Brace for Impact June 22-28 Ch. 4 Reading: “Dealing With the Soul in Depth” up to “What Jesus Really Had in Mind With His Beatitudes”

I think the last sentence of this section pretty much sums it up: “By showing to others the presence of the kingdom in the concrete details of our shared existence, we impact the lives and hearts of our hearers, not just their heads. And they won’t have to write it down to hold on to it.”

This seems to have more implications for those of us who teach or preach than the others, but it can surely be applied to all of us in how we live our lives as a living lesson of God’s character to those around us. Goes back to Richard’s comment from last week: have you seen the Kingdom lately? Now we take it a step further: Where? How? What did it look like? How can I get me some of that?

As an example, one of the lessons I’ve learned in my life that I think comes close to being impacted the way Jesus intended to do with his teachings has to do with trials. I have never really been through any serious suffering in my life – I’ll be the first to admit it. But for some reason, through a few different times of emotional stress in high school and college (and beyond), I feel that God has given me a good deal of insight into how tough times are good, even great for me, how I’m tested and strengthened by them, and how much better I am for them on the other side. These thoughts and ideas on trials are now an integral part of my way of thinking, where before I had no idea. My “life flow” has been impacted, “leaving a lasting impression without benefit of notes, recorders, or even memorization.”

Though the parables described here are used as examples of how Jesus teaches, they all have a common theme: What does my heart look like? Or, how would it respond to these scenarios? What hit me particularly in that I’d never realized this before, is that the priest and the Levite in the Good Samaritan parable would be risking ritual uncleanness to help the man. We always scoff at those two, but with that variable thrown in, if I were in their shoes and completely honest with myself, I’d probably keep on walking by the beaten man as well. Where is my heart?

May we be truly impacted by Jesus’ teachings and his life as he intended to impact us.

So…

Where is your heart?

What lessons have you learned in life (or from someone’s teaching) that have truly impacted you?

How does your life and/or teaching impact those around you?