My Plea to Christians in Baltimore and Everywhere

Two lists.  

List one:

• Hate.

• Anger.

• Violence.

• Fear.

• Distrust.

• Disgust.

• Harshness.

• Ignorance.

• Retaliation.

List two:

• Love.

• Joy.

• Peace.

• Patience.

• Kindness.Goodness.

• Gentleness.

• Faithfulness.

• Self-control.

Each of us lives our lives by one list or the other. As we do, we make the world what it is.

If you are a Christ follower, it means you have opened your heart to the Spirit of Jesus to live within and through you. Following Jesus means allowing his Holy Spirit to  bear fruit in your life.

Some in our city of Baltimore are living by List One. There are many reasons for that. The fruit confirms their actions are not from God. You can see the fruit on the streets, on Facebook, and in the hearts and conversations of many.

It’s time to show up as God’s people. If you want to know what you can do, I have something extremely radical for you. Most are too chicken to do it. I will challenge you with it anyway. It’s time to get serious. It’s time to make a difference...It's time to get serious. Want to know how?

You don’t have to make a lot of noise. What you do is decide to live by the Spirit for one whole day. All day. Let the words of your mouth and the meditations of your heart and the actions you take be in step with God’s spirit. Look at the lists above and anytime you feel or see some fruit coming out of your life that looks more like list one, let the Spirit guide you to cut off that fruit and instead live out list two stuff.

Do this for one whole day.

Then begin again the next day.

That’s the radical thing Christians need to do right now. Live by list two. Bear good Jesus-like fruit.  

There’s more you can do. You can pray like crazy (prayer meeting at Mountain Road, NLC Commons, and Epicenter campus Tuesday 4/28/2015 7 PM), you can make peace, you can be a bridge building reconciling force between authorities and youth, between races, between political enemies – be a gracist in the part of the universe in which God gives you influence. Don’t underestimate these things.

But BEFORE we try to “make a difference” in any other way, before we try to rant or comment or change the world on our terms, I beg you, live by list two. 

If we want God’s kingdom to come and his will to be done in Baltimore as it is in heaven, that should probably begin with God’s people living according to the leading of Jesus.

The problems at work here are many. But we are called to live as Jesus. He has given us His Spirit. Welcome it. Receive it. Let it out through your life.