No Cookie Cutters Required

As we travel this weary land, Father, use us to bring Your Good News to a world that so desperately needs it. Most of all make us genuine representatives of Your Kingdom. No cookie cutters required! Amen!

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When Massey was little Karen started a small business out of our home to provide us income while still enabling her to take care of him as a full-time mom. It was called Karen’s Kookies. She used a delicious sugar cookie recipe – they were soft and just melted in your mouth! Her creations were unique in that she would brush them with icing and then decorate them with colored sugars to make them look like whatever the image was. A daisy would have an orange center with white petals. Fish would be bands of different colors. You get the idea. They were beautiful and tasty! (We did hear of one recipient who received a kookie bouquet – a terracotta pot with a Styrofoam core covered in Easter grass and then filled with decorated “flowers” on skewers – she refused to eat them because they were so pretty!) Karen hasn’t baked “professionally” in years, but our family is treated to her fine creations most holidays.

As I typed out my opening prayer, I felt compelled to flesh it out a bit.

I honestly think that we would be hard-pressed to find someone who thought our world was just a great place to experience life. Yes, we enjoy many things, with many people but even with all of its joys, life is most assuredly not without its rough spots. And for many, the phrase “rough spot” is a great understatement. Some live their entire lives in seemingly unending “rough spots”.

As believers, we can cling to Jesus for security and support but for those who don’t know Him, it is pretty hopeless. Especially in the times in which we find ourselves – COVID-19 has wreaked havoc and caused division in innumerable areas of our lives. But even beyond that, countless individuals are overwhelmed with all that life continues to throw at them.

And as believers in Christ, what do we offer them? I know what we can offer them but in reality, what do we offer them? What bothers me, and I truly am no less guilty, is the fact that a lot of words come out of our mouths – and it sounds great – but where is the action behind those words?

The Amplified Bible’s translation of James 12:7 reads,

So too, faith, if it does not have works [to back it up], is by itself dead [inoperative and ineffective].

Action is of utmost importance, but another problem lies in the fact that often our faith and actions communicate error or insensitivity. Holy Joe Schmoe said thus and thus and we – in cookie-cutter fashion! – rattle off the same rhetoric and proclaim our duty done.

In these times in which we find ourselves, and really it applies to every time we find ourselves; people are looking not just for band-aids or a few pats on the back but genuine love and compassion. It’s more than tossing a few coins in a red kettle. It’s more than an extra prayer thrown up when it crosses our mind – though those things do fill needs – but, we need to get our hands dirty. We need to be seeking out real needs up close and personal and addressing them. Investing ourselves in them. Committing to those involved.

Is it risky? Probably. Is success guaranteed? Not necessarily. Is it worth it? Most definitely.

When Jesus came to live amongst us, did He hold back? No, He gave His all. He gave and gave and gave…to the very last drop. And we are called to be His disciples and give thinking of others, not just ourselves.

Dec 21^st, 2020, Mon, 7:01 pm