Plug into Relationships

I remember, not so long ago, putting on a CD on Saturday mornings as our family went about our household chores. We all listened together, in community. Today, we all have our own Ipods, so we can listen to what we want, and we plug in our earphones and plug each other out! I remember, not so long ago, actually going into the bank and knowing the tellers by name and visiting with them a little as I did my banking business. Now, rarely do I ever actually go to a bank. I do all my banking online and if I have to make a deposit, I use an ATM. I remember, not so long ago, not having cell phones and actually having to talk to others. Now, I do more texting than talking. I even remember, not so long ago, when someone came to the car and pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield and checked your oil and tire pressure! Now, I simply swipe my credit card and "pay at the pump." Not contact required! The last time we returned to Canada, the grocery store and hardware store had automated checkouts. We could choose whether or not we wanted to speak to anyone or simply stay in our own little world, isolated and alone.


The modern world is becoming less and less connected, relationally. Yet, we serve a God who sent His Son, to connect with the world, relationally. This Son gave us a relational ministry - that of reconciliation - as though we were His "ambassadors, making His appeal through us!" 2 Corinthians 5.


How, as believers, can we live in this modern world and enjoy the technology that has simplified our lives, but at the same time, not get so plugged into ourselves that we are plugged out of the world around us? It is a challenging question.



Living in rural Guatemala, has helped us take a step back and see what is happening in our home culture so much more clearly than if we never would have left. Here, our world is relational. Relationships always superceed tasks and people are always more important than things.



This is not so, when we go back to Canada. Yet, Jesus called us, as believers, to be fishers of men - "to go and make disciples of all nations..." Matthew 28:19. That takes time; it takes energy; it takes heart; it takes committment; it takes relationship!


We are coming home for a visit in June. I didn't think I was going to be able to join Rocky and Hope, but thanks to my parents' generosity, I can! One thing I am going to try to focus on, while in Canada, is to engage in relationship, wherever I am. If I am at the grocery store, I am going to choose the checkout with a person working the cash register so that I can, in some small way, build relationship and be a blessing. I am going to take the time to talk to the people I encounter along the way, because this is what Jesus would do and because He lives in me, this is what I am to do!


Will this make errands take longer? Absolutely! But I really believe it is worth it. You see, the only way we, as the body of Christ, are going to reach the lost in our culture, is by building relationships one person at a time. Jesus took the time with me, and it radically transformed my life. Now, because I no longer live for myself, but for Him who died for me and was raised again, this ministry is mine! Wow! Challenging, hey?


The Lord is speaking to me about unplugging from my own isolated world and plugging into those around me, speaking words of life to all I encounter, being salt and light in the mission field where God has planted me as His ambassador, so that the lost in my community can be found! I challenge you to do the same!


Blessings on you,

Karren