Important Reminders

After living in a place for as long as we have now lived in Superior it becomes a bit difficult to remember that the rest of the world looks quite different. I don't mean different
in the sense that
I forget that we have mountains and others do not.
What I am referring to is the way life looks "spiritually" at my back doorstep and throughout the West versus the rest of America.

I grew up in the South. I suppose Kentucky is not the deep south, but spiritually it is still tightly buckled into the Bible Belt of our country. There is a church on every corner and the rarest find is someone who does not attend the local church on a regular basis. Are all these people believers? That is the million dollar question. "Church" is culture. And to some, their faith goes beyond the Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night service, but to many, true transformation has not come into their lives because it has been so easy just to "do church" and get by.

That is not a slam on Southerners. I'm talking about my roots. I love where I come from and the world in which I was raised. But it is not reality. The South is not anything like the rest of the world. Food is different. Hospitality is different. Church is different. Faith is different. Spirituality is different. Life is different.

Last week we had a group visit us from Georgia. Now that is the deep South!! And after their few days with us I was reminded once again of the drastic difference of the place in which I live. We are told that 90% of Northern Colorado is unchurched. It's not that they are "believers" that choose to spend their Sunday's wearing sandals, eating trail mix and worshipping our God under some aspen tree way up in the mountains instead of attending the local church. I mean 90% of the people at my back doorstep do not believe in Jesus Christ. Are they spiritual? Absolutely! They are happy to take a little Hinduism and a little Buddhism, a little New Age, a little "me-ism" and bits and pieces of their own deep ponderings to create their own "truth" in which to live and believe. But to follow Jesus Christ - now that is too ludicrious to accept. To many, God's grace is too easy. The stories of the Bible are too ridiculous. And to accept Jesus as THE ONLY Truth is almost a sign of weakness - giving up to what their own mind can not comprehend.

So what does all of this mean to me? First of all, I must say that I LOVE where I live. I love the people that I meet every day. From someone who has lived within 2 extremes of faith societies, I must admit that I would choose to live with the "lost" every time. Now that might sound crazy to you. It feels a little bit strange to even say. But there is a realness here that I have never encountered anywhere else. When you sit across the table from someone at Starbucks there is no fascade. They respect me for who I am and what I believe. And they are an open book as to who they are and what their life is all about. There are no guessing games. There are no fake smiles. There are no expectations that they feel they have to live up to because of tradition and culture. They are real.

And in their realness they are seeking. They are seeking fulfillment and peace and answers to difficult life questions. They run around in circles searching for spiritual fulfillment and wondering why life continues to fail to work. Many are highly intelligent - thinkers, scientists. They have no background in the Christian faith and no necessity felt to go there. Some desire to know more about this Jesus that we follow. Some do not.

This is the great challenge. This is why we stay. This is why we do Cool River Church. This is why we invite friends into our home. This is why we accept the struggle. This is why we live miles away from our family. This is the life and the place that God has called us. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I long for the day that Superior, Colorado, becomes a transformed place full of transformed lives and families living for Jesus Christ. Will that day ever come? I have to believe that it will. But who knows what God has up his sleeve and in store for this place. Still, I will continue to love it no matter what. I am at home here. Though memories and thoughts of my Southern home warm my heart, I am at home. Thank you, God, for your gentle reminders. Thank you for preparing me in such a way throughout this journey that I can love this place. Thank you for the relationships that you have allowed me while here. Thanks for it all.

My back doorstep sits in an American town of 14,000 people and there is not one standing church building of any faith. The rarest find is anyone who attends church on a regular basis. But God is here. And God is never leaving Superior, Colorado. He's up to something. You just wait and see. And I hope that I am home to see it happen.