Bursting bubbles

Grace Church Summer Reading Program: The Hole in our Gospel—week 2 

Thoughts from the Prologue

I tried to get out of the Prologue and in to the 1^st chapter of The Hole in our Gospel this week but I couldn’t do it. I was too gripped by Richard Stearns’ metaphor of bursting bubbles. He described his bubble as one that “safely contained my life, family, and career…insulating me from anything too raw or upsetting.”[1]

Certainly you and I are not totally insulated from the pain in our world. We see and grieve over tragedies like the Boston Marathon bombings, and we ache over the personal pain that we experience inside our bubbles, and yet if we’re really honest we can probably relate with Stearns. Our American lifestyle is largely insulated from the daily horrors of major portions of our world.

To counter this unhealthy insulation, Stearns suggests asking the Lord to, “break our hearts for what breaks yours.”[2] It’s quite a risky prayer because if God answers it affirmatively we might not stay content within the current confines of our bubble.

I say we leap without looking and pray the prayer anyway.

As Pastor Bill Hybels said, “God is looking for some strong-shouldered leaders who say, ‘If there’s a tough assignment anywhere in the world, I’m available.’”[3] Let’s volunteer for broken hearts, strong shoulders, and a passion to serve our world.