KGBlog

random quote from the current read:

"she said, 'the most important thing in all human relationships is conversation, but people don't talk anymore, they don't sit down to talk and listen. they go to the theatre, the cinema, watch television, listen to the radio, read books, but they almost never talk. if we want to change the world, we have to go back to a time when warriors would gather around a fire and tell stories.' "

rob bell was talking about this in a sermon i just listened to...saying that jesus calls his followers to confront one another about sins, faults, injuries (intended or otherwise), all the random misunderstanding that will cause tension, etc....but we live in a world where we are so unaccustomed to conversation, much less confrontation, that we are scared to do this.

why?

we are scared by the thought that we will offend...which will more than likely happen from time to time. in a world where general conversation rarely makes it beyond the weather, last nights playoff game, or the last episode of the office, how can we expect people to be mature enough to handle even constructive criticism well.

but i've jumped the gun...we're still scared of real conversation and i've moved on to confrontation. why are we scared of real conversation? we are freaked out by the idea that someone will get to know us through it. there's the obvious fear that they won't like the "real us" but lets skip that obvious one and go on to the fact that we can't handle commitment. if we share ourselves with people then we begin to grow a relationship in which we are obliged to take on responsibility of maintaining that relationship...we have to be there for them....and what if being there for them cuts into our own freedom to do whatever we want to do....how dare they impose on our time...and so on and so forth. that is our fear.

be in community. open up. share. your life was never meant to be your own. commit to friends. live.

"we're either passengers or fools behind the wheel"

-jon foreman