Keeping The Oppressor At Bay

Dear Brothers & Sisters:

When I became a Christian in the middle of a grocery store, I was a
very angry person. I was in the middle of a divorce. All that I owned
was sitting in the back of a pickup truck. The very help I had embraced
for 9 years had turned on me. All my supports and underpinnings
evaporated overnight. The only thing I knew to do was go to work and
get a coffee to start the day. That morning I met with the Lord. In one
fell swoop, angers and resentments had washed away. I knew that anger
and resentment had not helped me.

And one day I came across a Jewish maxim somewhere. Uplift the
oppressor without destroying the oppressor. I soon realized it was
easier said than done. How do I serve people without killing the ones
who put them here? Hmmm.

This week I watched another man face the same realities. What will he
do I wonder? What will He do I meditate on? The person is my son,
Tyler. As many in this group of friends know, he received a brain
injury 5 years ago this coming month. While he has made many strides,
judgment is not one of them. (It is always hard to tell the difference
between youthful flights of fancy and what did not click. Lack of
judgment put him behind bars over the weekend. The reasons are
irrelevant. The realities mounting.

Once again there are a group of us who face that Jewish maxim.

And so the other night in our training, we dealt with challenges to our
faith. The most "popular" one was the inability to confront or to
confront well. Usually, the majority of Christians I meet, are passive
(And frustrated and angry and resentful!) leaving people without an
understanding of where they are at, only to lead to the more
recognizable style of aggressive anger. You know...when a number 1
indiscretion, finds you walking around with your head rolling along the
floor beside you. The "aggressive" person coming at you with a number
10 "billy club" of anger.

What is the middle ground? It is a placed that has the title
"assertive." This is the place of dialog and conveyance of feelings
without the John the Baptist head on the platter syndrome. The place
where both parties walk away feeling refreshed and at peace with one
another. And it is certainly the place of Jesus. The place of peace and
harmony and unity. So much so, with us we plan on working on this more
here. You and I can not have deeper relationships when we are unable to
resolve disagreements. And everyone has the capability to be the
oppressor. And we must work overtimes to keep that part of us at bay
through the loving and caring gentle work of Him.

God's desires are that our relationships open and bloom, not shrivel up
and die. We must convey that in all of our relationships. When we come
to a place of unity and forgiveness, we walk as Jesus did. Level one
disputes deal with level one response. Part of that is our quickness to
judge or misread a circumstance.

The other day a woman came to my store and wanted to sell some things.
OK. I made her an offer. She did not think it was enough and removed
some of the pieces to make it fair in here mind. She did this 3 or 4
times. It was "uncomfortable" for me. I would rather not have her or
the pieces in the store under the circumstances. A man who was
wandering around the store was watching. When we finally came to an
agreement she took her check and left the store. The man came up to me
and said this. "Man, your heart must be as big as a mountain. I could
never have done that. I would have kicked her out." Bing! Opportunity
to talk about Jesus.

Another woman came in who was mentally challenged. She wanted to talk
to me about getting married because she saw my wedding band. As the
result of our conversation, her caregiver spent over $100. One of my
friends and I discussed "being in ministry." I suggested coming to the
store once a week!

We are all in the same boat. We can be oppressed. Or be the oppressing
one. Or we can strive for that place of harmony with others. As a
Christian I do not think "I do not want to" is a category. My greatest
struggle is often with Christian who is an oppressor or does not want
to work on relationships because they are "hard." (Sounds like that
Barbie doll that was all the rage when it said "Math is hard.") It
takes all my strength not to move to oppressor level myself in those
circumstances. (Even this morning I had the opportunity to write a
diatribe about closet Christianity and the "rules" it has.) Last week I
received a word about bringing reconciliation to the region.
Reconciliation? Well-golly gee, it begins with me. And it definitely
works against my sin nature to get even.

Relationships are hard. That is how we achieve overcoming status. Our
life is not measured by the great sermon we gave or the support we gave
to the mission fields but by us overcoming life on a daily basis. It
often irritates(Still trying to get it in check!) me as Christianity
looks for "excitement." The excitement is being in love with GOD and
Him loving me. All else is bells and whistles. "I want to do the
stuff!" So do I. It happens in daily encounters and opportunities to
walk away from people or to stay.

We can do this. We can overturn the facts that have caused Christianity
in some cases to become a four letter word. Are you happy? Tell it your
face. Smile. Change the world. We can gather in unity and harmony
because we mean it. And we can see life changing results.

We thank you for your prayers and your love!

Blessings,
lee

http://www.pocafministries.org
http://pcfministries.blogspot.com/
http://compelthem.blogspot.com/
Lee & Tina Johndrow
www.vermontel.com/~servant/ministryopportunity
www.countryartifacts.com