See here is our problem, and I want you to read everything I write, our problem is, love is not fulfilling. The love we offer to other people NEVER satisfies anyone. We say love your neighbor as yourself, but our problem we feel empty because of it. Love is dangerous because it holds a dangerous expectation. We tell others that all we need is love… We tell others to just love… I TELL OTHERS THAT LOVE IS THE ONLY THINGS THAT MATTERS. But still, I am never satisfied. I am left craving more, and most of the time, it is painful. Think of it like this. My friends love me, but yet I still feel alone. My parents love me, but I am still spending time bitter and angry. My brothers and sister-in-law tell me they love me, but yet I still have days where I doubt my existence and purpose. I know God loves me, but yet hardships seem to be impossible to overcome, and darkened depression is relevant.
We are preaching love, which is amazing, but yet, pain is still consuming. People are still taking their lives, self-mutilating, have plummeted self-worth, have destroyed perception of truth, have a war-torn heart in a war-torn world, and yet we have the audacity to make terrible claims against people. We still judge people, we still murder people, and we still destroy people’s lives.
Pain is coming through stronger and stronger and stronger. I mean think about it, I have yet to go a day that I can remember, where I have not heard a racist or sexist comment. In the past week and a half, there have been 2 suicides that and one close attempt that I know of. I can’t even imagine the pain of the family, because I have seen the pain of the community, and that is hard enough to hear. Last academic year, there were 4 suicides on the University of North Dakota campus. This summer, I had a student tell me, they were ready to take their life, because they lost all their friends because this student no longer wanted to do drugs. I got a contacted by a parent because they discovered their daughter is cutting her arms. I know someone who hurts themselves to go to the hospital to get pain meds because of their addiction. I met someone who has such a low self-image, that eating something was one of the most painful things ever, as if everything they ate was destroying them. I met a person who, with tears in their eyes asked for a hand out of their addiction, for some hope. I have looked in parents eyes as they have begged their child to go to get away from the party scene. I know of friends who have lost contact with a friend who ran away because they refuse to go to rehab. I know of friends who have begged their parents not to get a divorce, and woke up next day to face that reality. I know of people who have broken marriages because of pornography. I know of students who argue that the only reason they drink is because their friends do that. I know of students who believe that true love is sleeping with their partner…
Pain has consumed our culture. It does not surprise me anymore when people get angry, but I have always been baffled to see our anger make enemies inside the Christian Community. Our enemy is not Flesh and Blood. It is not fought on a distant battlefield. Our enemy is the darkness that is attempting to consume our family, friends, community, nation and our world. Our enemy is not our Sunday school teachers who aren’t giving an outline of the old testament to a 1st grade class, with memory verses. Our enemy is not the youth pastor who is trying to hold his family together, while finding ways to meet youth where they are at. Our enemy is not a child who is addicted to drugs. Our enemy is not a defiant child. Our enemy is not a single mother. Our enemy is not Muslim, Jewish, Hindu or a Scientologist. Our fight is not against teacher’s who “don’t” understand how to teach a child. Our fight is not against an alcoholic, or the industry that aided them to that point. Our fight is not against a prostitute, or the people who have bought them.
Our fight is against darkness. Pain is apparent, because darkness created it. Darkness is like a cancer that consumes us and eats away at our soul.
But, and there is a BUT, we can defeat darkness. I will not promise no more pain, I will not promise no more lonliness, that is sometimes the cost of courage and faith. But, we have an upper hand.
Earlier I talked about how love is not fulfilling. I still mean that. It is not fulfilling because of one huge road block. We. Don’t. Allow. Ourselves. To . Experience. God’s. Reckless. Love. We don’t. We give the best lip-service to Jesus Christ, we really do. We preach about Christ often. But we rarely allow ourselves to be saturated in His reckless Love. I rarely allow myself to be covered by God’s reckless Love.
I have been known to be extremely ruthless towards Christians. I have been known to attack certain people/beliefs and defend certain people/beliefs. I have come to this conclusion, we are not perfect. We are not. We don’t have it all together. And that is ok. I am learning to be ok with that. I am learning to remember that Christians don’t have it all together, we are MESSED UP people. But, our identity must not be placed in that. Our identity must not be placed in this idea that we are just sinners. That we are just worthless, helpless creatures. No, in fact, God calls us HIS OWN. Our identity must be placed in Christ, and the only way that will happen is if we experience God’s Love. Now, there is not universal experience, some people experience it in the lows and some experience it in the highs. But we all must experience it. Think of the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15). At the end of the story, the father runs to the child and embraces him with a reckless Love that literally begins to knock him over. You know all the child had to do was begin to seek his father. First, recognize that God is not willing that you would be lost, so even in your worst moments, God is with you. God is not forcing you to do what He wants. Second, God is not going to cause calamity in your life to teach you, God is going to take what has happened, and be with you through it. Lastly, God wants to embrace you. God holds nothing against you.
So placing our identity in Christ is not about our identity by the world, what we are known for (good or bad). Our identity is that God takes us where we are (lows and highs). Placing your identity in Christ is about experiencing the reckless Love that is abundant. This Love is fighting against the darkness. This Love desires to fulfill you. All of us experience this Love from God in many different ways. Some of us experience in a time of worship with a community whom you trust. Some of us experience it in an orphanage in Haiti. Some of us experience it when you see a child turning from a life of drug addiction. Some of us experience Christ when we are immersed in nature. This experience taps into our identity.
Now, this is the pivotal point of all of this- Christ desires for us to never be alone. From the moment God created the universe, we see God recognize that it is not good for not even ONE of us to be alone. So our identity in Christ is often reflected in our community with each other. I am not sure if you know this, but we can experience the Love of God through our Love for each other. God knows it is not good for us to be alone. That is why community is so important. In fact in 1st Corinthians 13, it says we can know everything, we can move mountains, we can heal people and speak in tongues, yet if we don’t have Love, we have nothing.
So, this is my challenge, place your identity in Christ, let it be reflected by being loved and loving others in your community. When we experience Christ’s reckless Love, we can only begin to heal. When we have a community together placing their identity in Christ, we attack the powers and principalities that attempt to advance darkness and everything that comes with it.
A community living together in light can expose everything that darkness is trying to hide. That light does not bring guilt and shame, for those are the chains to that darkness. When we together advance into the darkness, it is because we have a God, whom our identity is in, leading us. Together darkness is defeated, and healing can begin. We are not automatically healed, nor instantly, because healing takes time. What is done in the dark can cause damage for years to come, but the beauty of the light, is that God can begin to heal you. God knew where you were the whole time, God knows what you need freedom and healing from. We as a community want to share in this healing process. In this, we can all experience the Love of Christ together, and continually destroy the evil that be. Scripture says there will be a day with no more tears, no more pain, no more fears, no more deformities, no more sickness, no more suicide, no more drug addiction, no more abuse, no more cancer but in order for that day to come, we must begin the healing from all that now.
I promise you, when you seek Christ, you will be found, for God knows where you are. I promise you, when we move as a community, darkness will run. I promise you, because of the Love God has for us, we will be compelled to fight for each other, to carry each other in times of weakness. We will be compelled to fight against suicide, self-mutilation, drug addiction, divorce, brokenness, sexual impurity, eating disorders and so much more of these lies being told in the darkness. You are not alone, God knows it is not good for you to be alone.
Our enemy is not Flesh and Blood, our enemy is the very darkness that consumes it. So go together, into this world, into our cities, into our schools, into our homes, into our rooms, and allow the light to make the darkness run, enabling others to find healing and purpose through the light God has given you through experiencing His reckless Love and your identity that is placed in a God that is compelling you to Love the ones who live in pain.
You are not alone!
Much Love,
Casey
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