hosanna

a couple weekends ago i went to see this guy named tony campolo speak at this church near downtown.

i wasn't too excited over the fact that i was going to hear some old guy speak for ten bucks of my dad's valuable cash - but he turned out to be a really cool guy. i'm all over his ideas and ministry and passions.

there's this one story that really stuck out to me, as i had been thinking about this a good deal before i had attended his lecture.

tony said that he was filling in for a a high-up speaker that was to talk at wheaton college who couldn't make it. he said that the kids at wheaton were used to hearing great minds share their thoughts - billy graham and esteemed teachers of the like. he assumed these kids would be full
of enthusiasm for the the things of God.

tony was sharing with the kids at wheaton the same things he was talking to me about... finding out what our obligation to the needy is, embracing it, and acting upon it. being radical for Jesus. he said that the kids were nodding off. while tony was sharing sickening statistics of a dying world to these kids, they were apathetic and sleepy.

and then tony said, "and that sad part is - you don't give a shit!" all of the sudden the students perked up. began to stare at him, and look around to each other. they were pretty shocked that this guy just said shit at their christian college. then tony said, "and what's even more sad is you care more that i just said "shit" than the fact that there are 45,000 children dying everyday because of malnutrition and we're doing nothing about it."

tony made an awesome point that i've been meditating on quite a good deal lately. he said this is the problem with christians - they are so pious and concerned with trivial matters like saying four letter words, and they think that is what being a christian is about, when in all actuality, being a christian is not about obstaining the use of four letter words, but about being broken over the same things that break God's heart.

i've been struggling with the passage "they will know we are christians by the way we love." sometimes i don't want people to know i'm a christian. because i'm as skeptical as a non-believer. honestly - when i think of a christian, i think of hypocricy, pomp, and TBN.

and i'm a christian. stink.

i want to be like Jesus so bad. maybe once our hearts are broken over the same things, i will learn a little bit more how to be like him.

(i can't help put through a hillsong plug in here. there's this new song off their newest album - it's called hosanna, the song is, and the bridge has this awesome part that talks exactly about what i just did. go my friends. listen and sing.)