I have recently had the opportunity to work some shifts at a warehouse here in the GTA. It has been a real blessing as I was looking for some occasional work to make some extra money. The warehouse had a need for some part time occasional workers and could be flexible which fit with my need exactly. I have really been enjoying the opportunity partly because it is so unique and different from how I spend the majority of the rest of my time. Speaking about differences, there was one that was particularly obvious.
My first day was a re-education in...shall we say..."colourful" language. I was most taken by the use of a particular word beginning with the sixth letter of the alphabet. It can be used with such diversity. It can be used to express something positive or negative. It can be an exclamation, a statement or a question, a noun and verb and adjective or an adverb and just about any other grammatical feature you can think of. The most amazing thing, I have come to realize, is that if someone is really on a role, then it can be used as all of the above in a single sentence!
So this has been my thought since being re-immersed in this culture:
Can I use (and by use, I don't mean actually making the word a part of my vocabulary) this particular word as a tool for measuring how well I am doing at living missionally? I have been reminded about how common a word it is, and how frequently it is used in so many parts of the culture around me. So, if have not heard this word with any frequency for some time, have I really been engaging the culture around me? Have I been venturing out into the world and trying to live incarnationally, to be salt and light in the darkness?
I don't mean that I want to become desensitized and come to accept it as common place, or worse, make it a part of who I am. On the contrary, after all, what use is salt after it looses its flavour? In fact, trying to live missionally makes times of detox, through spiritual disciplines of prayer, the Word, solitude and meeting with other Christians, that much more imperative. But still, when I hear such language I want to be reminded of our mission and purpose in the world, and if I am not hearing such language I want to ask myself why not.
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Hey Jay,
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate this thought. I find it extremely useful to have some of these measuring sticks to help recognize whether I'm living missionally. The challenge I sometimes have is that just about everything I do, I have little ones in tow. I don't struggle with what I am exposed to so much as what to allow my children be exposed to in the midst of living missionally. I fully want to raise them to also be missional and to give them tools to live out faith in the midst of the regular world, but things like language I wrestle with simply because they are so young.
I wrestle with this because it sometimes affects who we are comfortable having around our kids, which often equals having them in our home. I know you and Kim do a great job of keeping your house open to people and would love to hear your thoughts on the balance (if that is the right goal...I'm not convinced the goal should be balance)of engaging edgier folks and ensuring that home feels and sounds like a healthy place for the kids to find refuge.
Not so much a Christian response, as a full time Christian parent response I guess. Always good to hear what you are thinking!
Blesssings on you and the family!
Jenn
Great thoughts, especially about kids. In all honesty I had not and have not thought a lot about it. Most of my experiences in dealing with "edgier" people comes at times when I am not with them. I agree that we need to be careful about what and how much we expose our children to, especially at young impressionable ages. I suppose the key to the dilemma is discipleship. I have tried to make the discipleship of our children a real priority in the hopes that they will be developing tools to help them think about and make decisions about the things that they will experience. I think that as they grow older, and more mature in the faith I will invite them more and more into missions to harder parts of society. A missional mindset can be introduced early on so that it becomes a part of who our children become, but it can be done so age appropriately.
ReplyDeletethanks for the thoughts. They will have me thinking.