People Being The Church
“So then the challenge is to go out and be the church - that your friends who don’t have a relationship with Christ may begin not by coming to a concert or a church or to a Billy Graham crusade or reading a tract, or any of that…it’s probably going to begin with you. I have lots of friends who don’t believe what I believe. A friend of mine a couple of years ago bottomed out. He lost everything in his life due to an addiction. When he bottomed out, he did not go in a Christian bookstore, he did not go to a Christian website, or Christian radio, pick up a Christian book or listen to my CD. He called me and said, ‘I need help.’
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It all does come back to us. There is no quick fix. There is no motion picture. There is no tract. There is no big cultural event that is going to be a quick fix. Jesus never had a quick fix. There is no big moment. It’s people being the church. ”
-Shaun Groves
Seeing all of the bloggers having a field day (for the lack of a better word) with the SBC Watergate story about the SBC relief volunteers and the water donated by Anheuser-Busch made me wonder. How many people commenting are Christians, and how many are just folks wanting to take a dig at people of faith? For the Christians, why are they reacting the way they are? Are they embarrassed? Why? Do people’s opinions of the church power the church? Are they frustrated? Does this situation somehow take the church down in stature or ability to function? Again, is that where the church’s power to change lives comes from? Will the media and cultural opinions hold the future of the church? Are there classes/ranks of Christians - those that ‘get it’ - and those that don’t? Where does that leave grace? I don’t know - maybe I “don’t get it.” I just don’t see the productiveness in all of this.
I’m currently reading the ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ and this brought something to mind. Here’s a snippet from Day 21 “Protecting Your Church”…
A critical spirit is a costly vice.
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It’s the Devil’s job to blame, complain, and criticize members of God’s family. Anytime we do the same, we’re being duped into doing Satan’s work for him. Remember, other Christians, no matter how much you disagree with them, are not the real enemy. Any time we spend comparing or criticizing other believers is time that should have been spent building the unity of our fellowship. The Bible says, “Let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault.” (Phil 2:4)
There’s a lot of talk about what unbelievers think of this. I wonder if unbelievers are impressed by the resulting chatter at all? Maybe they’re simply impressed by an interest in them, a passion to have them ’see’ something that they currently don’t see - to have a relationship with the One that has changed their life. Are they impressed by those that seem to have it all together or the ones that mess up from time to time? We all need grace, and thank God that He offers it despite of our faults and failures - not basing it on our worthiness, but on the worthiness of His Son.
