Cale David Magnuson is one of the most awesome people I have ever met. Former collage mascot, walk on football player at the University of Central Missouri, juggler (not juggalo, it is a very important distinction)(on a side note, my computer just changed "Juggalo" to "Conjugal". Akward.), world traveler, and all around ruggedly handsome man beast. This year he produced a thought, so profound that we had to have it on here. Enjoy!
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| Ruggedly handsome man beast: Cale Magnuson |
I went to a conference this weekend sponsored by the church I’ve been quasi-attending lately. I say “quasi-attending” because ever since I was in college I have always felt more comfortable on the peripheries of church. This has been fun to explain to countless mentors and pastors, as a common theme among them is the importance of fully investing in a church, or, more specifically, the “body of Christ”. I can certainly see their argument, but for a variety of reasons I am pretty reluctant to make that leap. I think the same things come to my mind as come to your mind when it comes to church and Christianity...there seem to be a lot of goobers out there and if there was some hobby/activity/environment that I would want to make a significant part of my life, well, I can think many other things that would simply be more, well, fun.
All that to say I was a little surprised that not only was I attending this conference, but also that I was somewhat looking forward to it. After the first night, I remember wondering how in the world I would explain my Friday night to someone who didn’t see the world through the same perspective without being looked at funny. I think this was a legitimate concern. However, as I continued to think of the nature of the conference, I came up with what I think is a pretty effective answer.
Certainly we all have a plethora of images that come to mind when we think of church. Perhaps the more significant ones involve singing, praying, smiling and shaking hands, and listening to a man (or woman) detail a passage of the Bible. But even though these may come to mind, for many of us they are all tied together with an undercurrent of pain, anger, bitterness, and judgment. I know I definitely fall in this category. Maybe this is why people are so unsuccessful when inviting their friends to church, or when they tell them about Jesus, or when they share with them that there’s a better life out there waiting for them, in the form of Christianity. Unfortunately, I think for the majority of folks out there, the aforementioned things are what come to mind when these conversations take place and they consider whether they could ever call themselves a “Christian”. And frankly, I’m the same way, and couldn’t blame anyone for being extremely gun shy at the prospect. The message of Jesus has been veiled in all kinds of negativity because of people who have done such a poor job of representing the true message of Him. (And I am just as guilty as the next guy.)
But none of this was at the core of the conference. Certainly, there was singing, praying, smiling and shaking hands, and listening to a speaker bring us the Word, but none of those were really what the conference was all about. It certainly wasn’t what brought me there nor was it what stuck in my mind. See, the entire point of the conference was found in what the speaker kept alluding to...the simple fact that Jesus loves us and thinks we’re awesome. According to the speaker, Jesus even has a picture of me in his wallet. Now this is extremely easy to skim over, especially for those of us who have spent significant amounts of time around the Church and in Christianity, but you really should have been there to hear him say it with such conviction and certainty. Stop and take a moment to consider this...
Jesus loves us and thinks we are amazing! How great the Father’s love for us. As infinite as God is (He’s pretty big if he could create the entire oceans. He’s pretty big if he could chisel out all the mountains. He’s pretty big if he could suspend the planet in perfect orbit within the solar system. He’s pretty big if he could think up an aardvark. He’s pretty big if he could design a man and a woman. He’s pretty big if he could give us a curiosity to learn and discover. He’s pretty big if he could create one man and one woman in such a way that they desire and love each other.), so his nature cannot be tempered by anything. All that...infiniteness...is the fuel for His love for us. How could such an infinite God only love a little bit? How could such an infinite God not know us as people or care about what’s going on in our lives?? If I am all too aware of every hope, dream, and desire within me, and know that it came from somewhere, then how could God be so small that He only has a mediocre love for me??? I remember in the darkest times of my life I told God that I needed him to be everything that my heart needed him to be. I was all too aware of how big I needed God to be for me, and I’m beginning to think that He is not just that big, but infinitely more so! How great the Father’s love for us! It’s silly that I’m trying to convince you of this in an argument disseminated through words. There is no way to know of the Father’s love without experiencing it ourselves, just between us and Him. And since when did Love ever make any sense? Love is probably the weirdest thing out there, of which I have zero understanding, probably because I try and understand it intellectually. But Love wasn’t meant to be understood, it was meant to be experienced.
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Part 2 of 2 will be posted later in the week!
