Hope has been busy as well! As of 29 November 2010, I am now an experienced one-on-one Peer Counselor, no supervision needed. The only thing that still daunts me is paperwork.
Last Monday, there were two male partners scheduled at the same time (which happened to be the final counseling slot of the day) to come in with the women seeking free pregnancy tests and peer counseling. On this particular day I was the only male at the Center to counsel. So we went one at a time, starting with whoever walked in the door first. And let me tell you, the Lord ordained that order!
The first guy professed a strong belief in Christ, both for himself and his girlfriend. His story was a mirror of many stories found in the American Church today: they originally wanted to keep a pure relationship, failed, decided it wasn't worth fighting anymore, then reversed their decision and tried to stay pure again only to wind up at a Crisis Pregnancy Center. He was very open, willing to give his story and tell of his faith, which makes it very easy to cover the Scriptures on sexuality and purity. These guys are certainly less stressful conversations, especially since I totally understand the feeling that comes with wanting to live for Christ then finding out you really are a broken individual who is unable to control your own passions.
As Oscar Wilde said, "I can resist anything but temptation."
The realization that God had His hand in who walked through our door first hit me when I tried to talk to the second guy. At first I asked him if he wanted to come talk, he declined and said he just wanted to know what was going on. I found out what I could, which wasn't much other than his girlfriend was pregnant and abortion-minded (neither of which I disclosed to him immediately, because I believe that is up to the girlfriend), then he conceded to come back to a room and talk with me "if only not to be bored."
In respect to confidentiality, I will only say that this was a relationship where he was completely intellectual and she was very emotional. He could not understand her, and he took offense that she would even consider an abortion. The best response I could tell him was that, while having a plan and thinking situations through logically and practically is hugely important in life-changing situations such as having a child, people have a spiritual component that needs hope. Sometimes, by holding her hand or giving her a hug when she feels down, that action can reassure her that she's not alone, and that there is hope for the future. That hope can do so much more than any financial plan to help a troubled individual stand on their own two feet and press on in tough circumstances.
He told me that made sense, but that it just didn't make sense! And I have to agree with him there.
He did not believe in God--in any religion, for that matter--and even said he had been hurt by Christians in the name of Jesus before; I could do nothing but apologize, and tell him how much it breaks my heart when people take a message of Love, Grace, Mercy, and Justice, and they turn it into one of "My way or the highway" condemnation.
To be clear, yes I believe there will be people who don't go to heaven. If there were no consequences for evil action, then God would not be a just God, and therefore would be a corrupt God. I even believe that there are people who do more good than bad who will not see the "pearly gates" because sin is an action as well as a state of being without God. For those under the Cross of Christ, the Agony of that Sacrifice is our consequence borne through God's Mercy, and that gift has been offered to all people for them to accept or reject.
I told this guy that message, and that Christianity is not a "do good and go to heaven" religion; he told me he did not know that while he pondered my words. That was one thing I loved about this guy, that he would listen very respectfully to what I had to say and sincerely mull over it for what it was worth, even though I am years younger. Just a brutally honest yet totally respectful guy, and I love that.
So much more to that story that I cannot tell, and even more that I do not know. Yet I will praise God because I know He loves them and cares for them, and I will thank Him for the order He ordains for the benefit of His children.
To sum up the theme of my recent time at Hope, both with Christians struggling to remain pure and with showing the core of Christianity to those who do not know it (that we are broken, can't fix ourselves, and need Christ as a perfect sacrifice on the Cross to defeat Death and pay our debt), I found this quote the other day by Tim Lane: "You don't behave your way into sinful responses, so you can't behave your way out of sinful responses. You worship your way into sinful responses, so you must worship your way out of sinful responses."
[edit 1 April 2013: I do understand how "sinful responses" are behaved into being now; because our behavior is our worship. So still the rest remains—worship placed where it belongs is a locus necessary to cultivate Kingdom life and lifestyle.]
Meaning we combat sinful RESPONSES, not Sin itself, with worship; Jesus is the only cure for Sin itself.
Romans 5:6-13, 19-21
"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
12Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law... 19For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
"sin is not counted where there is now law" = Would anyone actually want to live in a world where no one was held accountable for their actions? It will be an evil world, one purely of chaos, when Man decides no action should have consequence. So, like I said before, God must hold people accountable or else He would be a corrupt God.
"while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" = We obviously, then, cannot by way of our actions make ourselves pure or righteous, only by accepting the gift of Grace. That Grace is the price paid for our wrong and evil actions, and for bringing us back into right relation to God.
"More than that, we also rejoice in God" = Right after stating we have been saved and reconciled, the very next thing the author mentions is rejoicing in God. We worship Him in all actions because we are saved, and that will change our behavior from sinful to life-giving.
Long, I know, but it's been more than a month and I'm long-winded as it is.
More to come, so until then, here are some excellent words from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
"We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or don't do, and more in light of what they suffer."
Be blessed my friends.
