Years ago I sat in a small circle of teens and adults anxiously preparing to process the day's events. We were on a mission trip and the team was not getting along with each other too well. Much of the turmoil was coming from friction between the adults.
Our meeting was being delayed by one of these adults who had decided to take an evening shower - either not knowing or not caring that everyone else was waiting for her. As the youth pastor, I was not about to start our meeting without everyone present, especially when we were struggling with unity.
This stirred up the oldest member of our team, the grandfather of one of the teenagers. He grumbled loudly, "So ... we all get to wait while the princess takes her shower?"
I reminded him that as a group of believers we were called to love each other.
At this the old man snapped: "You can't expect us to LOVE each other!"
Nowadays I would have a much sharper rebuttal than I did in that moment.
I would say, Love is exactly what God expects from us. If our Christian faith does not move us closer to genuine love of God and self-sacrificing love for others, it is not the least bit authentic. As Paul told the Galatians, "What matters is faith expressing itself in love."
As it was, I slammed my Bible down on an empty chair and cussed a little.
Not my finest ministry moment.
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