What is Reality?

What is reality? The dictionary says, it’s “the state or the quality of being real”. So what is real? For those of us that believe in creationism and in the God of that creation……… the answer can be summed up in one word. Redemption!

God is redeeming everything in the world including us, and that is reality. Redemption is about fixing the broken. It’s about making something bad into something good. It all went bad when we went bad. We cracked the universe when we tried to remove the God that created it. But the good news is…….redemption is not judgment, it’s about mercy, and love.

It’s about the Gospel, the story of God sending His Son to die in our place, and giving us a new life in Christ. We do have a choice in the matter though, we can accept or reject this offer. For us that has accepted this redemption we are now part of God’s story. Since we have received mercy, we now in turn show mercy. Since we have received love, we now in turn show love.

But do we? Are we part of God’s redemptive plan? Are we trying to help the broken, or are we trying to get rid of the broken?

Is the Christian community thought of as people of love and mercy, or are we thought of as mean spirited and self righteous? Are we afraid of what people may think if we help the homosexuals, or heaven forbid…. befriend one? Do we help people we know at work that are struggling with problems, or do we just watch them self-destruct and eventually get fired?

There is a lot of buzz today about accountability. What is accountability? Is it about helping someone or is about being someone’s judge? If you are going hold me accountable, does that mean that when I mess up you’re going to tell everyone about it and then walk away saying, “I knew he would finally mess up, so the sooner he’s gone the better”. Is that how accountability works?

It seems that we are too quick to write people off. Loving them and helping them is just too messy……….

Reality is about “redemption” and the result of redemption is a heart of love and mercy. Helping others is never too messy for God. Jesus said, “they will know us by our love for one another” and let’s not forget, “blessed are the merciful”. - Gary