What is it that makes Christians different? We are supposed to be different. Why is it that so many think that Christians are hypocritical and that church has nothing to offer them? The church is supposed to be Christ's body. That is something that in its true form no one could truly turn away from. The church has become all about programs and systems of how to do things the "right" way. That is something you can see in any corporation in America. What's so different about that? I'm not saying that there doesn't need to be any structure or organization, but the things of Christ should preside over all of that in how we treat our "business", toward those within and outside of the church doors. It should never be, like in the corporate world, about prestige or image but rather about growing together as Christ followers, becoming more and more like Him.
What should make us different is what made Jesus different from those in his time. People came from far and long just to get a glimpse of him or to touch him. We will never achieve that kind of draw, but shouldn't there be something about us as Christians that others see and want more of? What is that something?...The answer to me is simple-More Christlikenss. Who was he, and what was he all about? He was about the Father's work for sure...grace, compassion, healthy righteous indignation, prayer, giving, mercy, above all-love.
So, I'm struggling with this right now. Because in my humanness I feel anger and hurt and even hatred at times. All these things I know are not of Christ. I want to show grace even when it has not been given to me. I want to show mercy though it hasn't been shown to me. How can I get to this point of getting rid of the anger and hatred (though somewhat deserved from a wholly human perspective) and move on to love? I know that this can only be done with time and much help from the Holy Spirit. My desire is to move on without bitterness. Lord, please help me through this time of struggle and thank you for the encouragement that you have sent our way. Most of all protect my children from the same feelings that I have and keep their purity intact during this time.
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2 comments:
Joy. I just found your blog via Facebook (I don't really do facebook--I am on there but only because I have to. :)) I just moved from gracedbychrist.com to http://untraditionalhome.com due to some server issues.
I didn't know any of the stuff that was going on. Will be praying for you all. We have seen similar happen to other friends in the ministry and our own church has decided it wants to be a mega church and do all the things Willow Creek has already admitted didn't work (oh, and they have a CEO pastor plus all the others.) We are no longer there.
God is good and has a perfect plan. If there is anything we can do please let me know. (We live on 356 a mile outside of Butler.)
I just went back and reread what you wrote. We have learned recently something that opened our eyes. Ok, we knew it but it didn't sink in. What we call the church isn't what Christ called the church. We think of church as an organization, a form of government even. Christ called the people the church. An organization cannot love and feel compassion, it is a governmental body which is in place to make sure everybody does things a certain way. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes that we should not be surprised when a government becomes corrupted. Nowadays that would include our church structure. It wears people out and runs on guilt. Why aren't you doing more, why don't you help with this, etc... On the other hand, we as Christians are called to be members of one body, Christ's church. As members of one whole body, of all Christians, we do move in various ways and as that entity we are called to show compassion and love one another, and it is in that form that we prove ourselves more than what we without Christ could be. Once you separate the two it is easy to see Christ working in those around you that you couldn't see when you were blinded by the church as an entity.
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