Plates of Heaven

I'd never tasted rice that good! The perfect amount of texture with just the right burst of cilantro and tomato upholding the hearty, earthy flavor of beans. Heavenly! The battle was on to hide that last tiny portion under the Romaine where, hopefully, I could preserve it from the carb-consuming, fried-food-fetching hoards that stalk our fridge late at night. A friend from El Salvador had graciously labored to share her talents and a taste of her culture with us. What a blessing! It reminded me of something I'd read in Kevin "K.B." Burgess' book, Dangerous Jesus. Using the example of a neighbor bringing an Indian dish to his door, Burgess says:

We are designed to be plates of heaven that we deliver to our neighbors in hopes that they, too, will look to the source.

Plates of heaven. Imagine!

In a weekly Bible study, we just discussed the role of Christians as salt and light in this world. Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell, in his series, Kingdom Gems, reminds us that salt prevents decay; that for the presence of God's people in this world (think Abraham's requests before the Lord) chaos and descent would occur at a much more rapid rate. He illustrates his teaching about light by bringing down the lights in his church and standing in a single spotlight. We are to make a difference in an unmistakable, highly visible, crystal-clear way that points to our Source alone. 

Instead, I see us putting one another on blast about award shows, who is doing a collab with whom, and the way we run our churches. Is that salt and light? Is that a heaping helping of heaven or of something else? Make no mistake, we are given clear commands on how we are to conduct ourselves. Mark 12:30-31 says,

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.

But does that look the same for you as it does for me? 

I began exploring a relationship with Jesus after reading the heretical, "banned-in-sixty-states (not really) book, The Shack. On my way to work each morning, I listened to the radio broadcast of a pastor who, today, is one of those most fundamental Christians would say "has gone off the deep end." For a time, I sat --and grew spiritually! --under a pastor who had previously abandoned me in one of the worst moments of my life and often taught legalism. When I was raising my children, I'd often tell them, "The truth is the truth; I don't care if you heard it from Charles Manson." What I never realized is, through all that, in all of that, Jesus was showing me something: I can do whatever I please with whatever you've got.

Do we, as plates of heaven, always get it right? Of course not! Are there ways in which we have handled things that, though they might be incorrect, are not necessarily sinful? I believe so. Are there those whom God has appointed "watchmen" to the body of Christ? Certainly, and according to certain procedures. But each time we critique or criticize another Christian artist, another pastor, another brother or sister in Christ on the world stage, we are sending a message: We don't trust God enough to use this for His glory. We don't trust Him with our hasty answers, our shortcomings, our limited knowledge, our misguidedness, our bad choices, and our sin. There's no way any good will come of this. What fools we are! What self-absorbed fools! I weary of seeing the body of Christ cut itself when no real offense has been committed. I weary of seeing us fret over the behavior of others more publicly than we lift them up in prayer.

Now I am in no way saying we should continue to read counter-biblical books or listen to pastors who are syncretistic in their teaching. If we have been convicted, we repent; we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and body in the way His Spirit leads us to do so; and we love our neighbor as ourselves.  But what if my dear friend's rice had been "a little off?" What if it had tasted more like Hell's Kitchen than heaven? Would it have been any less a blessing? Certainly not! It was the selflessness with which it was shared. It was the sacrifice and her willingness to love on us in a way she believed we would enjoy --and we certainly did! As delicious as it was, however, it was just a simple gift of rice and beans. Anyone who grew up poor Latino might gag at the thought. But it was to me a plate of heaven that made me thank God she is in my life, and that we share a Heavenly Father! Isn't that the message He wants to send to the world through us? Our God is so great, He can do wonders with all He is given! Wouldn't you like to know Him?