Impressed

Beauty and the Beast part VII:

Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot?
Clean it up, we want the company impressed

Boy, do we want to impress. We want to impress our peers so that we'll be popular. We want to impress our bosses so that we'll be promoted. We want to impress our parents so that they'll be proud. Our teachers so that we get 7 A's, our crushes so that they like us back. And so it goes on.  Our lives revolve around social media, the place where you put your best filtered foot forward and show off #livingyourbestlife.

In such a world, spots are not very welcome. Spots are hidden and avoided, covered and filtered away. Heaven forbid someone would see that we are not fully perfect, that we have bad days, that we make mistakes and have some flaws. We are being conditioned to hide our imperfections and it's creating a world with very high (albeit very fake) bar that is impossible to meet.

Let's change that. Let's not judge the spots we see on other people, and perhaps even harder to stop, let's not judge the spots in our own lives. Yes, let's identify the spots and weaknesses and work on improving and strengthening those things. But also, let's not pretend they don't exist. Let's not project a perfect life, but let's be open and honest while walking together with other flawed people, trusting that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion.

It reminds me of some of the lyrics from a song by Rend Collective called Create In Me:

You're not finished with me yet
By Your power I can change, I can change
'Cause You're not finished with me yet

It's not over yet. This is not the end; it's not as good as it gets. Jesus is still at work, even when we can't see it. We will not see perfection this side of heaven. There is still work to be done and that is okay. But don't hide away. Be free and live, even in your imperfection. Fight that need to always impress, just do your best and trust God for the rest.

You Have Failed This City

I was watching Arrow, and Oliver said his classic line of "You have failed this city." I've heard it many times over, but this time it made me stop and think. I would never want to hear those words said to me. I don't want to fail my city, I don't want to fail the people in the place God has put me in this season.

Thinking about how I could / could not fail my city brought to mind what God says in Jeremiah 29:

“Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

I believe not failing this city can be done in both big and small ways. In the day-to-day it involves being kind to everyone, speaking the truth, obeying the laws of our land, doing our jobs well, caring for the widows and orphans, feeding the hungry, giving to those in need, sharing the gospel and basically just living our normal lives out like Jesus.

On a bigger scale, something like City Story who are, to quote their website: a passionate group of Christian individuals whose focus is to build networks and serve our city and see her grow into a hub of excellence by connecting networks and individuals in different spheres of life and empowering them to bring about a powerful collaboration of giftings and passions that spark remarkable change in the city. Through intentional prayer, online platforms and supportive engagements we facilitate collaboration across the spheres.

City Story also acts as a platform for stories of hope and testimonies to create awareness and build faith for our city. Check out their website here. On it you can browse through an online booklet showing some incredible NGO's and the work they are doing in the eThekweni Municipality. I think it's a great example of Jeremiah 29 being lived out and I can't wait to see what unfolds into the months and years ahead.