The magazine that never gets read

I subscribe to a major Christian magazine and I don't know why. Actually, I do--it was during a magazine fundraiser at my son's school and I knew I'd made a $12 mistake when I signed up. There's nothing wrong with this publication--it's nicely done, beautifully laid out, and looks good on the coffee table.

And that's where it sits, unopened for the most part. Yeah, I thumb through it, but my eyes glaze over when I see a point-counterpoint between Complementarians and Egalitarians. Huh? I'm equally somnolent when How to Pick a President appears. What?

Jesus urges us to have faith like a child. That's not to say we stop seeking greater knowledge or to be content knowing only the basics of God's nature---He wants us to seek Him. But when we complicate it by getting caught up in the minutiae that only serves to divide us, we should hear the alarm bells in our heads. How many times have you gotten into a theological debate over something that, in all honesty, isn't a salvation issue?

I've got plenty of folks in my life who I could argue with over communion, baptism, who is or isn't a saint, and the like. Until I stopped doing all that hoo-hah, I missed a lot of rich interaction.
I ran into someone this past weekend at a gathering at some friends---I'd sat at her table during a Young Life event a couple months back but she was across the table and we couldn't talk. So, I reintroduced myself and we chatted for a bit. Turns out, she's a bit lapsed in her faith for a number of reasons. She's a little irked at God for some things He hasn't done in her life. Apparently, a friend of hers 'got religion' and went off the deep end some years back.

I listened and then as tactfully as I could urged her to just get back to the basics of her faith. I encouraged her to open up a direct line to God instead of relying on middlemen who she distrusts. Find that faith like a child again. Start with a little quiet time in the morning--believing that she has an audience with THE ONE.

I'm not sure what she thought of our encounter, but I'm glad it happened. In fact, I'm going to find a copy of My Utmost for His Highest and get it to her to serve as a little devotional day-starter.

Faith like a child. Keeping it simple. Works every time.