Too Much?

Betsy made me think.  I actually know that is her job and I have heard she is quite good at it.  :)

There is a song by Styx,

Every night I say a prayer
in hope that there’s a heaven
And every day I’m more confused
as the saints turn into sinners
All the heroes and legends
I knew as a child
have fallen to idols of clay
and I feel this empty place inside
so afraid that I’ve lost my faith.

I see this in the lives around me–not the least of which is my wife.  It is so unnecessary.  It is the ones who are supposed to be godly that are screwing it up.  It is the ones who clutch their Bibles to their chest as they parrot empty platitudes about goodness and rightness while evil slowly chokes the life from this congregation.

I don’t know exactly what my role is.  Is it to be the voice of one crying in the wilderness for repentance or is it to be a herald calling people out of a lost city?  Perhaps my role is to simply fade away and allow them to live their own little dream without the disturbing pieces of the Gospel they have ignored for so long.

My wife and I have struggled hard here.  We have discussed until neither of us want to even talk any more.  We know–if we came only to be light for S and his family, it was enough.

Last night I received an email from S’s daughter sharing the deep fight that still is in her soul from the vicious attack that had its genesis in our church–a fight that nearly cost us her life.  As I typed a response, I knew.  This is what the resurrection is for.  It is not for those who prefer death, but for those who are willing to fight it with every breath.

That is the Gospel.  Resurrection is real.  Life wins over death.  Love overwhelms hate.  The God who raised His Son from the grave will recreate us in His image.

The image of One who bore a cross.  Kind of makes my too much a little like…well, like the weakness which finds its hope in resurrection.

Show me the way, show me the way
Take me tonight to the river
and wash my illusions away
Show me the way, show me the way
Give me the strength and the courage
To believe that I’ll get there someday
Show me the way

Thanks, Betsy.