this morning: came across luke 6:26: woe to you when all men speak well of you…

this afternoon: had a conversation with my mom (of all people…) about a respected friend saying very hurtful and negative things about me to others.

tonight: cranked up the ol’ ipod, turned it on ‘shuffle songs’ and up popped derek webb’s nobody loves me.

synergy, indeed. 🙂

so, as these three bits of wisdom got to stirring in my brain and as i began to get to feeling a little sorry for myself about the afternoon piece of information, i began to think about things in a broader context.

there are things i feel passionately about—things that are deeply convicting. they are things that reside deep within my heart and soul, and therefore, play themselves out in the way i live and interact with the world around me. they compel me to follow christ and to love my wife and children. they compel me to serve others and to engage others in community. they compel me to enjoy life and not take myself too seriously. they compel me to try to be humble and learn from others. the list could go on and on.

currently, these passions and convictions and callings compel me to engage in this beautiful, strange, frustrating, joyous, heartbreaking, wonderful thing call church planting. specifically, as you know, we’re starting eikon church. starting a church is an exciting and fulfilling process, but it’s also certainly a daunting and trying adventure. in the end, though, for me and many others who’ve undergone the process, the pro’s of starting a church incredibly outweigh the cons.

the opposing forces of passions and convictions are criticism and suspicion. no matter if you’re starting a church or making decisions about child-rearing or just being who you were made to be, when your passions and your deepest convictions are lived out, there’s going to be some who react with judgment and suspicion and fear.

so, in the times when i begin to wallow in my own pity or begin to feel sorry for myself, it’s important that i can hear the words of jesus. in the 6th chapter of luke, we find jesus talking to his disciples, warning them about the perceptions of others as they go and live out their passions and convictions and callings. he says, woe to you when all men speak well of you. i don’t think jesus was saying that you have to go around just ticking everybody off, but i think he was saying that when you do what god has led you to do, some people just aren’t going to like it. quite frankly, it’s not even always bad people who won’t like it. sometimes, it’s well-intentioned people who simply jump to conclusions, make assumptions or play into their own insecurities.

i’m absolutely certain that god is doing a beautiful thing with eikon church. there’s no doubt in my mind that as i engage in this process of church planting that i’m beautifully living out my deepest passions and convictions and callings. even if, in the words of saint derek, nobody loves me, i can’t not do what god has made me and called me to do.

so, to complete the synergy, take a listen to one of my favorite derek webb songs, nobody loves me.