Look Out?!

Did you ever play fort when you were a kid? I know I am dating myself, but before our entertainment became hand held electronics, there was a time when entertaining happened with our hands, playing with our friends. When we played fort, I loved to be the "lookout". My job was to look for any signs of the approaching enemy and warn my friends of the impending attack...it was cool, and I felt kind of important.

As I grew up, the things I was on the "lookout" for changed, and they have changed for all of us. We no longer feel any need to look out for approaching enemies to warn of an attack, and we have switched to looking out for "our own". We take charge of what belongs to us, and keep it safe and free from harm. We look out to make sure we get what we believe we need protecting the lifestyle our own have become accustomed to. This is not condemnation, but actualization of the realty of growing up in the modern times.

But something inside of me yearns to be a "lookout" again, partly because I don't think this is the way it supposed to be, and partly because I think we are under attack by an enemy. The enemy is complacency and our goal is no longer conquest, but comfort, and I believe we have got it all wrong...

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me." Matthew 25:40 ESV

Maybe instead of looking out for what we have, we could start looking out for those who have less. Maybe then, we could push back this enemy of complacency, and fight to be a "lookout" for the "least of these"...and that just might change everything, ushering in His Kingdom.

Join me and become a lookout again, and let's see what happens! Oh, and by the way: I triple dog dare you!  

In His Grip,

Pastor Pat