What Makes You Cry?

I have a few questions for you…

But before I ask them I need your assurance that you’re going to tell the truth.

No fibbing, no white lies and no bending of the truth.

Be honest.

Are you a crier?

When was the last time you cried? Last year? Last month? Last week? Yesterday? Earlier today?

On a Thai food scale (one to five stars) how good a crier are you?

You’re not embarrassed are you?

Okay, now for the good part.

What makes you cry?

  • Movies
  • Movies (The Notebook)
  • Commercials
  • Funerals
  • Saying good-bye
  • Throwing up (I feel like I’m going to die every time I throw up)
  • Songs
  • Plucking nose hairs
  • Hurting yourself
  • Being left out
  • Human interest story
  • Laughing
  • Your kids
  • Losing a pet

 

Thanks for being honest.

It seems to me that in the church world we’ve been crying about the wrong things for far to long.

We cry about changes we don’t like.

New songs, music volume, someone’s in MY seat, the pastor is wearing jeans and on and on it goes.

The church has cried over judges decisions, laws being passed and words getting redefined.

Honestly, I’m not sure God has ever called us to cry about these things.

For far too long the church has not cried about the things it should.

In scripture we see what makes God cry.

On two different occasions we see Jesus, God in human, cry.

Both times involve his separation from people.

Once, after Lazarus dies and a second time when he’s preparing to go to the cross.

God cries when he is estranged from his children.

The church should be moved to tears and with compassion when people are far from God.

Unfortunately it seems the church historically has worked hard to make sure certain people stay outside its doors.

Jesus told story after story to illustrate the opposite.

He told stories depicting God as a God who works hard to welcome people into the family.

In the story of the lost son, the father is moved to compassion (possibly even tears of joy) that his lost son has returned home.

When people who were outsiders become insiders that should make us cry too.

Through him (Jesus) God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross… As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. (1 Colossians 1.20,22, NLT)

I’m not ashamed to admit it, I think we should be five stars criers about the right things in the church.

We should be moved with compassion and spurred to action when we know there are people far from God.

We should also celebrate, with tears of joy if necessary, when people come home to relationship with him.

2 thoughts on “What Makes You Cry?

  1. Things I’ve not cried about in the past, may greatly effect me now, now that I have a different. AS we grow older, we are effected by different things, we would have never given a second thought to before.

    It’s okay to cry. Considering the list above, I would say we are all emotional, each of us to various degrees, towards various topics, for various reasons.

    …Don’t really have anything deep to add, just wanted to throw that in there…

    🙂

  2. hallmark commercials
    Winners on Wheel of Fortune
    The Double (actually any clip from the 1995 Mariners)
    and thinking about the great life I sort of stumbled into

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