* Who and What

"a voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him." And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Mark 1:3-4 NIV
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In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.
James 4:17 The Message

I began to write this before I went to church tonight. I had jotted down some "dots" that I knew were connected, but hadn't quite been connected in my mind. They became solidified at some point during the evening, defining the path forward. 

I have confessed the complacency that I had allowed to slip into my life. I have been guilty of wanting to just lay back and take it easy. Not overt tolerance of wrong, but definitely a mindset of resignation - of not being able to change anything, so why bother? After so many times of hearing the "you can't change city hall" mentality, I started to believe the lie...

However, during the last week, I have prayed for passion, for focus, for COURAGE. For God to break the selfish pride, the lie that the absence of confrontation equals peace, the self-preservation tactics to not rock the boat. Every song in my spirit has been about Who and what this life I live is supposed to be lived for... and I'll give you a clue - I am not the who or the what.

Then today, I thought about the famous quote of Martin Niemoller. I wanted to make sure I got it right, so the following version actually comes from the text of an Address he gave to the United States Congress in 1968 and it appears in the Congressional Record, October 14, 1968, page 31,636.

"When Hitler attacked the Jews 

I was not a Jew, therefore I was not concerned. 

And when Hitler attacked the Catholics, 

I was not a Catholic, and therefore, I was not concerned. 

And when Hitler attacked the unions and the industrialists, 

I was not a member of the unions and I was not concerned. 

Then Hitler attacked me and the Protestant church -- 

and there was nobody left to be concerned."

I keep thinking about the words of Jesus, "If you've done it unto the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto Me." Good or bad - I've done it unto Him. Can I live with that? Can you?

I can no longer be bothered by who thinks what. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.

Father,

          Passion. Focus. Courage. Clean hands and a pure heart, in Jesus' Name I pray. Amen