the art of friendly competition.

lately i have been pondering the thought of service within the body of believers. i think it's one of the harder things for me to do. this all started over spring break when i went on a mission trip which was very service-intensive. it was all about service to non-Christians and providing them with pancakes and van rides and love and an entire array of good things. and while we were doing these things i saw an outpouring of love in myself and my friends towards these people and it was a good thing, it was beautiful. and then we would return from these events and it would be as if we were out of love, completely void of the one thing we were full of a half hour earlier. (and i understand that this was an exhausting trip, and that we may have indeed felt very out of love at several stages along the way, but this trip was only the beginning of analysis that isn't limited to that week alone.) and it just makes me think that perhaps within this body of believers that there is a lack of love for one another, and a lack of service to one another, especially in my life.

and i feel the struggle because sometimes i feel like it's pointless and that my love and service could better be spent toward someone who doesn't know Christ. but i disagree [with myself] because i see the need for love within the church, and within the bsm and within my circle of friends. i mean in John 13:35, Jesus says "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." i don't know...i just think that we would be more whole, and more Christ-like, and more joyous people if we loved each other a little more.

so what's the point? well, it all comes down to this--i'm nervous about the softball game tomorrow night. i know, it may seem unrelated. but, you see, tomorrow night is perhaps the most important game in intramural history. that, of course, being the night when both bsm teams play one another. what a night.
and i feel like tomorrow night could, tragically, be one of the greatest examples of the lack of love within the community of believers. i fear that it will result in anger, hurt feelings and sore losers, instead of encouragement and fellowship and all of the great things that it could be. and i realize this seems menial, but it's exactly these things that are the most important. i've got to learn to love people, especially Christians, in the mundane, regularity of intra-bsm softball.

so, with all that said. i hope that didn't come off as a rant. it's just what's been on my mind. and, if you made it through the whole thing, thank you.