Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Love through Community

I am going to tell a story, one that happened to me, not to toot my own horn, but to glorify God because of how He works and to demonstrate a larger point.

The other day i was in the midst of my prayer time and randomly a friend of mine popped into my head, and the feeling that i should pray for them. I did, as well as i knew how, but then afterward emailed that friend to see if there was anything that i could be praying for them about. The friend emailed me back the next day and said, yes, actually there was some crap going on in their life, below the surface, that really needed prayer. The friend remarked how incredible God was, because in the past few days, no fewer than 5 people had come to them, saying that the Lord had put them on their heart or asking if they needed prayer.

Now, this isn't an incredible, rock-your-world kind of story, but to me, this was a Kingdom story. This was a story about how God works through the Body of Christ to show His love and His strength in my friend's life. This was a story about how, through several, God gave grace to one. And this just caused me to praise God for His faithfulness and His goodness and His love.

God is glorified when we submit to be used by Him. This is the cycle of glory--all for God's glory, for the sake of His people. One is encouraged or comforted, and the rest praise God for His work in that person's life. The Community of Christ exists for God's glory--to showcase His power and His love in our lives. We are all ministers of God's grace, not only to the world at large, but to each other. If YOU are a member of this community, then your purpose is to be a vessel of God's grace to EVERYONE, for the sake of God's glory and His Kingdom. How can God be working through YOU? WHO is God trying to reach through you?

You have a purpose. You have a mission. You are here to show your brothers and sisters, and to show the world, that God's love is strong, stronger than any chains that might be binding them, stronger than any walls that they may have built up between them and God, stronger than the power of sin and death in their lives. God's love is strong, and YOU have the strength of that love within you, waiting to be unleashed to the world. YOU are a vessel of the LORD Almighty, and of His love. You are a minister of His grace.

And you are a member of this divine community. Take advantage of it. Use it for the glory of God. When you are going through crap in your life, tell your brothers and sisters and ask them to pray for you. And when you witness a Kingdom moment, share it with brothers and sisters so that you can all praise God together. Build each other up, hold each other accountable, worship together--all of this is for the glory of God.

Don't waste time. Don't waste your life. Start fulfilling your purpose NOW. God wants to use you. Yes, you. He wants to show His love through you. Will you submit to Him, or keep giving in to the myth that your purpose is greater than His purpose?

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Attacking the Church from Within

"Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love."
--Galatians 5:3-6

I feel like this passage still rings true today for many of us in the Church. But instead of the Law, or circumcision, the way many seek righteousness and salvation is through right doctrine. There are many who are beyond certain that their set of doctrines and beliefs is THE only way, the perfect way, and the only doctrines/denominations/type of preaching that Jesus would approve of. They point the finger at everyone else, crying "HERETIC!" or "FALSE TEACHER!" because the spreading of proper and true doctrine is the most important thing. These people decry teachers like Rob Bell, Richard Foster, Brian McClaren, and those "post-modern liberals", and the "egregiously ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church--morphing into Emergence Christianity (EC)" (<--quote taken from Apprising Ministries website: www.apprising.org), all because they see these people as tarnishing Christianity and teaching false doctrines and perverting Scripture. I feel like these people have completely missed the point of faith. They are the new Judaizers of Christianity, who try to push their righteous agenda on those who are encouraged by the writings of the New Testament to cling to such things as faith, hope, and love. I mean, the phrase "egregiously ecumenical" doesn't even make sense to me. When did ecumenism become a bad thing? I think the ecumenical movement is one of the best things to happen to the Church in recent history. Many of these reformed believers think that the Reformation was the greatest thing to happen to the Church since Pentecost. IT WASN'T. Indeed, reforming definitely needed to take place within the Church at that time, but the Reformation RIPPED GOD'S HOLY CHURCH IN HALF!

I realize the irony in my rantings, that i am pointing the finger at them for being wrong for pointing their fingers. But i have felt for the past several years that one specific focus of my calling from God is toward Christian unity. I feel so strongly within me that Christ died for His Church and desires to see His Church working together and worshiping Him in unity (see John 17). So when i see these blatant attacks against the Church, sowing seeds of division and hatred, rather than peace and love--it hurts. I love the Church. I love working for Her, i love serving Her, and i want so badly for Her to be united. St. Augustine said, "The Church is a whore, but she's my mother." How can a broken Church serve a broken world?

I'll be honest, most of my frustrations stem from one guy that i'm facebook friends with (but don't really know that well in real life), who all the time posts articles and YouTube videos with attacks like these. I have never responded to one of these linkings, even though i'm always tempted to, because i know that what i respond with won't be nice. But sometimes with all the crap that's posted, i'm at a loss for how to respond. If i'm formulating a response in my mind, i'll come across some other article that answers my point with some close-minded attack. I've seen articles that denounce certain Christians for exalting "love" and "unity" over preaching right doctrine. I just read an article on apprising.org entitled "Turning God's Grace into an Idol," with the tagline saying "Grace Does Not Relieve The Christian From Their Duty To Contend For Proper Doctrine." This is disgusting to me. I am at a loss for how to respond to this. Or should i even bother? Any of these believers is obviously not going to really hear anything i, a blatant heretic and false teacher, would have to say. I do believe that these people are still my brothers and sisters, and that i should love them as such. But that is not going to be an easy task. But no one ever said that love would be easy.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Endurance

I preached this weekend at Good Shepherd. Four services total: Saturday evening's and 3 on Sunday morning. Phew. It went really well i think, and i think that the Lord definitely was able to speak through me, which is what counts, right? That being said, i am pooped. Doing four services like that is draining. I don't know how pastors do it every week. I came home and immediately took a 2 1/2 hour nap, which was wonderful.

In addition to being physically exhausting, it was also spiritually exhausting. I come off big things like this and just feel like i've got little juice left in me to be strong in faith. Right away, as i let my spiritual guard down, i am hit with temptations and just a general lack of motivation to do what i need to do to continue being an active servant of the Lord.

And it's then that i'm reminded of exactly what i preached on this morning. Faith, following Christ, being a Christian, etc., has to go deeper than just when we feel like it. What's required is a commitment, a commitment that stands the test of trials, temptations, exhaustions, and apathy. To really follow and serve and know and love the Lord is to continue to follow and serve and know and love Him when you don't feel like it. The easy times are just that--easy. They don't really do much for our growth. Romans 5:3-5 says, "...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Not to say that i've experienced suffering though this--i haven't. But i'm beginning to see the value of real endurance in faith. This race we run is not a sprint. It's a marathon. And this Hope, this Love planted in me is the blood that pumps through my veins and the oxygen that goes to my muscles to keep them going. It is my means and my end. Jesus--He is my means and my end. It all comes back to Him, every time, doesn't it? I guess He's pretty important.

So "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" (Heb. 12:1-3). Amen.




P.S. - Pray for your pastors, they need it!

P.P.S. - If you want to check out the sermon i preached, a rough draft of it can be found here, and you can listen to the recording here.