lessons from the outside

Have you ever been sitting in a movie theatre, enjoying the latest blockbuster, when suddenly something is said or done onscreen that absolutely moves your soul? Something that is deeper, more profound, more spiritually awakening than anything you have seen or heard from the pulpit in years?

Maybe it wasn't in a movie theare. Maybe it happened while you were watching late-night TV, or reading a novel, or listening to your car radio. But regardless of the specific medium, have you ever caught a glimpse of God in something that was supposed to be "secular"?

I have. Actually, it happens pretty regularly. And really, to me, it makes perfect sense.

The Creator's fingerprint has been left on our souls. From Adam and Eve to Aristotle to Conan O'Brien, and everyone in between. There is a glimmer of Truth present in us.

But we have been taught to believe that if it doesn't come from a Christian bookstore or inside the walls of a stained-glass building, then it isn't worth reading, or watching, or listening to. And while we have been shifting back and forth, struggling to remain comfortable in our hard, wooden pews...a world of color and beauty has been spinning around outside. A dark and broken world? Yes. But within the darkness, there are flickers of light. Glimpses that, like fireflies, won't last for long.

Well, I say we pick-up out nets and head for the door. I say we find those fireflies, swing our arms and grab them while they still shine. And not for the purpose of putting one in a jar and taking it inside just to watch it loose air and fade away. No, I'd rather hold it in my hands for just a moment. Claim it as Truth and let it go; watching it fly and illuminate the darkness as it goes.

There are lessons to be learned from the world outside. And if we can let go of our illusion that something must be theologically complete and in full agreeance with our sets of beliefs before we listen...I think we would be blesssed, and frankly, amazed by what we find. That we don't have a monopoly on God. That we can't box Him in. That He lives and moves and breathes all around us.

In the next few days, I want to share with you just a few of these fireflies that I have found. Not because they are earth-shattering, or life-changing. But simply because they contain Truth.

From Plato's belief that the human soul is constantly searching for "the beautiful, the true and the good", to Hank Hill visiting a mega-church. We have a lot to learn from the world outside of our church walls.