Posts tagged MY MAIN MAN

brianli:

Because I didn’t get the chance to go up during sharing night at CCF.

1 Peter 2:9 professes that we have attained a royal priesthood. Most translations also say “holy nation” or “chosen people”. When we think of priests, we normally get this notion that they’re extremely high up on the holy scale, rich and abundant in good works. If we could think of a more modern day example of a priest, we could probably throw out big names like Billy Graham, Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, and so on.

What does this mean though? If we take 1 Peter 2:9 to heart, then it means that we have attained that royal priesthood. We are no less precious to God than the head of a mega church. We have no less access to God than Paul Washer or Francis Chan. God loves us just as much, and He wants to be intimate with us.

I hope I don’t take this verse out of context, but I believe that this should come to us as an encouragement of many sorts. My roommate was made president of Chinese Christian Fellowship yesterday, and I know that sometimes he’s unsure, perhaps insecure, and sometimes doubtful about whether or not he is “spiritually mature” enough for the job, or just in general.

Along with myself, I feel like sometimes we compare ourselves to the bigger names. I feel like other spiritual leaders in our lives may sometimes cause us to stumble and feel inadequate as Christians, being overshadowed by the more “spiritually mature” men or women around us. But let me just tell you, that is completely bogus. David, as your roommate, I will just throw this out into the open, but you live one of the most God-centered lives I have ever seen. Don’t take this as pure blissful encouragement, but also take it as a statement of utmost honesty. If you ever feel inadequate, I will be there to verbally slap you in the face with more encouragement because I have seen the works that you have been doing for God this entire year and honestly it is a paramount blessing to be able to witness His works through you. 

We’re all a chosen people, a holy nation, a royal priesthood. If we see someone who is more spiritually driven than us, then praise God for that. Praise God that He is working through others, and praise God that we can see that. But God uses us in different ways. Each and every Christian has been given different traits, talents, opportunities, and even networks to do His ministry. Just because one person has his theology and doctrine down and can recite the five solas doesn’t mean you’re any less “holy” than him. I’m a bit of an extrovert (since coming to college) and can reach out to the dance community. That is my blessing, and I plan to use it to His advantage for the glory of His kingdom. Tim Pai has the gift of knowledge and is pretty awesome at coming up with one-liners, and David has his amazing gift of being able to reach out to people. All of these gifts are a blessing, and none are more glorifying than the other.

David, you are sleeping right now and you are snoring like CRAZY but I hope you get to read this sometime tomorrow morning before you take your exam. I know I talk a lot of crap about how you’re always whining, but know that you have my utmost respect and love. If you’re not David, and you’ve managed to read this far, know that I think David is one of the most under appreciated leaders out there. For him to go out of his way to eat with so many people that he’s not even that close to and just break down walls and create this intimate community that is CCF now, that’s some amazing work of the Holy Spirit right there. And David, although I want to smack you whenever you ask these questions, yes you will be invited to my wedding (you can situate yourself right up there with the other best men), and yes we’ll still be friends in 30 years.

I was originally gonna just reblog a few funny quotes from this…before I realized just how heartwarming and profound this post actually was. 

Brian, now I wish you went up and shared.