what do i think about the church?
my good friend anonymous asked that in a comment, so i thought i would begin to form a response. i am guilty of being a church basher, and for that i am eternally regretful. i have put down the Bride in many settings and i know that i will have to answer for that one day. God has gotten ahold of me about this matter a lot over the past few months, and i wish that i could take back my statements. but i can't. all i can do is respond obediently to my changing heart.
i believe the church is the beautiful bride that Christ is so very proud of. that is what we are.
but we don't always act beautifully, and i think that is where so many frustrations come from. if we are really a body, a living organism, we must recognize that organisms naturally react when something unnatural is going on... when there is a problem. in a human body there is fever, aches, nausea, etc. when there is something wrong. i believe that the same applies within the church. we moan and groan the most when something unnatural is going on. whether it is church politics, a lack of discipleship, complacency, or greed, there are problems within the Body and we know it. so we react to the unnatural things happening within our Body. but often our (my) reactions are incredibly immature and rooted in our (my) flesh. i must stop complaining and start loving... Loving God and loving people. when there is a problem, the problem isn't the church, it's the flesh. He is the key. and as long as i think that i am the key, we will continue to have a problem.
i believe the church is the beautiful bride that Christ is so very proud of. that is what we are.
but we don't always act beautifully, and i think that is where so many frustrations come from. if we are really a body, a living organism, we must recognize that organisms naturally react when something unnatural is going on... when there is a problem. in a human body there is fever, aches, nausea, etc. when there is something wrong. i believe that the same applies within the church. we moan and groan the most when something unnatural is going on. whether it is church politics, a lack of discipleship, complacency, or greed, there are problems within the Body and we know it. so we react to the unnatural things happening within our Body. but often our (my) reactions are incredibly immature and rooted in our (my) flesh. i must stop complaining and start loving... Loving God and loving people. when there is a problem, the problem isn't the church, it's the flesh. He is the key. and as long as i think that i am the key, we will continue to have a problem.
posted by the E's | 7/06/2005 11:21:00 AM
1 Comments:
We are all guilty to some degree of bashing the Bride of Christ - the difference is that you have the courage, authenticity and transparency to admit it. No offense, but why is your opinion important anyway? His is the only one that counts. The Father sees us through the Blood of Christ, as the Righteousness of Christ, and the Word tells us that Jesus longs to present His Bride to the Father. I think we are in danger of forgetting that there is an enemy out there, and not all "bashing" is from the flesh. In other words, I don't think we suck so much as I think we're vulnerable to the lies and manipulations of the enemy of God. He's after our hearts and wants us to doubt God's. God's heart is on trial. Our hearts are full of Arrows - all of us - the saved and those still being pursued. What counts for believers and what we have to show the world is that His heart is good, that He loves us and that the Arrows, in a way, level the playing field. We all have wounds and we all mistrust the heart of God.
Why does it always come back to trust??? I belive it is because of the lack of intimacy with Christ and a lack of understanding that it's not about us, anyway.
I've been reading The Sacred Romance, by John Eldridge, if anyone is interested in reading more about the Arrows, God's heart and our role in the larger story.
One of the things that drew me to the Ring was your honesty, transparency and authenticity, Josh - and your grasp of true grace. You are learning how to become a true leader, and with the learning comes mistakes - the cool thing about that is that we get to learn from such transparency. So don't stop - you are teaching us all the time - good and bad - and it all brings us closer to His likeness. We're all journeying together toward Him. I don't think apologies are necessary for pointing out the flaws in the Church - if they aren't identified and the enemy's plot foiled, then we can't fix it, right?
I guess it comes to this - we are longing for something more - we are longing for Him. We are discontent and frustrated because we are not with the Bridegroom.
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