Drawn

I have been watching the Olympics off and on.  Having grown up running track and field and being taught swimming lessons by an Olympic swimmer, it is only natural.  But this year I have especially noticed which athletes draw me in.  So I ask ... what draws you in?

The question, above, is really not about the Olympics.  It is more about life.  What is compelling to you?  What captures you so that you want more?  And are the things that "draw" you cultural or spiritual?

In Acts, we find the stark reactions of people who are either cultural or spiritual.  Paul, In Acts 18, leads Crispus, a synagogue leader, and his entire household to the Lord.  In the same chapter, Paul is attacked by other Jews and is accused of "persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law (Acts 18:13)."  He (Paul) experiences two vastly different responses by people who are supposedly devout Jews.  One group is drawn to the law and the other is drawn by the Holy Spirit.  Both groups claim the moral "high ground."

As I read this account, I can't help but look at the culture in which we live.  I can almost hear the voices of cultural Christians who would say, "Let them believe what they want.  I can't tell other people how to believe or follow God. It's all good!"  Let's let that sink in for a moment!  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6),"  but we are willing to say, "It's all good!?"

Is "IT" all good for our children?  One writer said, "We raise our kids in an aquarium, but release them into the ocean!"  I wonder if this modern idea of allowing our kids to decide what they will believe for themselves has created a generation that has huge mental health issues and a myriad of substance abuse problems.  If we (parents, teachers, Christians) fail to teach them about God, faith, values, and right, what will "draw" them?  Maybe self, substances, and their emotions?  Where will they be when self, substances and emotions leave them spent?  They will be empty and lost in an ocean filled with unfriendly and unhealthy beasts.  It isn't ALL good for our children.

Is "IT" all good for us?  I watch the sports announcers of our generation and see a vast emptiness.  They seek the brash, the boisterous, and the "out there."  That stuff sells, because it is part of life's meaningless soap opera.  And people are drawn to all of this.  And Paul, in his wonderful way (and amid persecution) says, "fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely and admirable (Philippians 4:8)."  It isn't ALL good for our adults.

I love the quote from one of our Olympic athletes ... one that I am drawn to ... Sydney McLaughlin.  In the midst of brash victory demonstrations, me-focused histrionics, and prideful pompousness, I see a young woman who seems to have her head on straight.  Here are her words ... "I don't deserve anything.  But through grace and faith, Jesus has given me everything.  Records come and go, but the glory of God is eternal."

Maybe, as our kids go off to school, college, or into the workforce, we teach them what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable."  And, maybe we express the value of being drawn to these things that will breathe substance and life into an otherwise empty world.  And, maybe the ocean of the world will become more beautiful and less dangerous!  Randy