Many people make the mistake of romanticizing past church ages. They think that the church of yesteryear was pristine and seamless, fluid and unchunked with the sediment that causes the church to gasp for fresh spiritual air today. Because of this poorly constructed thinking many people have abandoned the concept of “belonging to a church” and have taken the presumed high road of “belonging to the Church” as they walk away from local assemblies. Maybe we shouldn’t be too hard on people who think this way because, after all, saints should act like saints and not like sinners, right?
Except that saints are sinners and will act accordingly until they are graced to sin no more as they enter the fullness of their inheritance in Heaven.
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” – Romans 14:17 {ESV}
Even in the first century church there existed major conflict among the followers of Christ. Paul’s writings leave us with undeniable evidence that there was no season among the corporate body of believers when sin wasn’t a frustrating issue. He regularly wrote to correct attitudes and behaviors among the brethren that were inconsistent with their standing in the Lord. Peter and James and John also wrote towards this end – exposing, rebuking, pleading, correcting and counseling toward unity as Christians strove to get along. Hypocrisy was admitted as a reality and dealt with head on but never was there any indication that believers were allowed to abandon one another when some imaginary line was crossed. As a matter of fact, Christians are commanded not to forsake gathering with one another (Heb. 10:25) and those who did were suspected as never having been a part of the true spiritual family in the first place (1 John 2:19). I love the simplicity of Romans 14:17 above because that entire 14th chapter is written to Christians who were struggling to joyfully, peacefully coexist. Paul didn’t tell them to splinter off and form 2-4 different groups that could more easily live among one another. He never told one sect to just take their ball and go home because getting along would prove to be too difficult. The Apostle told the dueling parties what the truth was and then placed emphasis on each group dying to their own selfishness so that they could better serve the other. Their particular conflict revolved around what they should eat and drink (sounds silly, doesn’t it?) and Paul bluntly told them that these peripheral issues were not central to the Kingdom of God. He focused on each individual heart and queried, “What about your righteousness? How are you diligently working toward peace with your brothers and sisters? You promote yourself as spiritual but what happened to your joy?”
I hear crickets out there.
Yes, you and I are better at making decisive moves to figure out how to place walls between us and other flawed people. We have PhD’s in ecclesiastical division. We celebrate our prowess at articulating why we have a right not gather with such flawed people down there at the old church-house. We work hard at playing a solo trumpet in a concert of celebration of ourselves. When we put our horns back in our cases and feel like we have gotten our point across again, we notice that the audience of One did not applaud. He did not get anything out of our performance. The Lord Jesus looks at us with an expression similar to the one He showed Peter on the night of His betrayal. In that one look from the King we are made aware that He did all that He did in life, death, resurrection and ascension so that we would live in oneness with those who share our eternal destiny. His look does not signify any less love for us but, rather, disapproval that we so easily wander from His clear intention and command. Were He not omniscient, He would likely wonder in perplexity how we so often get it so wrong about one another and give ourselves permission to separate from what He died to bring together.
There’s a group of flawed believers out there that need you. I’ve said before that it has been far too long that you’ve convinced yourself that you don’t need them. Even if that were true (which it absolutely is not) it would be an incredibly selfish statement – “I don’t need them!” . They need you. They need you. They need you. My exhortation to you today is to stop focusing on all their flaws and commit to love them in the midst of their ongoing imperfections. The reason why I speak so adamantly about this? Because you have received from Jesus Christ this exact same type of commitment. He sees all your flaws that you are aware of and numerous others about yourself to which you are blind. We might think that He would be repulsed and separate Himself from us. But He doesn’t ever do that. He pursues us. He leads us. He helps us. He selflessly loves us. I’m only asking us to be willing to do in time for others what He is doing for eternity for us: extending constant grace to a people who don’t measure up.
Now come and learn with me what this means.
Thanks for clearing some fog in my head. The fog doesnt allow us to see clearly.
Because I don’t attend church, I almost blew past this blog entry. However I do eat meals with, study with, and disciple some on every day of the week. The steeple is missing…but those gatherings can be as rife with opinion and division as any traditional church gathering. I am learning to examine my own heart instead of everyone else. Quite often, I find my opinion harder to lay down than some former vices. It is a barrier to others, and I confess, more days than not – I want that barrier.
For me, it is clear I don’t trust man. And then I hear God say, “but do you trust ME?”
Sometimes yes and sometimes no. Reaching towards more YES.