Illusions of Grandeur

I want to know Christ. I want you to see him in my eyes, my love, my tears, my laughter. I want him to emanate from me in such a way that when you see me you will be attracted not to me, but to Jesus in me. I want to see past your skin and into the soul that lies beneath. I do not care that you are scarred or obnoxious or slow or angry; I will love you regardless of who you are. This desire to be like Jesus is very real, coming from deep inside of me. But how much do I really want to be like him? I want the result without the work that goes with it. I am like a person who wishes to lose weight, yet has no intention of dieting. I want to be like Christ, yet I do not have an interest in studying his words or in spending more than two minutes talking to him. In my mind I will wash your feet, even breathe my last in service for you. But give me a real person to serve and my desire turns to disdain. I never wanted to be this way. Is this yearning inside of me no more than an empty, meaningless desire? I will be like Jesus in my fantasies, but what has that to do with real life? Christ, change me.

The Message of the Cross

The world exalts the strong, the powerful, the rich, the athletic, the fashionable, the resilient, the driven, the popular, the intelligent, the gifted.

Christianity exalts the weak, the desperate, the poor, the humble, the downtrodden, the abandoned, the broken.

It is for this reason that the cross is foolishness to the world.

It is for this reason that the world is foolishness to God.