is the fundamental idea of God. It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there. For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself.

We finally saw that faith in some kind of God was a part of our make-up, just as much as the feeling we have for a friend. Sometimes we had to search fearlessly, but He was there. He was as much a fact as we were. We found the Great Reality deep down within us. In the last analysis it is only there that He may be found. It was so with us.

http://anonpress.org/bb/Page_55.htm

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

Dustin - Thanks for being here with us.

Brian - It's true - the more we learn the less we know. I'm constantly humbled and amazed by the way I find Christ in the most unexpected places.

bobbie - I'm having a love affair with my own church - when it's not driving me crazy, that is.

lorna - Smiley Faces right back atcha!

V. - I know what you mean about bravery. This kind of ministry isn't for everyone and, truth be told, following Jesus requires courage on a lot of different levels.

Robert - Thanks! I know what you mean about hiding our pain. Unfortunately, church isn't always a safe place to be vulnerable.

dudehead - I give a 3 minute (or less) "Jesus Talk" before dinner each night. I have forgone the bible on some nights to read from "We Agnostics" It is the best examination of faith I have ever encountered.

[Joan B.]

Examining myself after reading this powerful post, it occurred to me that I have a long way to go in seeing Christ's whole body as all inclusive. Even more disturbing to me was the thought that it is sometimes easier for me to picture an inclusive body when looking at the people you are working with than it is when I deal with the unlovable arrogant business suit across the hall. Thought provoking as always. I'm always challenged when I stop here.

[Iwriteyoureadwetalk]

Thanks for this... I have become so caught up in my anger toward the church that I often forget about important things.

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

Joan B. - I do know what you mean, absolutely. My real difficulty is that I have trouble seeing God at church and in the church folks around me. I think the thing is that the experiences at the Mission are so intense that church often doesn't seem real. I really struggle to see God in the expected places.

Iwriteyoureadwetalk - Anger is just so difficult to live with, isn't it?

[Iwriteyoureadwetalk]

Yes, I agree but sometimes it is all people feel they have left. Maybe other just have a tougher skin than me, but when I do focus on the anger... it is easier not to miss ministry.

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

Iwriteyoureadwetalk - It's not a matter of having tougher skin - the idea is to resolve the conflict that is causing us anger. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, but I'm not sure what ministry can grow out of anger, nor can I see how anger makes us more receptive to ministry. Perhaps you can enlighten me.

[Ansku]

You got it.

Powerful post. Thank you.

[Iwriteyoureadwetalk]

No sorry to be confusing I did state that in a weird way. What I was trying to say is that despite my anger I do miss being part of a ministry sometimes. I have withdrawn myself from the Christian society that I was once a part of. And despite the fact that I have had a long time away I still miss it sometimes. Although I do not believe I could stomach the things I once was around (i.e. Church politics, taking advantage of the less fortunate, etc.). I am not saying ministry can grow from anger, just that I fear I still have a lot of anger after all of this time.

[[rhymes with kerouac]]

Ansku - It's good to have you with us...

Iwriteyoureadwetalk - Thanks for that - it does make a lot of sense what you're saying. I think on many levels we need one another - we're built for relationships and community, A lot of the stuff that goes with organized religion, however, is indeed ugly. I hope you find some peace in place of the anger you feel now - or at least find a group of believers who don't practice that which has hurt you so.

[~m2~]

rwk, it is difficult to choose which one of your posts affects me in the most profound ways...this is definitely one of them.

(i am hijacking part of bobbie's comment for my sidebar, with your permission...)

peace, bro.
p

[Carrie Panos]

I am a recovering heroin/crack addict and used for 23 or mores years. I live in a shelter, I lost my home, my job, husband is in jail, and almost lost my precious children.
All I had to was call on the name of Jesus and he reached out and saved me from a world of hopelessness and despair. I am not saying I don't do the footwork because it is the hardest thing I have ever done but living in this shelter and getting humble is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I know longer hang my head in shame because I can't face God, He never gave up on me NEVER. I was the one who had given up. I now know the patience and love that has always been there and the God forgives me and it is me that needs to forgive myself. All addicts can recover but it is a leap of faith and the biggest one I have ever taken.
I had to be left with nothing worldly so I could find and except God back into my life just as I did as small child.
I had to walk the journey I walked to be who I am today with just 9 months clean and I wouldn't change a thing. I have God, my best friend in my life and I hold his hand everyday. Thank you God for never giving up on me.