It's not what you believe that counts;
it's what you believe enough to do.
- Gary Gulbranson -
If you have been following my ramblings you might be tempted to incorrectly assume that I don't like the church. In reality, I love the church. I believe it to be the best and only hope for our world. Further, I believe that the remnant of those believers who are pursuing the heart of God are growing daily and I consider myself a recent addition to that number. In the words of C.S. Lewis, "Aslan is on the move!"
But I also believe that the only way that the remnant will become the majority that is necessary to produce world-wide change is through honest introspection of both ourselves as individuals and of this organism we call the church. We must stop making excuses and pretending that our condition is better than simple observation plainly shows. We must stop turning away from suffering and instead be broken by it. We must stop using the comfort of our churches as a retreat from the uglyness of the world and instead use it as a foundation from which we confront it as the hands and heart of Jesus.
Simply put, we must stop pretending that we have the priorities of God, be broken by how dim a reflection of Him we have become, and allow Him to remake us in His image. And we must do this without regard for our own comfort.
We have just celebrated Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, and it is so easy to miss the point of these holy days entirely. God loved the world so much that He died for it. That love was not just for those of us who filled churches on Friday evening and Sunday morning. It was for the entire world, including the masses that remain unredeemed. And this generation of the church is responsible for this generation of the dying world. Jesus' call is that we give up everything we have and follow Him into that world to touch and change lives.
So, what does this look like? Here are a few suggestions:
As individual believers...
- Understand that we are to lay everything we have and are on God's altar, realizing that He did not save us to make us comfortable but to make us world-changers.
- Downsize our lives in order to free up the necessary time, energy, money, and resources to invest in the things that really matter to God.
- Listen to God's call and follow it whole-heartedly. He has gifted us and called us to get involved in an area that is a priority to Him. If we miss it, we will miss our purpose and others will suffer.
- Stop limiting God with our own excuses. (Yes, He would ask us to give up our homes and our jobs and uproot our kids. And He would expect us to do it joyfully after all He has done for us!)
As churches...
- Realize that most of the the things we have cared about have not been important to God. He is not concerned with our facilities, potlucks, budgets, and committee meetings. He is concerned about a suffering and lost world.
- Change the focus of our time, energy, and budgets to the things that are important to God. Instead of 90% of our money being spent on ourselves why can't we spend 50% or more on true outreach even if it means downsizing facilities, getting rid of coffee and doughnuts, and downsizing staff (and letting ministry be done by volunteers instead).
- Look right next door and around the world for needs and go meet those needs as the hands of Jesus and share the love and hope of salvation as His voice.
As you read these thoughts you might be tempted to dismiss them as extremist and unpractical. But in light of the Word of God are they? In fact, as we stand in the shadow of first century disciples and the incredible needs of our world they seem tame in comparison. How could we do any less?
