Tuesday, July 3, 2007

The best $9.99 I ever spent

I bought the audiobook of "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell and I have it on my ipod. I listen to it all the time when I go walking and I love it. Every time I listen to it I think about different things in new ways. It constantly challenges me in my faith and that's good--really good. Here is a snippet I've been wrestling with lately. Just thought I'd share in the process I'm engaging in...
"Jesus wants to heal our souls, wants to give us the shalom of God. And so we have to stop. We have to slow down. We have to sit still and stare out the window and let the engine come to an idle. We have to listen to what our inner voice is saying.

Perhaps you have been around Christian communities enough to want nothing to do with them, and one of the reasons is the talk all seems so shallow. Like no one is talking about what really matters. I think this is a direct effect of the state of souls of many pastors and leaders. So many leaders in Christian communities are going so fast and producing so much and accomplishing so much that they become a shell of a person. There is no space to deal honestly with what's going on deep inside of them.

I cannot lead people somewhere I am not trying to go myself. I don't have to have arrived. I don't have to be perfect but i do need to be on the path. And that's why for so many the church experience has been so shallow--so many leaders have never descended into the depths of their own souls. They haven't done the hard, difficult, gut-wrenching work of shining the bright lights on all of the years of baggage and destructive messages.

It is so hard to look deep inside yourself. My experience has been that very few people do the long, hard work of the soul. Maybe that's why Jesus said the way is narrow. I'm learning that a lot of people give up. They settle. And they miss out. Anybody can quit. That's easy.

I'm learning that very few people actually live from their heart. Very few live connected with their soul. And those few who do the difficult work, who stare their junk in the face, who get counsel, who let Jesus into all of the rooms of their soul that no one ever goes in, they make a difference. They are so different; they're coming from such a different place that their voices inevitably get heard above the others. They are pursuing wholeness and shalom, ad it's contagious. They inspire me to keep going."

Is Jesus healing your soul?

2 comments:

Derek said...

That is so awesome! Thanks for making me think on that too! Glad you are lovin the audiobook. Can you burn it so we can listen to it in the car on our trip??? I would love to hear some! Love ya!

Dakota House said...

What I want to know is where you found it for $9.99. After I saw it on your favorite books list I tried to find it online... after postage it was like $20. I've already exceeded my book budget for the month. Like 2 weeks ago.

'My experience has been that very few people do the long, hard work of the soul.'

Love you girl.
So true... it's all about the healing and Jesus wants in on it.