Are we listening?
Hymns of offering.
Have we eyes to see?
Love is gathering.
All the words that I've been reading
Have now started the act of bleeding
Into one.
So I walk up on high
And I step to the edge
To see my world below.
And I laugh at myself
While the tears roll down.
'Cause it's the world I know.
It's the world I know.
"Has Christianity Become UNCHRISTIAN?"
That is the title to a recent article in Youth Worker Journal by David Kinnaman. The key point in this article is that for millions of Americans "Christianity has come to represent hypocrisy, judgmentalism, anti-intellectualism, insensitivity and bigotry. It's easy see why the next generation wants nothing to do with it."
I posted the collective soul lyrics because this is how I feel. This article has shed light onto the world I know. It is the world in which I was raised. A friend of mine told me that he could find the American church in the New Testament without reading any of the Gospels. After thinking on that statement for a while I came to one conclusion. That's it! We have focused on the rules of church so much that we have missed the heart of Christ's Church. Simply said if you show up and you don't drink or smoke you are considered spiritual. As long as you look good on Sunday morning and are good at hiding your dirt no one will ever say a word about your questionable life choices aside from Sundays.
The sadness to me is that the world I know fits the findings in the study. When I look at the words of Christ I see a man absolutely opposed to these traits. To be the Church Christ began we must have His heart. Christ has always been more impressed with whats inside than the outward show. The world is not starving for the rules of Christianity. The world is not starving for flashy programs or slick speakers. The world is starving for the Body of Christ. The world is starving for a place that is real. That doesn't hide its bumps and bruises. If the Church will accept that is full of sinful people and allow Gods grace to take care of it, the world will begin to see Christ at work and therefore Christ will be lifted up instead of our programs and our styles and sinful hurting people will be drawn to Him.
While this is the world I know, I am not worried. I know Christ Church cannot be destroyed. I know that God is still at work in our lives. I know that a generation who loves God will have the chance to become the Church Jesus intended.
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"God my friends is with the poor, and God is with us if we are with them!" U2's Bono
"God my friends is with the poor, and God is with us if we are with them!" Bono
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2 comments:
Chris,
Great post and thoughts! We must be willing to reach out and get dirty in the field of ministry and love people regardless of what they think, how they look, and how they act. That is what it means to be the body of Christ, to be like Jesus!! I think the biggest problem we have in the church right now is this "imbalance" that we're talking about between our "doctrine" of Christ and us truly being the "body of Christ" in our lives.
I think the bottom line is, especially with our younger generation, is that at first, people don’t care nor want to hear how “right” or correct doctrinally we are. Our actions must first back up our words. People are not interested in the truth of our message until they see strong, humble, compassionate Christians who will run to them when they are in trouble. We must be the people who call and visit our co-workers and neighbors when they face cancer, death, etc. We must be the people who offer help when they are dealing with drug and alcohol addicitions. They may not be impressed with our Savior at first, but they will remember who was at their side when they were at their lowest points in life. They notice people who really care and who have the courage to get involved in the difficulties of their lives. Then, they become more interested in the One who motivates us to act, and we have an opportunity to tell them the saving truth of His message.
Remember, what Paul told young Timothy, "Keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right, and God wills save you and those who hear you." (1 Timothy 4:16 New Living Translation) Balance, balance, balance!! We can't teach people the truth without loving them in truth and we can't love people and save them without the truth! We need BOTH!! The apostle John said, "It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." (3 John 3-4 NIV)
We have I believe something uniquie in the truth we hold in churches of Christ, but unless we live out that truth as well in our lives among the people we live, that truth by itself, will do us no good in reaching the lost!
That's my thoughts!
Later brother,
Rob
Chris- Is this you? of Chris and Dana? If so, please contact me. I have been trying to find the two of you for a couple of years now. Email me at roshsdisch@gmail.com Thanks!!
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