Bel-fasten Your Seatbelts!

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.” 

-2 Corinthians 5:16

Today I said farewell to dozens of Young Adult Volunteers as they climbed into airport shuttles, destined for Denver, Miami, Nashville, Colombia, South Korea, and about a dozen other sites around the globe. My flight is only hours away. Our farewells come at the end of a week-long orientation where we challenged and encouraged each other, preparing to step into our new communities. Particularly we wrestled with how to faithfully move from a place of privilege into partnership with communities that have had to bear the tremendous cost of our privilege.

This reflection was an occasion for me to consider the words of Paul to a Corinthian church that was divided along the lines of rich and poor, powerful and weak. These divisions are human-made. The lens I bring with me to Belfast tends to dehumanize and divide. While I can never fully relinquish this thorn in the flesh, by grace I may learn to regard others from a different point of view. In Belfast I should not look out and see people who need my help, or people who need Jesus, or people who just need to get along. Instead I should see the Holy Spirit at work in a community that is loved, broken, and praying for redemption, just like anybody else.

The volunteers I met this week are energetic emissaries of a God whose affection does not recognize boundaries. As partners in mission they will encounter God in themselves and in the people they meet. As you pray for me, please pray also for the 90 or so other YAVs who will be participating in God’s ministry in dozens of communities, small and large.