Is your church attractive on the outside but broiling with an undercurrent of controversy and hostility on the inside?
Imagine God's view on a Sunday morning:
There is the member who is holding a secret grudge,
On that side is the prominent family who believes their agenda pulls rank, and
Then in comes the guy who wants everything like it used to be.Does God fit into the secret grudge?
Can God's agenda prevail when it is not even invited into the mix?
Does God want to bring light and freedom into a place that wants to remain the same as it used to be?
A movie line from American President:
America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause its gonna put up a fight.Translate this into church life that is truly the land of the free and the home of the brave:
A church that holds God's agenda sacred isn't easy. That church requires advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause inside and outside those walls will put up a fight.If a church honestly says to God, "Take us, make us yours and do with us as you please; let us only be about your agenda for this church," then every heart's domain gets tackled by the Living God. No one is exempt.
God will clean house and those who remain have hearts that are bendable toward the work he has in mind. Everyone is at risk for getting dumped out or changed, according to the bent of each heart toward God's determination to have his way.
Hearts that survive this cleansing will then get attacked by the outside; the reputation of the church will be misrepresented and slandered in the world's effort to cage it up again and keep it from bringing light and freedom into the community.
2 Corinthians 10:
We use our powerful God-tools [inside the church first]...smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.Our most powerful God-tool is complete surrender, utterly dependent upon the forward movement of God. That tool used collectively by a church will melt grudges, redirect false agendas, and grant courage to embrace each next God-step and God-change.
Forget impacting the world for Christ if we can't impact ourselves. We can be fairly sure that what we want for our church, if not God's agenda, is not what he wants.
To whom does your church belong? Its attractiveness lies in its ownership.
Tomorrow: Bible translations
Comments are welcome at feedyourstrength@gmail.com.
