"Church sues to avoid threat.""Lawsuit against pastor dismissed." These were all headlines from the "Faith" page of the local newspaper the other day. My heart was saddened to read of such things. It is so sad to see the church in America disobeying its own rules set forth in God's world. How are we supposed to be a light to the world when our own light isn't even shining brighter than the darkness? How are the lives of Christ followers showing Christ's love to a world who is in desperate need of something different? It is sad to see the disunity among the brothers and sisters of God's earthly kingdom.
In I Corinthians 6, Paul speaks strongly of the role of God-followers in a judgment role:"If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints?"
Right there in black and white, it says that Christians are called to a higher standard. In the structure of the early church for which Jesus set the foundation, God creates the infrastructure for successful operation of His holy church. Notice, I said church, not churches. Denominations are man-made concoctions from those moments we thought we were divine. Last time I looked in the mirror, I saw a man who could stand to look a lot more like his Creator.
And perhaps so could many of us.
Maybe if we followed God's instructions for structuring church instead of trusting in our own understanding (Proverbs 3) we can avoid eventually signing a waiver just to enter the church.
Loren,
ReplyDeleteWell said! I couldn't agree more with your observations and how you pointed back to the truth of God's direction. He is going to use you and others of your generation to spell out the reality of our spiritual bankruptcy so He can touch even more lives with His truth. Keep up the good work and may I add, don't despise the day of small beginnings. God will multiply the seeds we sow in His good time. I'm proud of you! With all my respect.
Dad