Corrective Love
Kathy Escobar posted the other day about providing “corrective experiences” to those who have been hurt in the past. How many of us have approached Christians with our wounds and have been offered more of the same instead of the love and acceptance we’re longing for? How beautiful it would be if the church could become a place where we could reveal ourselves in all of our messy realness and receive the gift of a love that counters what we might expect. Let’s commit to being that for one another and for those who tip-toe into our places of worship.
From Kathy’s blog post:
it gets me all fired up about what could be if we focused less on programming and more on relationship. less on theological correctness and more on practice. less on the surface and more on the deep places of our hearts.
yeah, my dream is that the body of Christ was widely known as an army of healers, people who…
blow minds and hearts away with Jesus’ radical love and acceptance.
spark some freaky feeling inside hurting people where they go “huh, that’s weird, i thought christians were judgmental”
ignite a flicker of a flame inside that says “maybe God does love me”
restore dignity where it’s been stripped.
build worth and value where it’s been destroyed.
are safe and healthy and embody what so many of us didn’t get in our broken families.
may we play our small part in creating corrective experiences where others feel God’s love, hope, mercy, dignity, justice, and heart for them through us–his flawed but willing ambassadors this side of heaven.
Category: General
Tags: Growth, healing, Kathy Escobar, Kingdom Living, Love, safety
Related Reading
On Mental Illness and Jumping from a Burning Building
seyed mostafa zamani via Compfight Ann Voskamp wrote this piece in the wake of the suicide of Rick Warren’s son. It’s disheartening to hear so many thoughtless and cruel comments by other Christians when tragedies like this strike. But here is a voice of knowing and compassion. Here is love. From Ann’s blog post: I…
Christian Utopia
Fergal of Claddagh, OP via Compfight A little meditation on Christian Utopia and the Body Politic as we stand poised on the eve of the election in America. We affirm that Jesus will indeed “establish His kingdom on earth” but it won’t come through the exercise of power. Rather, God’s kingdom will come as his…
Sermon Clip: Twisted Scripture 1 Timothy 2:12
1 Timothy 2:12 has been used over the years to keep women from teaching or preaching theology and being in positions of leadership within a church. When looked at within its historical and cultural context, however, we find Paul’s restriction on women was due to specific cultural problems that no longer apply to educated women…
Why Did God Allow Evil?
Is it possible to force people to love? Powerful people may be able to force others to do just about anything. Through psychological or physical torture, they may succeed in forcing them to curse their own children to deny their faith. They may even succeed in forcing others to act and say loving things to…
Poor and Black in America
Marco via Compfight Drew Hart is someone with a rare voice. I’m sharing the bio from his blog in its entirety because I think knowing some of his story gives authority to his words. Drew Hart has been shaped by both Black Church theology and Anabaptist theology. Drew was raised in an African American Church…
The Call to a Cruciform Life
Jesus repeatedly taught that following him meant that one had to be willing to “pick up their cross daily and follow [him]” (Lk 9:23; 14:27). Picking up our cross is the centerpiece of following Jesus because this was the centerpiece of what Jesus was all about. The thematic centrality of the cross is also illustrated…