so this afternoon i was thinking more about what church is. what church is supposed to accomplish. what church is supposed to do and what it's supposed to be. i don't believe that church is just a building. that it's a place where christians merely meet. i believe that believers, christians, followers of Christ - that's what church is. WE are the church. the body of Christ. i know that that phrase is tossed around rather casually & that it has become somewhat of a cliche but have you ever really thought about what that means to be the body of Christ? it's a beautiful thing. think about it. read about it...for yourself.
i was talking to someone today about some of our countries' current issues - racisim, equal rights for homosexuals, health care, how the government has lost sight of why it was created - to help the people, not control or take advantage of them, corrupted democracy, how because of greed & self-righteousness there will always be poor amongst the abundantly wealthy. conversations like this can easily make me feel overwhelmed by the weight of all that is wrong & corrupt in our world & specifically our country. there is so much gone wrong in our world. if we ever want to see a change, action will be required. this makes me think about the church.
What is the church doing today to help a world that has lost sight of it's purpose? A world that every day falls deeper & deeper into a dark & deceitful pit of self gratification, lust & greed. The most common action that the church takes is prayer. Prayer & intercession for the hurting, the needy, the broken, the saints, the lost, the forgotten, the searching, the humbled, the wicked, the proud and so on and so on. But what else does the church do? I know that there are some that go further than that, further than their favorite church pew that they sit in once or twice a week. but I wonder how many of us go beyond just praying. (know that i am not negating from the power or importance of prayer.) I dare say a more important question would be what is the church supposed to be doing? we live in a world that is corrupt in comparison to the way it was created & we say we desire to see a change & yet so many of us are just sitting on our bums crossing our fingers oh-so-tightly wishing & praying that "hopefully everything will all work out for the best". We are to trust in God in everything, true, however, God never said "oh, just kick back & relax & trust that I'll take care of everything juuuust as long as you make sure to show up every Sunday morning & the occasional Sunday night in your "sunday bests" & sit in the front row looking perfect & pretty & sing songs & pray to Me. Yeah. Do that & I'll take care of the rest of the world & it's problems." Umm, no. Pretty sure I've never read that anywhere in the Bible. I think back over scriptures that i've read & the stories that were told & i recall stories of men & women being called by God to action. Moses, Noah, Jonah, Paul, SO many others and, not to mention, Jesus. Not a single one of these people sat on their bums waiting for God to take action while they sat there watching. No. After they prayed, they took action. They went out. Moses delivered the Isrealites from Egypt. Noah built the ark not even knowing what an ark or rain or a flood was. Jonah preached the Good News to an evil nation that was known for it's cruelty & forms of torturing. Paul lived a life of servanthood preaching the Good News to all selflessly. and then there is Jesus...
i get slightly disguisted with the church of today when i think about how spoiled we are and how we can't even take time to help someone who's hurting or in need of something unless we saw an announcement for it in the church bulletin & it is convenient for us to fit into our frivolous self-indulgent schedules. i think that we too easily forget what our purpose & calling is. love & sharing the Good news. not judging & condemning & sharing our opinions out of turn. so often do i hear of people that were "turned off" by the church because they got funny looks & were reprimanded for looking a certain way, speaking or thinking differently, not having the perfect upbringing, having a child outside of marriage, for being homosexual as well as other things. i think that the church has forgotten that grace is to be extended further than just ourselves & that we are to love everyone the way that Jesus loves. Have we forgotten that we are all sinners saved by grace? that not one of us is better than another? not a single one of us has rose scented poo! Romans 3 & 1 Cor. 6:9-11 talks of this (not the poo part). Jesus loved the crooked tax collector, the adulterous woman, the prostitute, the thief, the doubting - He loved them all. They accepted Him because He met them where they were. He didn't say, "I'll love you only AFTER you change your ways of sin". No. He loved them 1st where they were & it was because of this love that they accepted Him as their Saviour. we are to love others this same way. 1 John 4:7-21 speaks about how we love God because He 1st loved us & how if we don't love our brother that we can actually physically see that we don't or can't really love a God that we can't see. you see - God is love. so if we are to live our lives with Jesus being our example, then why do we insist that inorder for us to love people that they need to first change & conform to the "modern christian lifestyle"? why do we judge people instead of loving them how they are & trusting that God is working in them? why isn't our first instinct to extend grace? sometimes it feels like we still live under the condemnation of the law. these are some things that i question & think about. there are so many people that are hurting and need to know the reality of Christ's love. what are you doing to help them? my heart breaks at the thought that there is someone that hasn't felt that beautiful, deep, selfless love that Christ has for us all.
so i ask myself, as well as you, in regards to all of this: what are you doing? what should you be doing? have you gotten comfortable? lethargic? have you become numb? complacent?
i know that this could sound of a harsh lecture from atop my hoity toity soap box but i hope that this causes you to be honest with yourself & to think and search for truth for your own life. i pray that you see my heart.
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Jesus intervened in many lives. Man looks at the outside, God sees the heart. Jesus defended the woman taken in adultery and once her accusers were gone he told her two things: neither do I condemn you and go and sin no more. Jesus comes into our lives to change us, put us on track to become like Him.
ReplyDeleteWe can fall prey to "causes" but the only cause that can truly change the world is picking up the cross of Christ and following Him, trusting Him, and becoming a vessel that He can flow through. It is never us, it's Him in us.
You are doing exactly what God desires, to think, meditate, on His Word. That's what transforms us.