Sunday, August 3, 2008
Apathy
There is one thing that I fear as a follower of Jesus-apathy....it has infiltrated the church and I see so many of our faithful followers fall under the trap of an apathetic heart. What do I mean? I mean that I see people who do not care anymore....they do not care about growth in the Lord, or how their own life refuses to reflect the God that saved them...why? why do so many follow the pathway that leads to apathy? what makes it so appealing to leave and prostitute the heart to follow the world? I see a trade off among followers....one that is becoming evident-God is only worth following when it is convenient and when He does something for me and gives me my way! Some view God to be a cosmic waiter that only shows His love for people by giving them everything that they want...what is amazing about that is that many of those same people would never consider parenting their own kids by giving them everything they want....so why is this the case, why do we consider God showing love when He gives us something? Apathy says we reduce the plan of God to only what we want...apathy says there is no room for growth, no room for anything that doesn't fit in the comfortable plan we live in...apathy leads the heart to reduce the laws of God to optional, which leads to actions that don't reflect Jesus and when our actions do not reflect the God we follow and we throw an image out that people who are searching cannot understand.....apathy is damaging the church and more importantly it is damaging the image of Christ....I am reminded of Paul's desire to finish strong when he said, 'I have run the race and I have kept the faith.' He finished strong, not apathetic.....I wonder what he would say today, especially to those who claim the name of Jesus and feel there is no need for action, no need to reflect Jesus, no need to take seriously the words and the image that we bear? I believe he would have some sharp things to say that would not be politically correct and people would probably run him out of many churches, that is if they could muster the effort to do so in such an apathetic state....do the kingdom of God a favor and put some action behind what you have staked your eternal (which is longer than this life) claim in!
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Complaints
"No one spoke to me at church today..."
"No one named me the Associate Assistant to the volunteer Sunday School Director..."
"The Pastor didn't call me when I stumped my toe last week and missed Wednesday Night Service.."
Rich, moving, somewhat ridiculous in it's wording, but nonetheless some of the most popular phrases found in organized Christianity today....ah, the art of complaining....no one has mastered it more than those of us claiming the name Christians.
I have heard so many different ways of complaining that we could have written 4, 177 different volumes of how to do it, I mean seriously this could be bigger than the "Left Behind Series!" Yea, so anyway, why do we do it? By "we" I am specifically calling out to those who are considering themselves to be avid Followers of Christ....why do we complain? We are specifically told in Philippians 2:14 to do "everything without complaining or arguing." Aside from that, we are children of the king, which means that our needs are provided for by Him...not a job, spouse, church, friend, or that dude that is always screaming about free money from the government that has a ridiculous looking jacket on that has question marks all over it! (BTW, what was that guys thinkin?)
In my almost 12 years of ministry, I have heard more complaining than praising...I have heard more complaining than thanking....I have heard more complaining than getting off your old hind parts and making a difference in this incredibly confused and not-so-forgiving world and if I could just be so bold as to say it, I'm a little raw about it...let me tell you why....
I grew up in a little different situation, great parents, good schools, well taken care of, and disciplined (ooo, how we need that discipline). You may say, "doesn't sound so different...." and if the story ended there it may not be, but it doesn't....you see, when we went to a shopping center as a family, we didn't park where many of you parked, we parked in that blue area that will get you a fat ticket if you park there without proper permission, because on board with us was always a very cheerful, courageous, man that was full of more heart that the average, overweight, unhappy, chronic complaining Americans that have berthed this blog....and he only had half of his body fully functioning in the department of motor skills.....this was my brother. Spina Bifida left it's ugly mark on my older brother, curved, humped spine, paralysis from the waist down, and a million and one blank stares from those who could never wrap their minds around something or someone who was different. Don't feel sorry for him, don't you dare! He didn't need the sympathy....he just got up every day thankful for another one and "did work" on life as no one else I have ever known....lived on campus in college and graduated...woke up at 5am to make a 9am class....transferred from the bed to a wheelchair to a showerchair to a wheelchair back to the bed to get dressed and transfer to his wheelchair to get in a motorized chair to start his day....which included a full load of college coursework. He faced more adversity than we have ever thought about and died earlier than he should have, all the while, smiling, loving his family, loving life, and not freakin' complaining about every single bump in the road...so what the he** are you complaining about? Why are we so obsessed with how much we are affected by some petty words or imaginary offenses that we can't function without feeling like we are so oppressed, depressed, and unimpressed in this life? My advice: Put on your big boy underwear (or big girl panties, if indeed you are a female) and let's build a freakin' bridge and get over it....in light of what my brother and so many other people are going through and have gone through, our life is an all expenses paid vacation-Please remove the plank right here!
"No one named me the Associate Assistant to the volunteer Sunday School Director..."
"The Pastor didn't call me when I stumped my toe last week and missed Wednesday Night Service.."
Rich, moving, somewhat ridiculous in it's wording, but nonetheless some of the most popular phrases found in organized Christianity today....ah, the art of complaining....no one has mastered it more than those of us claiming the name Christians.
I have heard so many different ways of complaining that we could have written 4, 177 different volumes of how to do it, I mean seriously this could be bigger than the "Left Behind Series!" Yea, so anyway, why do we do it? By "we" I am specifically calling out to those who are considering themselves to be avid Followers of Christ....why do we complain? We are specifically told in Philippians 2:14 to do "everything without complaining or arguing." Aside from that, we are children of the king, which means that our needs are provided for by Him...not a job, spouse, church, friend, or that dude that is always screaming about free money from the government that has a ridiculous looking jacket on that has question marks all over it! (BTW, what was that guys thinkin?)
In my almost 12 years of ministry, I have heard more complaining than praising...I have heard more complaining than thanking....I have heard more complaining than getting off your old hind parts and making a difference in this incredibly confused and not-so-forgiving world and if I could just be so bold as to say it, I'm a little raw about it...let me tell you why....
I grew up in a little different situation, great parents, good schools, well taken care of, and disciplined (ooo, how we need that discipline). You may say, "doesn't sound so different...." and if the story ended there it may not be, but it doesn't....you see, when we went to a shopping center as a family, we didn't park where many of you parked, we parked in that blue area that will get you a fat ticket if you park there without proper permission, because on board with us was always a very cheerful, courageous, man that was full of more heart that the average, overweight, unhappy, chronic complaining Americans that have berthed this blog....and he only had half of his body fully functioning in the department of motor skills.....this was my brother. Spina Bifida left it's ugly mark on my older brother, curved, humped spine, paralysis from the waist down, and a million and one blank stares from those who could never wrap their minds around something or someone who was different. Don't feel sorry for him, don't you dare! He didn't need the sympathy....he just got up every day thankful for another one and "did work" on life as no one else I have ever known....lived on campus in college and graduated...woke up at 5am to make a 9am class....transferred from the bed to a wheelchair to a showerchair to a wheelchair back to the bed to get dressed and transfer to his wheelchair to get in a motorized chair to start his day....which included a full load of college coursework. He faced more adversity than we have ever thought about and died earlier than he should have, all the while, smiling, loving his family, loving life, and not freakin' complaining about every single bump in the road...so what the he** are you complaining about? Why are we so obsessed with how much we are affected by some petty words or imaginary offenses that we can't function without feeling like we are so oppressed, depressed, and unimpressed in this life? My advice: Put on your big boy underwear (or big girl panties, if indeed you are a female) and let's build a freakin' bridge and get over it....in light of what my brother and so many other people are going through and have gone through, our life is an all expenses paid vacation-Please remove the plank right here!
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