This concept I present to you is from a book written by Seth Godin entitled “Meatball Sundae.” He made some astute observations about this generation that I found intriguing and marveled at how well it paralleled the religious climate today.

He said, “If you start with ice cream, adding sprinkles, cherries, hot fudge and whipped cream will make it taste great. But if you start with a bowl of meatballs, it becomes messy, disgusting and ineffective- the inevitable result of combining two perfectly good times that don’t go well together.”

The “meatballs” are the staples of religion: church attendance, prayer, fasting, bible reading, godly lifestyle and doctrine. The sundaes” are the blessings and the benefits of serving God.

Much of our disappointment in life today is simply because we are out of sync and we are not aligned with God’s purpose. We interpret everything in life by how it affects us and not the way it affects others.

But we should not despair if at times it seems the demands of a righteous lifestyle are not in sync with the personal benefits enjoyed at a gi  ven moment. Because we live in a narcissistic society we can’t always decipher between the “righteous life” and the “good life.”

Godin made several statements that I found profoundly reflective of the world of Christianity. Most people:

• Don’t know the difference between their wants and their needs.
• Demand that we respect them even though we disagree with them.
• will be led by their permission only.
• Need stories of hope, not statements of facts.

When so many demands are being made for our conveniences and our preferences we find it difficult to meet the needs of people who have yet to differentiate between what is “true need” and what is a “want.”

There is nothing inherently wrong with desires as long as they are not confused with true needs. We all need salvation but we find ourselves in a whole new environment where the availability of information via the internet makes people more informed and less likely to be influenced by any voice that is condescending. The truth is, cruelty in religion has caused many casualties and consequently, the church finds itself ineffective because it tries to serve “Meatball Sundaes.” We quickly discover that cruelty will get us nowhere with this generation, yet a token religion that costs nothing is worth nothing.

People will not change their lives by any standard that they first do not embrace as truth. They do not want anyone to make demands on them but require time to grant their permission to be led. Can we give people that time?компютри втора употреба

People want too hear your story, see your hurt and identify with your pain. your personal story can give others hope that they too can find hope. They can be recovered and restored to wholeness just as you were. Are you telling your story of redemption from the ruins?

One day a young fugitive, trying to hide himself from the enemy, entered a small village. The people were kind enough to offer him sanctuary until his pursuers threatened to burn the village if they did not hand the young man over to them. The villagers turned to their minister to seek guidance in what they should do. after an agonizing night of indecision and reading his Bible to try to find an adequate solution, there seemed no escape. So the minister came to the conclusion that they should hand over the fugitive to these soldiers. Although the village was saved and the people held a feast in honor of the minister’s decision too save the village, he was deeply troubled and overcome with sadness and could not join in the festivities. That night an angel came to the minister and asked him, “What have you done?” He said, “I handed over the fugitive to the enemy. ” Then the angel said, ” But don’t you know that you have handed over the messiah?” ” How could I know?” the minister replied anxiously. Then the angel said, “if instead of reading your Bible, you had visited this young man just once and looked into his eyes, you would have known.”

If Instead of hiding behind our rules and regulations we dared look up to see the hurting world that is running away from the cruelty of religion, we would not hand them over to the enemy but would lead them away from their hiding places into a liberating atmosphere of heading and acceptance. Sounds like something Jesus would do.

Perhaps that is what Jesus meant when He said, “Lift up your eyes and looking on the fields for they are white already to harvest.”

Maybe it’s time you looked up.W