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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, March 10, 2007

God finds us in our daily lives

By the Rev. Darren Galindo

On any given Sunday, you'll find a variety of people in church, including pastors.

In one church, you may find the pastor in a robe, and in another he or she could be wearing aloha attire.

People raise their hands while they sing in some churches while in others you'll see hands holding on to hymnals. Even the song lyrics vary, from being written within the last 10 years to hymns written over 200 years ago.

You'll also find church services in a multitude of languages. The United Church of Christ, here in Hawai'i, features services in 13 different languages. The doors of God's church are open to all people.

However, Christians are not always in church on Sundays. Maybe they are home getting some extra needed rest or attending a special event for their children. Some are homebound due to age or illness. Others are working.

The amazing thing about God is that God finds us no matter where we are or what we are doing, even if we are not wearing traditional Sunday clothes. Our God finds us in the ordinary places of life and in our ordinary experiences.

Jesus did not always speak from the temple in his day. He was out in the towns, hillsides, wilderness and mountains, by the sea or on the road. He was in sacred and not-so-sacred places (Jerusalem vs. Samaria). He was with the elite of society at times but most often with those rejected, outcast or neglected by their own families.

It's hard to judge who is a Christian from outside appearances. Anyone can go through the motions, but God knows our motives. God knows if we are living life from the heart or if we are living life because of others' expectations. All of us are capable of living a good life to the best of our ability, but I was once told we need to keep in mind that even on our best day, we don't impress God.

Living a Christian life is not about impressing those around us — or impressing God, for that matter. It's about living a life that has a positive impact upon the lives of others. I'd much rather live by faith than by no faith at all and I'd much rather be an impact person than an impressive person.

What does a Christian look like? That may depend on who you ask or what church you go to. But you can count on God identifying and embracing us not by our appearances, but by the rightness of our heart.

The Rev. Darren Galindo is pastor of Windward United Church of Christ.