Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Spy?


Mom flew in from Jacksonville this weekend accompanied by my brother, David. Since this was her first visit since we moved here last October, we wanted to show her around and catch some of the museums in D.C. One of the museums we spent some time in was the International Spy Museum. We saw all of the gadgetry used over the centuries by spies from all over the world from as way back as the Old Testament, where the Bible talks about Joshua sending spies to spy out the promised land. It was a great museum. At the beginning of the self-guided tour we were shown a picture and asked to pick out the people who looked suspicious and were spies and objects that were being used for spying. Some things were very easy to pick out but others were very difficult if you didn't have a trained eye. It made me wander, what if someone had a portrait and I was in this portrait along with others and people were asked to pick out the "Christ follower"...would they pick me? Of course only God knows our heart, but if someone had to pick...? Is my life different so as to be noticeable to others? What would give it away? Does my life point people to Jesus? I really don't want to be a "spy" for Jesus, someone who deliberately seeks to hide his identity. But, I also don't want to be the guy on the soap box with a megaphone either. I want to be somewhere in the middle...balanced. Loving God out loud by quietly loving my neighbor.
Duane

2 comments:

Pete and Cindi Olsen said...

Hey Duane,
How true it is that so many of us are like spies when we really don't want to be. And you're right. We don't want to be on that soap box either. Both are extremes. balance buddy. How I crave for balance in my walk.
It seems we live in a culture of extreme presentation and need.
It's always great to read your blog and reflect. You have a way of stating what we are thinking honestly and thoughtfully. Thanks for that.
Cindi and I are moving back to Ontario in a little over a month.
Don't know what I'll be doing when I get back. I've applied for some ministry work but...we'll see. I don't want to go back into church work so I can "do church". I want to pursue "being church" so...we'll see where it all leads.
Thanks for your thoughts and words. They are so encouraging.
I noticed you changed the grand opening dates for Mosaic. How come?
Pete

Duane said...

Hey Pete,
Sorry I haven't got back to you. I've kinda had a dry spell here lately. God's been working on me. We felt we were not ready and that we may have been ahead of God. We didn't have things in place that were needed to launch. So, we pushed it back to September. Pray for us and a guy name Bob that we are asking God to make a way for him and his family to move here from Arizona to lead our worship. Hope the move goes well and pray that you find what God wants for you there in Ontario. You could always move to Culpeper!
Duane