Being Loved or Being Used

Kathy wrote a great post on downward living. Here is a portion of her blog post:

part of downward living is about seeing what’s right in front of us. looking at what we do have, not what we don’t. being thankful for the gift of today, instead of longing for tomorrow. noticing the beauty. appreciating what is.

even though we don’t have many of the resources i’d love to have, when i take a step back and look more carefully i see how many are actually right before me. they might not be big, shiny, clear, or exactly what i’m sure i really need.  but they are here, right before me.  small kernels of hope, reminders that God is taking good care of us, and showing us what it means to trust. i see tiny gifts of love, hope, peace and connection in places where there once was none, stalks of beauty seeping up from the ground, and small ways God says, “i’m here, too.”

i think instead of the old questions about numbers & programs & budgets & strategic plans, we can ask ourselves these kinds of questions instead:

• are people around us experiencing change, feeling more loved, and passing on more love to others?
• are they less isolated and more connected?
• are resources being shared between people in organic, natural ways?
• are people’s gifts and talents being drawn out of them and being used to grace and encourage others?
• are voices being used that were once silenced?
• are fear and shame lessening, losing their hold over people’s lives?
• are we seeing the image of God emerge from people in whom it once was buried?

incarnational relationships are nearly impossible to measure, but they seem to align with Jesus’ ways a lot more readily than what my friend and missional pastor, rose madrid-swetman calls the three b’s: budgets, butts, and buildings. these are standard measures of success in most ministries because they are tangible and easy to measure.

If you want to read the entire post, click here: We May Look Like Losers Re-Dux

In it, she asked what questions would you add. This is my question:

Are individuals being loved or are they being used ?

I hope and pray that everyone who stumbles over here would answer with the following: um, duh; it is obvious, we are loving individuals; we are not using them.

However, I have heard, seen and experienced the opposite. Where individuals “use” people to get what they want or to get where they want to go and they get there through the disguise of loving individuals. Which is very sad.

Let us make sure that are love is genuine and we are truly following the example of Christ and loving people to love.