{"id":23494,"date":"2023-10-04T09:57:35","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T16:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/?p=23494"},"modified":"2023-10-04T09:57:36","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T16:57:36","slug":"was-god-delighted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/was-god-delighted\/","title":{"rendered":"Was God Delighted?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">By John Townsend<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>They got whopped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The University of Oregon Ducks put the University of Colorado Buffalos in the hurt locker. Even if you don\u2019t follow college football, it would be hard to miss the news that the University of Colorado, which had one win and eleven losses last season, defeated Texas Christian University, which played for the national championship last season, in its opening game, then won its next two games. But the Ducks put an end to the Buffalo\u2019s winning streak. Big time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a grandson who attends Oregon and a sister and brother-in-law who are Colorado alumni, the Oregon \u2013 Colorado game turned into a mini-family reunion. I doubt, however, that God was rooting for either side.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image is-style-default\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-full is-resized\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"23495\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/was-god-delighted\/townsend-john-18\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Townsend-John-18.jpg?fit=400%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"400,500\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;\\u00a9 DJ del Rosario&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Townsend-John-18\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Townsend-John-18.jpg?fit=400%2C500&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Townsend-John-18.jpg?resize=228%2C285&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23495\" style=\"width:228px;height:285px\" width=\"228\" height=\"285\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Townsend-John-18.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Townsend-John-18.jpg?resize=240%2C300&amp;ssl=1 240w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/greaternw.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Townsend-John-18.jpg?resize=336%2C420&amp;ssl=1 336w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 228px) 100vw, 228px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">John Townsend<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>There was, nonetheless, a \u201cChristian\u201d presence. The quotes are intentional, as the presence that was there ran counter to my understanding of what it is to be a disciple, of what Christ commanded us to do. It also has caused me to wonder if I, in some way, failed to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here\u2019s the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the University of Oregon, you pretty much walk to the stadium. We had rented a house a couple of blocks south of the campus. So, we walked through campus, merging into an ever-growing stream of students and fans, crossing the Willamette River, and on to the stadium. It was a gorgeous afternoon for a walk like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just outside the stadium, where three or four \u201ctrails\u201d converge, we came upon a small group of folks exercising their right of expression as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. They were from the Wellspring Bible Fellowship in Roseburg, Oregon, about 70 miles south of Eugene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their large placards contained short declarative statements. To me, anyway, the most startling was that \u201cChrist does not accept you as you are.\u201d Other statements caused me pause, mainly because I thought they were not only incorrect but hurtful. Far from any kind of civil discourse. Far from any kind of loving one\u2019s neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Immediately after passing by that display, we crossed a small stream where I happened to look over the edge of the bridge. There, sitting on the bank, was a young woman. A student at Oregon, I suppose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She looked somehow forlorn, and I wondered if those short declarative statements had impacted her. While most people walked on by, more-or-less ignoring the Wellspring folks and their signs, perhaps she had, like me, out of curiosity, read them and had been hurt. And that is where I wonder if I, in some way, failed to \u201clove my neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few months ago, I participated in a Mental Health First Aid training program offered through the Heal the Sick program of Wesley Theological Seminary. Like a first aider\u2019s \u201cABC,\u201d mental health first aid also has a mnemonic, \u201cALGEE.\u201d The first three letters stand for Approach (assess and assist), Listen, and Give (reassurance, support).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although I had pointed out the young woman to my daughter-in-law and had said something about how she looked forlorn, and perhaps she had been impacted by the views expressed by the Wellspring folks, I did not approach her. After all, maybe her date had stood her up. Or she had lost her ticket to the game. But then again, perhaps not \u2013 especially given some other clues \u2013 and she had, in fact, been hurt, injured, by that \u201cChristian presence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, perhaps I failed to \u201clove my neighbor\u201d by not taking that first step and simply saying (as Lucinda Williams sings), \u201cAre you alright?\u201d \u201cAre you going to be OK?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you were at, or \u201cZoomed in,\u201d to the Annual Conference this year, you might recall that the opening hymn of the opening worship service was \u201cA Place at the Table\u201d (also known as \u201cFor Everyone Born\u201d). It was sung with great gusto and joy. *<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The whole theme of that hymn runs counter to what I experienced in my \u201cencounter\u201d with the \u201cChristian presence\u201d on the path to Autzen Stadium in Eugene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hymn\u2019s refrain goes like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">And God will delight when we are creators<br>of justice and joy, compassion and peace:<br>Yes, God will delight when we are creators<br>of justice, justice, and joy.<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>While I am incredibly thankful to live in and be a citizen of a country where we have a right to free expression, as exercised by the folks from Wellspring Bible Fellowship, I cannot help but wonder if, in doing so, they had hurt that young woman I saw. Certainly, reading their signs, I did not find justice, joy, compassion, or peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so, in their \u201cChristian presence,\u201d did God delight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Does God delight in ours?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>*To learn more about the background to \u201cA Place at the Table,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.umcdiscipleship.org\/resources\/history-of-hymns-a-place-at-the-table\">click here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>John Townsend<\/strong> serves as lay leader for the Inland Missional District in the Pacific Northwest Conference. He also chairs the Conference Committee on Certified Lay Ministries.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reflecting on a &#8220;Christian&#8221; presence he encountered at a recent college football game, Inland District Lay Leader John Townsend explores the topic of loving our neighbor. He emphasizes that while it may sound simple, we can easily fail in this area if we&#8217;re not intentional.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":23498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[74,16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23494","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-opinioneditorial","8":"category-pacific-northwest-conference"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Was God Delighted? - Greater Northwest Area | News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/greaternw.org\/news\/was-god-delighted\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Was God Delighted? - Greater Northwest Area | News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Reflecting on a &quot;Christian&quot; presence he encountered at a recent college football game, Inland District Lay Leader John Townsend explores the topic of loving our neighbor. 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