One Small Thread

by Charlie Lowell
Jars of Clay
Blood Water Mission

Somehow, I grew up with this notion that our lives are compartmentalized- that there are times for celebration, times to mourn, times to be quiet, and maybe a little time to be boisterous. Call it an Ecclesiastical view of life. This is true to an extent, but I feel I took it a little too far - Church was for Sunday and maybe Wednesday night, school is for studying and socializing, etc. And I think, like most teenagers, my world was pretty small and self-centered. My faith didn't really permeate each aspect of my life.

This quickly changed as I met my future bandmates, we wrote some songs, and did a bit of traveling. This grand world we live in got a little smaller, and my safe world got a lot larger and crazier. And the most beautiful thing is, God got bigger, wilder, certainly more mysterious. My compartmentalized view of life was crumbling, and things were turning on their heads- suffering brothers in China had great joy, the persecuted church was growing at a staggering rate, mainstream radio was playing "Christian music", relationships got sweeter the messier they were... And I started to get it! Faith permeates our life. It is not reserved for certain days, or seasons, or places. Our God is one of Creation, and He weaves a story of redemption and rescue around the globe in unthinkable ways. And I am a small but substantial thread in that tapestry.

As time passed, I married an incredible woman named Sonja, and we were graced with twin boys. Suddenly traveling and time away meant sacrifice, distance, missing, struggle, tension. And my time on the road began to matter more, as I learned about concepts such as stewardship, God's economy, vocation and the Kingdom. If I was to travel and be apart from loved ones, why not really make the time matter? Mission work was not just for those called to distant lands to work with untouched people, but for God's family of faithful believers, in every area of work you can imagine. Our calling, not as musicians but as sons of the Living God, is to illuminate our little corner of the Kingdom with love and mercy. I met a wonderful new friend named Steve Garber, and he encouraged my friends and I to think further on these truths... he introduced us to the writings of Wendell Berry and Annie Dillard, and we talked more about vocation as we toured the country, balanced family, and dreamt about how to be responsible with this platform, this moment in the Kingdom.

Why do we care about Africa? I suppose we perceived a need and God gave us the courage to step towards it, to talk about what we could bring to the need. We had a desire to lean into this particular story, and were inspired us with a vision to draw closer, to meet an African suffering with AIDS, to take a trip to the dark continent. Don't get me wrong, there was a lot of doubt and cynicism involved, but there were just as many friends and mentors supporting and dreaming with us. Somehow God has freed our hearts to care about something halfway around the world, and a means to get involved, make a difference, and have our faith grown. We have experienced God's hand of mercy, in such a simple thing as clean water.

This caring and serving has become a part of my worship- a way to experience and respond to the Gospel of Jesus. It is faith in action. We come to God for a fresh encounter with Jesus, and he fills us with compassion and joy to serve, and our response becomes this interaction with our messy world. It is truly amazing what one small thread can do.

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