Live Openly and Expansively!
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
1Companions as we are in this work with you, we beg you, please don’t squander one bit of this marvelous life God has given us. 2God reminds us,
I heard your call in the nick of time;
The day you needed me, I was there to help.
Well, now is the right time to listen, the day to be helped. 3Don’t put it off; don’t frustrate God’s work by showing up late, throwing a question mark over everything we’re doing. 4Our work as God’s servants gets validated–or not–in the details. People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly . . . in hard times, tough times, bad times; 5when we’re beaten up, jailed, and mobbed; working hard, working late, working without eating; 6with pure heart, clear head, steady hand; in gentleness, holiness, and honest love; 7when we’re telling the truth, and when God’s showing his power; when we’re doing our best setting things right; 8when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted; 9ignored by the world, but recognized by God; terrifically alive, though rumored to be dead; beaten within an inch of our lives, but refusing to die; 10immersed in tears, yet always filled with deep joy; living on handouts, yet enriching many; having nothing, having it all.
11Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. 12We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. 13I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!