Posts by Joel Aguilar
Shepherding Compassion
I am an introvert, and those who know me have seen how difficult it is for me to interact with large groups of people. This is a bit of an issue at times because I love teaching and facilitating discussions. Seeing people challenge their ideas and ask questions brings a smile to my face. However, when I am done teaching, I feel extremely tired. I need to retreat to my room, be in silence, and recharge my social batteries. Sometimes, it can take me days to recover my energy.
Read MoreThe Stories We Tell Ourselves
The parable of the talents has haunted me for a long time. It has frightened me since I was a teenager. I remember hearing the youth pastor preaching about this passage several times. Every time he brought this parable up, I felt uncomfortable.
Read MoreForgiving Uncertainty
I really like to have the right answers. That’s why, when I started my theological studies many years ago, I struggled with my own inclinations toward legalism. Legalism was comfortable for me. It spared me from the complexities of life because it often provided straightforward responses grounded in phrases like, “because the Bible says so.” It took time for me to realize that a legalistic, literal interpretation of scripture wasn’t the sole way to read the Bible, and, in fact, it could stifle life’s beautiful complexity.
Read MoreGood Soil
The good news of the Kingdom is what God has done for all of us. The more we’re able to see God’s goodness, the more we can produce the life-giving fruit that feeds a hungry world. The fruit is our loving openness to others in community — a reflection of the radically inclusive God who first loved us.
Read MoreReconciling
Shame has a distinct ability to turn us inward, manifesting in unhealthy ways that often result in us turning outward in unhealthy ways. When we experience personal dis-integration, it often leads to communal dis-integration.
Read MoreScratched Eye
At the beginning of the story, there is a group of people whose spiritual blindness triggers the conflict around the healing of the blind man. This group is the blind man’s immediate community. In a twist of irony, his neighbors fail to see the miracle before their eyes: one of their own experienced healing! Sadly, instead of welcoming him back into the community, they bring him to the Pharisees to be interrogated.
Read MoreWhat Do You Want?
I love introductions — whether they happen in between two people or in front of large groups. I love them because the things people share during an introduction reflect what they believe is important in the moment. Our introductions say a lot about how we understand ourselves and our audience.
Read MoreWith Me or Against Me
A group of leaders in a Mayan urban community in Guatemala were very enthusiastic about the idea of running a program to combat teenage alcohol consumption — one of many issues negatively impacting young people in their community. They had great plans, but one question remained: where could they obtain the necessary resources to run a program like this?
Read MoreAnxious Morbus
When I was a child, I had these racing thoughts of horrible things happening to me or my loved ones. I didn’t know it then, but that was the beginning of a lifelong struggle with anxiety. So, when Guatemala closed its borders and lockdowns began in March 2020, my anxiety got worse. I had nightmares that the pandemic would last forever and that the world might end.
I’m a worrywart, but I tried to play it cool. For those who know me, it was obvious that I was struggling. I turned to my idiosyncratic coping mechanism — consuming books and knowledge. I went through hundreds of pages of heavy reading every week, but it didn’t help.
Read MoreThe Crumbling House
The house, the house, the house! We finally had it, and yet the deeper impulse behind the desire remained elusive. After a few months of living crammed together, we began expanding our home’s footprint. It wasn’t just going to be sufficient, it was going to be the biggest house in the whole development. The yardstick for our desire, our success, had moved.
Read MoreBittersweet Fruit
As I was telling David how terrible hell would be, he turned to me and said, “And what do you think this is?” He pointed to the rotten wood poles that held the rusty tin sheets that served as walls for his shack. The metal sheets had as many holes as a slice of swiss cheese. Then, I heard the two children he had already brought into the world even though he was just fifteen. And I smelled the rottenness of the dirt floor, wet with the sewer water that came from the toilet next to us. At that moment, I realized that I was sitting with him in hell.
Read MoreGod’s New Age
In this week’s text, Jesus foretells his death. He relates it to a moment in the Bible when God used Moses to save the Israelites from snakes by looking at a … snake. It was unusual, to say the least. In the same way, Jesus reminds his listeners that his salvation will happen, but everything about it will defy our expectations.
Read MoreAlmost Drowning
I was baptized into an Evangelical church when I was seven years old and it was a terrible experience. My dad was the pastor of our church, so I was…
Read MoreMad at the Maidens
This week’s text, The Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids, has often been used as a precautionary tale about who gets into heaven and who is left behind. It’s clear that…
Read MoreThe Cancer of Unforgiveness
Cancer is something that scares us out of our minds, especially if our families have a history with it. In the last year I experienced a great deal of loss.…
Read MoreBorn in Scandal
Not too many years ago, in a community marked by a history of scandalous events, I encountered one of the wittiest and smartest kids I have ever met. His name was Kevin. Kevin understood what it meant to come from a scandalous background.
Read MoreLet the Dead Bury their Dead
True confession, the relationship with my brother was broken. It was a love and hate relationship that hurt both of us deeply. We wounded each other in ways that we may never realize. His sickness and death, however, just brought all of the wounds to the surface.
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