Monday, March 12, 2007

commentary

before reading this post, please make sure you have read both parts of "the middle of nowhere" posts. okay...so i had completely mixed emotions while attending the tent revival outside of victorville. my honest first reaction was one of disbelief and dumbfoundedness (if that's a word). the shere idea of setting up a tent in the middle of nowhere boggled my mind. the music sent me over the edge, and the string of christianese confused even me. yet in the midst of the craziness, i was struck by the faith of those 3 staff people - valerie, tamika, and louis (who I think was staff...maybe just a committed volunteer). they have been there since february 20 and will be there until at least march 20. 30 days. i have no idea how many people come on a given night, but those three are there every night singing praise to God and talking about His Word. what has God called them to? would i be willing to rent land in the middle of nowhere to setup a tent for maybe no one to show up? i don't know. i thought following God's call into youth ministry 8 years ago was crazy for me. i've moved halfway across the country to follow His call. in the midst of it all, though, i don't know that i've ever risked humiliation. sure i've been laughed at, shunned, ignored...but never have i felt humiliated for my faith. i'm certainly not saying that those faithful few have been humiliated, but that might be an emotion i'd feel in their situation. does God still work through tent revivals? maybe. i guess i'm just in a place where i'm not so sure the traditional methods and concepts of outreach still work....especially given the language used and atmosphere created in that tent in the middle of nowhere...

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