Last Week In Review Sunday 8/12/07

On Sunday, I talked about one way we can handle unwanted advances. I also used my episode as a reminder that our desires to be with each other are God given and those desires only affirm God’s intention for us to relate well with each. On Monday, I discussed the fact that all of us are children of God and how that should impact our relationships. On Tuesday, I looked at how we sometimes take things out of context and ways we can put things back “in context” as Christian singles. On Wednesday, the notion of striving to have a different context and how that fits in with our journey of singleness

Below are some comments I have responded to.

“Kevin, all I can say at this point is WOW! I have been there and I still don't think I handled the situation very well; I took the cowardly way out and ignored her advances. That is the way it seems to go for me, I always get attention from the wrong one....” That is one of the most frustrating parts of being single; drawing attention from those people you are not interested in. There are no short and neat solutions to that dilemma. All I can say is we should try to learn from each “unwanted advance”.

“It's your spirit that attracts all kinds to you. You've got that thing.” Thanks, but I suspect that all of us have “that thing”. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we should learn to develop and enhance “that thing”, whatever it is.

“You are quite a special creation (psalm 139) and you should never be surprised when someone finds you attractive male or female.” Thanks again. Actually, I am surprised when anyone finds me attractive, but obviously more so when the person is a male!! But, like I mentioned before, I need to remember that each person is a child of God and that each situation presents learning opportunities.

“When you say context, you are talking about the will of God or our focus for the moment?” For me, “out of context” is anything that is outside God’s will or plan for us. The challenge is to not get “our will” mixed up with God’s will because that will result in us being all twisted up. Then, we will never be able to figure what is “in” or “out” of context. One way we get out of context is when we do not treat others as children of God.

“Your faith walk is on a totally differnt (different) level than mine. I am still climbing that ladder. I know that people have no control over us or me, but they know how to push those buttons and there are times that you just react. Advice?” My faith walk is on a different level than yours because I am different as you are different as the person down the street is different. There are aspects of my spirituality I am stronger at and there are other aspects of your spirituality where you are stronger. When people “push our buttons”, what can we learn from that? Some possible lessons are: Our areas of weaknesses, things we are particularly sensitive to, things we need to work on, the spiritual compatibility of the people we interact with, etc. Often, we find it easier to just react instead of taking a “spiritual breath” and really thinking before we say or do anything.

“Let me see if I get this one, is being "in context" the same as being "in Christ"?” From my understanding, being “in context” is a subset or smaller part of being “in Christ”.

“Okay, this does not mean that every conversation is going to be about the bible or staying in prayer? We Christian singles can have conversations that don't make us seem holier than thou.” Being in context is not about false piety or trying to be holier than thou. Rather, our actions, conversations and thoughts should result in the building of positive relationships, not their destruction. For example, we can talk about the weather or our jobs or our goals or our fears and they do not necessarily lead to the weakening of our bond as platonic friends, romantic partners, co-workers or family. It is not a requirement that Christian singles ONLY talk about the Bible and Christianity. But we are required to interact with others as God would have us to interact and this starts with viewing everyone as a child of God. The question we should constantly ask ourselves is “Is this thought or action or discussion helping or harming my relationship with the other person?”

“Or did I miss the whole meaning of this?” If you think I am saying that we should ONLY talk about praising the Lord or quoting scriptures; then yes, you missed the point. For example, I like watching sports or I like listening to contemporary jazz. Those activities in and of themselves are not harmful to the building of positive relationships. As a Christian single, I can like things in addition to what we might refer to as spiritual stuff. But I just need to make sure that I am uplifting people, not bringing them down.

This Week's Series: God Speaks