interrupted - do i even care?

Over the last couple of weeks, I read Interrupted by Jen Hatmaker. I love Jen Hatmaker because she's honest, funny and throws it all out there. This is the story of big change in their lives. The back summary includes this: "Walk with Jen into a transformational journey that began with one dangerous prayer: 'Raise up in me a holy passion,' and concluded with a life of service to the last, the least, the forgotten and the forsaken." It's her story. It's real, emotional and it's personal to her.

Although this one wasn't quite as funny as some of her other books and blog, it was easy to read. (Short chapters are always helpful for me and make me read longer.) I read it poolside at camp in about a week.

I wanted to share some of my major take-aways that still have me thinking:

• the statistics of extreme poverty are heartbreaking. The majority of people in America are rich beyond words compared to what the rest of the world faces. (pages 25-27) The question is, do I even care about that?
  
•  It is a sin of neglect, a crime of omission to neglect the last, the least, the forgotten and the forsaken.When we ignore the least, we ignore Him. "No amount of spinning or clever justification can neutralize Jesus' point." (page 127)
  
• the statistics about the church and who is coming and who is leaving is astounding, especially for our twenty-somethings. (pages 92-93) The question is, are we going to them instead of waiting for them to come to us?
• The basic premise of the book is living on mission - being intentional about investing ourselves in our neighborhoods, communities and the world. Living a missional lifestyle that is about relationships. At one point she says, "As missionaries have always understood, the key is to study the culture you are passionate about reaching and submerge into that space with respect and love." BINGO!
  
• "In an endless array of Bible studies, programs, church events, and sermons have left you dry, please hear this: living on mission where you've been sent will transform your faith journey. At the risk of oversimplifying it, I've seen missional living cure apathy better than a sermon, promote healing quicker than counseling, deepen discipleship more than Bible studies and create converts more effectively than events." (page 233)

So there's this tension that exists between what I know is out there and what to do about it.

"But it's foolish to become paralyzed by the scope of suffering or discouraged by the limit of our reach. . . Alone, we can affect a few. But together, we can change the world." (page 36)

Here's the thing, this book will make you think. It will make you think about the intentionality of how you're living life. It will make you take note of what your mentality is in the way of reaching out to people in your circles, your neighborhoods and those that you have contact with regularly in your comfortable world.

But it also makes you think about the tension that exists between your comfortable world and the world around you that is not so comfortable. The people and places that need Jesus as much as anyone else, but you don't know what to do to reach them or how to go about it. The tension that exists in knowing that you have so much and others have so little.

Honestly, I'm still really processing what this means for me. I'm the outreach director at our church - it's a new position for me. This puts a whole world out there in front of me that needs our attention. The church as a whole needs to take serious action about loving the lost, the least, the forsaken and the forgotten.

It's a fast read. Read it for yourself. Think about it. Pray about. And pray that the Lord would raise up a holy passion within you and see where He takes you.