For a lot
of us who are on the outskirts of society and church we love to see it in the
Bible when Jesus preaches and teaches in bars, parties, and in the countryside.
What we often neglect is on every given Sabbath Jesus was in church. Not only
was He in church, He was active in church. Not only was Jesus active in church,
He was active in a church where nearly everybody disagreed with Him. He went to
church out of obedience to His Father, and for the few who would listen and be
changed.
.jpg)
To be
blunt, a lot of Sundays I go to church out of begrudging obedience to the God
who loves me and saved me. I hate the show, pomp, and circumstance the church
in America has become. Then I think of what Jesus-the guy who came up with the
whole Temple, worship, sacrifice, Sabbath thing-must have felt going to the
spiritually raped and abused version that was in His day. He went, “as was His
custom.”
Yes, church
can be twenty people in a living room or twenty thousand people in a stadium.
Church is the body of Christ (all Christian believers) universal. However, if
we follow the Jesus model we should be ministering to both the outcast and the
upright. The hardest part about living for Christ in the church is the same as
living for Christ in the world. Standing up for Christ is unpopular. People
won’t like you. People will assume you’re an idiot and they will try to drive
you out of town.
It’s hard
to go to church when people think you’re stupid. It’s hard to go to church when
they are missing the mark. It’s hard to talk about the Bible when others want
to talk about budgets, mortgages, and carpet colors. That’s why we don’t.
That’s why people like us have to be in the mix reminding people that if Jesus
isn’t number one, then lets go fishing on Sundays.
You do what God tells you to do. End of story. But if we stop going to church because people are dumb then we aren't listening to God we're listening to man. All man will ever do is try to push you off a cliff.
Image found at: http://www.holyinnocents.org.uk/library/jesus/colour/jesus_teaching_in_the%20Synagogue%20(700x794).jpg
Ok fine, I get the message! Tho I have a real problem with places I go where you don' t see druggies or homeless cuz we can' t trust them, esp. around our young children. Even the handicapped are not truly welcomed as I see it. Just because we feel uncomfortable around people doesn' t mean we act like they have something contagious? I' ve been places that looked promising for awhile, but within a few months the handicapped, homeless, or spaced-out stopped showing for whatever reason. I've tried to engage those in leadership, and I' ll get the invite to a board meeting (weekday at 3PM). Day-job DUH!
ReplyDeleteI get it. I was once an up-right, self-righteous, look-gooder. I was afraid of what people thought of me and how they viewed me, but I seemed to always see those who lived like God loved them for who they were and not for how they looked, talked, or acted (putting on a show). I've turned my back on that and haven't looked back!