Letters to The Family: David

Letters to The Family, We The Church One comment

Let me introduce you to David. I have only know David for a short time and from a distance but his faith has encouraged me from the beginning. I met David on a trip to visit dear friends in St. Louis. When my friend and I showed up by invitation to a small group, David, along with the rest of the group, was so kind and made us feel like we’d been friends for years. I learned of David’s ministry which, safe to say, isn’t contained to one thing but is the outpouring of his life in everything. I think you will be strengthened by his words to us today.

In his own words : A Missouri naDavidtive, David Peterka, founded the non-profit organization “When the Saints” in November 2010. David’s passion is to eradicate sexual exploitation from our world, and help teach churches the role they play. But more than that, his desire is to bring glory to the name of Jesus. Although David is in his late-20s, he has extensive “hands on” experience and has been an advocate for social injustice issues for over seven years. He loves soccer, playing the guitar, traveling and watching documentaries or movies with a strong female lead.

To the irresistible bride of Jesus,

Sometimes I wonder, “Am I missing something?”. Most of the time I live a Christianity that is relatively easy. Church, pray, Bible, be nice… You know, the usual. I do these things most people, whether they are Christian or not, find respectable.

“Yes, and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”

-2 Timothy 3:12

Wait a minute, persecution? When was the last time I was persecuted because of my Christianity? Umm, well…. This is actually the opposite of what I experience most of the time as a result of my “godly life in Christ Jesus”.  What am I missing? Did I make Christianity something that it was never intended to be? Sugar coated, watered down, dressed up? Have I disguised what it means to be Christ-like?

Back in the day most of the leaders in church hated Jesus. Do you know one of their most common critiques? “He is a friend to sinners.”

Have you ever spent a significant amount of time sharing your life with an alcoholic? If a girl were given money for sleeping around, would you ever ask her to hang out with you? If you knew that someone was using their position of power to steal money, would you see if you could mentor them? Jesus did.

When was the last time I befriended a “sinner”? Umm, well… Ouch. Now we’re getting somewhere, but I’m still not fully convinced this would cause me to be persecuted.

Jesus says that those who follow him will pray for and love their enemies by doing things like feed them when they are hungry. Now that seems incredibly difficult.

I work in a country called Malawi. Jesus has brought me to this place in order to show me and invite me into what He is doing to end sexual exploitation here. Desiring to help girls who have been systematically raped is the easy part. People show me a great deal of respect for this.

But, more recently the Spirit is showing us that if we only bring girls out of situations where they are being sexually abused, something else horrific happens. The same number of men want to abuse the same number of girls and, indirectly because of our work, more girls are trafficked to fill the void we created. Many people believe that these men should be “taken out back” and shot in the head. But Jesus says that those who follow Him will love the enemy. This is the part that isn’t so popular.

Last year I walked into a room with men who had molested young girls. The last thing I wanted to do was love. Seven men attended that first class. By the end, four of them got on their knees and asked Jesus to give them a new heart. Sexual exploitation can be eliminated at its root and we don’t have to just treat the symptom.

Here’s the thing, I don’t believe that Jesus actually wants us to be successful when it comes to Christianity. If we feel like we are succeeding then maybe we missed it. I fail, often. All the while He demands things of me that are impossibly difficult.

I have no desire to do ministry that is easy. I have no desire to be a part of a ministry that is possible and powered by man. I want to wake up every single morning with this on my lips. “Jesus, I’m stepping into something that will cause me to fall flat on my face. If you don’t do something miraculous, I won’t be able to make it through today. I desperately need you.”

Walking into a room with pedophiles, I found myself saying those words. He demands the impossible of us with a hope that we realize our utter dependence on Him.

I want to challenge and invite you into a Christianity that is not easy. It will cause you to suffer and make people hate you. It will make little sense and you will look absolutely foolish. It will also be unimaginably incomparable to any other existence that you could ever know and makes the God of impossibilities and miracles known.

Only A Woman

A Place for Pain, Leadership, Risk, The Single Life, We The Church View all 3 comments

Joy Williams recently released a song, “Woman (Oh Mama)”. It’s a tribute to womanhood and while I prefer her earlier music, there is a line in her new single that perfectly describes how I am feeling at this moment.

“I am The Universe wrapped in skin.”

The universe is full of mysteries that will never be solved. It is complex, containing great big wondrous creations and tiny intricate slivers of life. It is full of light and dark. The universe is in constant motion but contained in the stillness of space.

I am the universe.

I want to speak honestly here, but I confess that I am afraid. I am afraid of what you might think. I am afraid that I might seem weak. Still, I know I am not alone in the place where I kneel. I know there are others with the same aches, same questions. So it is with fear and trembling, yet with humility and strength that I let my heart bleed out into my words.

You see, this past week, leading up to Mother’s Day, my tiny world was flooded with questions of a woman’s place.

I preached a sermon, my first, this past Sunday and it went well. I believe that God spoke through me, that He used me to say things that my church family needs to hear. But, I grew up in a tradition, different than the one I find myself in now, that taught me that men are preachers and pastors and leaders of the church. Women lead women and children and never men. So I wrestle with my place at the pulpit even when I’m sure the words in my mouth are from The Father.

Two days prior to my inaugural sermon, I came across a post from someone I respect that reiterated what I’d learned in my youth about women taking the pulpit. Doubt flooded my mind and heart. And the questions wrapped around my throat. More than “What is my place?”, the questions were “Woman. Who am I?” With prayer, and knowing I stood also in the support of many Godly men and women, the waters of doubt subsided and I spoke in the authority of The Spirit on Sunday.

Still, I’d be lying if I said I am certain now of where I stand as a woman.

And it wasn’t only my own questions. I had conversations with two students last week about women in leadership. Women in marriage. Women in life. They came to me, with hearts laid open. Looking for wisdom. Asking for a sounding board. Offering the pearls formed by the questions turning over in their minds. And I told them what I know. And I told them what I think. And I told them what I wonder.

See, this place in history, in MY history as well as in our collective history, is tearing at the soul of woman. On one side, the quest for equality is being blamed for the fall of mankind. But on the other, the strength of woman is being lauded as the missing piece finally found. From one voice I respect, “why women should not preach” and from another, “why shouldn’t they?“.

And then there was this:

“As a man gets more powerful and successful, he is better liked. As a woman gets more powerful and successful, she is less liked.”

And that makes women fear growth. As a single woman, it feeds the fear that if I continue to follow my ambition, my desire to grow into the things God has wired into my soul, that I will outgrow the possibility of ever being desirable to a man. It’s a lie. It must be. Men surely cannot be so intimidated or turned off by a woman following her dreams that he can only imagine life with a woman who has done nothing but wait for him to show up.

And yet, that is the lie that is fed to us so often.

And here I find myself, wrestling with these questions, this place in history ripping holes in the universe of my soul. I do not yet fully grasp who I am as a woman. Who I am meant to be. Where I am to stand.

Here is what I know:

  • I delight in what God is doing with my days.
  • I cherish the opportunities He has given me to grow.
  • I desire to use whatever platform He gives to speak life.
  • I enjoy this season.
  • I ache for a new season.
  • I  love adventure and dream of someone to journey alongside.
  • I pray for students and friends whom I am privileged to nurture in the now.
  • I weep for the not-yet of my children whom I long to hear call me mama.

See, there are mysteries within me that will never be solved by anyone other than the Life-giver. There are within me great big wondrous creations and tiny intricate slivers of life. Both light and darkness fill my skin. I am constant motion contained in the stillness of the Maker’s hands. I am a woman.