The Outsiders

Have you ever felt like the "outsider"?

Here is a story of a couple and their recent experiences with the church.

Right now, my wife and I feel like outsiders. Some people in the group we meet with on Sunday mornings seem to treat us, especially my wife, like we don't belong. Why? Well, our best guess is that we do not meet the "good Christian" standards.

You see this really all started a few months ago when the vocational pastor came to us to say that he has been really burdened for us. At the time we had missed a few Sunday meetings. We had wonderful excuses for missing them (not that they were needed), but we were out of town, my wife was sick, we decided to rest on one Sunday, etc. I suppose he was trying to be polite, caring, even loving. Truthfully, it seemed more condemning than anything.

Since then things have been worse. My wife says she gets awkward looks. I do not tend to notice these things, but I sense that some of the "leaders" think of me as a type of nuisance. I have a tendency to understand things a little different than they do. We have not been able to attend regularly at all this summer, and that is probably a big part of it. But we have had some major family obligations that have kept us literally out of state every weekend for about a month.

We have been around for the past two weekend though. What really gets us is that they planned and held a family fun day a few miles away from us (within our subdivision) and they never called told us about it, or asked us to come. The vocational pastors wife at least told me that she told him to call us... he said that he thought we were out of town again.

Are we wrong to feel like we're being treated like outsiders?

What do you all think? Have you experienced similar things? Are you in the midst of these feelings? How are you handling it?

The Journey

Whether we believe it or not, we, God's children, are on a journey. We are on a journey with Christ as our guide. There are many different stages in the journey and every journey can be different. But I believe the journey is all to the same place.

There are some who are slowly walking through the hottest of deserts with Jesus looking for a water source.

There are some who are scaling the side of a mountain with Jesus one step ahead of them checking for danger spots.

Some who are deep within the deepest of valleys with Jesus making them a trail.

There are some who are strolling calmly through a wide open field with Jesus strolling by their side.

Some have stopped and Jesus is calling for them right over the next ridge.

Some thought they knew a better way, so Jesus is following them - urging them to turn around.

Right now, Jesus and I are resting on the trail. Jesus and I have had some great conversations, I have learned a lot about him and he has listened to a lot of my woes. He has comforted me, he has cried with me, he has listened to me, and he has encouraged me. Now, He is getting ready for our next hike. Where is Jesus taking me? I do not know. How long will we be on the trail? I do not know. What I do know is this, if I rely on him, he will guide my path. If I rely on him, I will not be forsaking. If I rely on him, I will survive this journey.

So, I want to know, where are you on your journey with our Lord?

Life... in the Journey

Those of us who are in Christ have abundant life in Christ. That abundant life does not begin after we die. Instead, we are to live a new life in Christ now. This is not a life that we live alone. Primarily, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit and, thus, we live this life in the presence of God, by his strength and enablement, and with his direction. Through this fellowship with God, we also have fellowship with other believers. God forms us into a community in him. This community lives together, works together, walks together, learns together, and grows together toward maturity in Christ.

This blog is about living the abundant life in this journey that we call life. Since we live the abundant life in community, this is a group blog. The contributors to this blog are connected to one another through their mutual relationships with God, but they are also connected through personal relationships with one another. The discussions that take place on this blog are instigators, echos, and samples of discussions that take place in the physical world as we attempt to encourage one another in this journey in abundant life.

We also hope that other people who are walking in this journey with Christ will join these discussions through comments and articles on their own blogs. We will gladly link to other blogs and encourage discussions in the comments. In fact, we also encourage those who disagree with us to join this discussion. We need one another. God placed us all together for a reason. We accept that even those who disagree with us are necessary and important for the proper growth of the body of Christ. So, please take part in the discussion.

Life... in the journey is about love, service, justice, unity, discipleship, mercy, hospitality, finances, obedience, family, trust, leadership, community, grace. We will examine Scripture, books, and other blogs to learn about living life with Christ. We will also share our own stories, and perhaps some fictional accounts, that help us live our life in Christ.

Will you join us in this abundant life in the journey with Christ?