important things to say

it has come to my attention that on occasion i may not have anything important to say. maybe it is because my mind is numb. maybe it is because my body is tired. maybe it is because i've had eggs for dinner two nights in a row. or maybe i do have important things to say - but i choose not to say them. but i guess if i can share with you about my life and the music i listen to, tv shows i view and eggs i eat then maybe i can spew forth important stuff once in a while.

i think the important stuff is all relative anyway. like yesturday, i suffered through the first hour of the movie The Big Kahuna (starring Danny DiVito, Kevin Spacey and this Peter Facinelli guy)... i was bored... feeling like my time had been wasted... then the final 30 minutes happened. here was a movie about 3 guys - trying to sell industrial lubricants (otherwise known as Grease) at a trade convention who spend most of their time in a hotel suite talking. i mean the entire movie takes place in one room. boring, right? yeah... except then it hit me... these men were talking... TALKING? yeah, talking. not about eggs but it could have been. at various points of dialogue, the topic of religion came up. so check this, newbie Bob (Peter Facinelli), during the meet and greet with executives, spends his time talking to this one guy about dogs... dogs, i said. it turns out that this executive who loves dogs is the big wig that Larry & Phil (Spacey & DiVito) were trying to make a sale with. So it is up to Bob to meet up with this guy later - with hopes of making the sale. Bob goes meets and talks to said guy not about industiral lubricant, not about dogs, even. he talks to him about Jesus.

now here's the real dicotomy. Bob returns. Larry gets upset that he didn't make the sale - Bob stands by his own convictions, though. Admirable as it may be, Larry points out that a sale was made - but the sale wasn't grease, it was Jesus. Was Bob being genuine. probably. Did he see that what he did was quite possibly a sales pitch? no. Was it a sales pitch? well that is the question that has me in a quandry.

before i go any further - let me point out this: the fact that i am discussing this (even if only with myself) is good. Discussions are important. communication is key.

so here's my question: how genuine am i if and when i talk about Jesus to others - say others who i may not have a relationship with? is it just a sales pitch? at the end of the movie, after Bob & Larry (not the Veggie Tales guys) have finished a heated discussion in ugliness, Phil (DiVito) pulls Bob aside and talks to him... he said something profound... "If you truly want to get to know someone... ask him about his kids. Ask him about his life.... his goals... his dreams..."

Maybe that aspect is a forgotten aspect of the faith these days. Do we care about the ones we attempt to reach out to? i mean do we truly care? are we willing to take the time to get to know them? i am a big proponant of what i'd call RELATIONAL EVANGELISM. Bringing others to Christ through relationship with them. Through that relationship they can then see rigth into the heart of who i am... my genuineness (or lack there of) laid out bare in front of them... if they see me - truly see me - then they will see Christ...

but the question still lingers inside of me: is there an inapropriate way to bring Jesus to others? if it is just a means to an end? i don't know... i am still searching...

i guess important things are there to be said... each of us has something important to say... somethimes it takes communication about eggs or football or life in general to get them to come out into the freedom of space that inhabits our eyes and ears and hearts and minds.

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thoughts shared while listening to:
The Chemical Brothers - Dig Your Own Hole

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more on MEANS TO AN END. (essays and what not...)

Why the "Means to the end" is more important than the end?

Does The End Justify The Means?