Law or Love

I live in Wilmington—a beautiful small city on the North Carolina coast. Right now we're having a kerfuffle over our drinking water. Most in our community get their water from the Cape Fear River and we've recently learned a company upstream has been discharging a chemical into the river for years.

Lawyers will probably argue that the chemical is unregulated—so the company can't be held responsible. The way to test an action is by the letter of the law and economics. Love of people isn't part of the equation.

Naturally, the public is shocked that something like this could happen. I want to be shocked too. But I am a sinful person among sinful people. I know the human heart and its tendency to look first at "What do I want?" and follow with "What can I get away with?" This is living by the Law. It's as if Jesus and his kingdom never came. It's as if he never showed us another way.

The sales pitch

Why is it so hard to have a spiritual conversation in our culture? Really, why is it so hard to have conversations about anything that matters? I'm convinced it's because of the sales pitch.

We dread the doorbell for fear of the sales pitch.

We ignore the phone, imagining the sales pitch.

We unfollow 'friends' on social media because of the sales pitch.

We shop and bank online to sidestep the sales pitch.

We shun furniture and men's clothing stores because of the sales pitch.

We visit car lots after hours to avoid the sales pitch.

We wonder if "let's have coffee" will result in the sales pitch.

We avoid determined activists because of the sales pitch.

We are marketed to every day, all day long. It seems every interaction demands a transaction. Hurry! Act now! Not so in many other cultures where people can enjoy each other's company and have conversations about most anything.

What if Christians were different? What if we loved people enough just to get to know them—to spend time with them? What if we asked for nothing at all and let the Holy Spirit lead and prompt in the midst of shared life?

Together in the wilderness

Some of my best memories of college days were the times my friends and I camped together in the West Virginia wilderness. Places with names like Otter Creek and Dolly Sods were magical. Sharing those experiences with friends formed joyful memories that I'll cherish for life.

Sometimes we're led into a wilderness that looks very different. It's a dark, scary, terrible place. But even there, deep friendships are formed. Jesus is there; he never leaves us or forsakes us. And most often, others are there too. It's because we're there together that we can count even these times 'pure joy'.