Give a little love away, expect nothing back…

I’m scared of you and well you’re scared of me
When I ask you how you’re feeling, you hide the truth from me
So we talk about the weather and we pass the time of day
Though we seem so close together, we’re so far away you and me…

These are words from the opening song of the very super-awesome FIRST EVER album from The Lads. The Album was called “People I regularly associate with” (or PIRAW for short) and somewhere in a box is my signed copy… The Lads were the first band I truly loved and I was the t-shirt buying, top-of-the-lungs-singing SUPERFAN!

I remember watching the band play at a tiny music festival outside Wanganui called “Happening Whangaehu” and making the realisation that the bass player was my half-cousin!!! This of course took me on the instantaneous journey from fanboy to part of the Lads’ whanau… SURELY I could now name drop and instantly become NZ Christian music royalty (by association)… Ummm… Well, no, not really… Here is one of the other songs that was originally on that album… for your listening pleasure…

I have been thinking a lot about how we need to take our faith into the real world… the title of this song popped into my head…”Give a little love away…” I couldn’t remember the words so I facebooked my half-cousin who also had to think hard and consult the liner notes from the CASSETTE TAPE (this was before CDs!!!).

The song talks about the fact that we live so near to the people around us, but we remain so disconnected from living out a REAL commitment to community living… For such a long time we seem to have thought that if our churches run more attractive events, that maybe then people will want to come and join us in our nice and safe buildings… In all honesty, it seems that people aren’t really breaking down the doors of our churches.

When it comes to working with young people, I think there is no difference in practice to be honest… We serve up doses of concert church and know all the right timings for the mood lighting to enhance the experience for all concerned… The problem is however, I think people are starting to see past the hype… but if I am honest, I don’t think that this is a problem… it is an opportunity!

We are building something here at 2ndcity that will enable churches to find where their young people are, and GO there. Encouraging them to be present with young people and to find ways to bring faith in Jesus Christ (as opposed to just faith in faith) into the plethora of contexts we see young people hanging out in these days. We don’t seek to replace what churches are doing – or to pretend that we have the “new and improved” or “latest and greatest” ministry… but we seek to create tools that get young people processing their stories… and seeking to connect and share them with the world around them.

Life is best lived in the context of community. REAL community. Community that costs us something. Community that is sacrificial and rewarding in the same heartbeat. Community that seeks to serve, to love and to bless the people we come into contact with… We dream of a culture that is driven by the desire to connect people’s stories with the Story of a Creator that cared so much for the world He created, that He sent His Son to die for them…

The song continues:

Please don’t tell me all your secrets please don’t come too near
cause it doesn’t matter what is said to an indifferent ear
what could be of interest to a heart that doesn’t care
though we’re lonely in our silence cause we who do not dare to

Give a little love away expecting nothing back

Your mission for this week is to give a little love away… don’t expect anything in return… throw away the indifference and recognise that when we all take in interest in the lives of those around us, everyone wins!