Cold Burritos

Luke 10:21 “Then Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”
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There was this girl who was sort of part of my gang of friends when I was in high school. We called her “the cotch” because her last name was a longer version of that and was hard to say, nothing mean or anything, I would never do that. Anyway she went away to college in Missouri, and one summer she came back and was hanging out at our college group, which was great. I distinctly remember one night, and this was several years ago now, where we all went to taco bell next door after college group. There were about 5 of us there, maybe six. At the time I was slightly more pious than I am today, and found it vitally important to say prayers with all in attendance at every meal I ate. Well we all sat down and just when we did, the cotch began this monologue about here misadventures on diving team at here college. She gave us the rundown on every meet and even more painfully, on every team member. She cited each one by name, not seeming to have the faintest idea that we had no relationship nor interest in any of these people. Well she went on and on, all the while the rest of us were cautiously looking around and smiling as we waited to say our pre meal prayer. Normally I would be bold enough to interrupt and call people to prayer, but not this time. I could not get a word in. Everybody knew exactly what was going on, and I hate to say it but the cotch sort of had a reputation for this. She was one of those people who is the hardest for me to stand to be around. I don’t necessarily mind those who are longwinded. One of my dearest friends in the world can be quite long winded, but it’s just different, and I think that the difference is this verse. My dear friend you see, makes no attempt to be something that he is not. He will come right out with it and admit what a bonehead he is, and what he struggles with, and that’s what I love about him. But the cotch was different. She had the more common for of this over talking disease. It went along with another symptom that insisted that the talker had all the answers, or had a mandate to talk because they knew more or were that incredibly interesting. I think the Lord was teaching me a lesson that night as I ate a couple of cold bean burritos. The sure fire way to cure yourself of that problem that the cotch had, doesn’t have to be to just shut up. This isn’t an abstinence only program. I learned that people want to hear your stories if they can relate. And the fact is that people relate better to mistakes, lessons, and failures better than anything. That kind of vulnerability is so appealing, especially to this generation. I think that is one of the core differences the church will need to capitalize on as we reach this new generation. The old model of bragging about our successes, falls short in attention grabbing compared to sharing the ups and downs of ones life. I need the ability to be even better at that than I am now. That is what being childlike is all about.
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Lord help me to be more vulnerable, and more open with my peers. Give me a heart to bear with those who aren’t open. Help me to encourage them to become more so. I pray that you would use my openness mightily, because you know it is not fun, but I do it for you. Help me to be more childlike.