My heart is heavy when it comes to this subject. Why is it we choose to complicate God? Why is it that once we are saved, or rededicate our lives to the Lord, we feel the need to isolate ourselves from the unsaved? Why do we feel the need to ONLY associate with others in our church? Why do we feel the need to neglect, ignore, and not to be salt and light to a dark and lonely world?
Jesus came to save ALL of us. Let's think about the church for a moment. Not the church as a whole, I am talking about our individual houses of worship. MOST of us in our church are there because we have a relationship with Christ. Ok, not always is it a perfect relationship, some of us are working on it. We learn more and more daily! That is a wonderful thing. It is great to have a place of worship where we can bond with a church family, like minded, building each other up. We provide each other with accountably, love, understanding, prayer, and support. It is wonderful and we look forward to each meeting. Now, lets look at our church from a different perspective. Imagine if we could see each other like we REALLY are. Come on, admit it, it's Sunday morning, you are rushing to get the kids ready, running late, running out the house to get to service on time. Chances are you are yelling at everyone and everything in your path to get out the door. You dash into children's church, drop the kiddos off, dash into the sanctuary and BAM someone says "How are you today?" STOP, REALLY? What is your answer? Go ahead, be honest, no one is listening (well God is and He already knows the answer) "I am wonderful, it is a beautiful day in the Lord!" or something to that effect. Come on you know you do it! Inside you are thinking, I just ran a 40 yard dash to get here on time, I am starving, exhausted already, and just feel gross because I was rushing like a crazy person. Or, I have had a really cruddy week, nothing has gone right, I really need someone to vent to, but "I am wonderful" is your answer. REALLY?! If that greeter could see the real you they would see someone bandaged and broken who needs a huge hug and a warm cup of soul revival!!
Now...we stay entangled with our church family. Cutting off everyone who is not Godly. Everyone who does the "wrong thing", we get full of ourselves (cause we just have this Jesus thing going on ya know!) we preach at (yes I mean to say at not to) others that they are sinners! Some of us even look down at other Christians because they just aren't doing it right! REALLY???? Jesus didn't come to this Earth and hang out with only believers. He found the sinners, I know GASP right!! Yes, news flash, Jesus hung out with sinners!! He is called the Great Physician, sick people need doctors! If we don't associate with the ungodly, how will they ever come to know the Lord? Not to mention, the way some Christians act why on Earth would nonbelievers WANT to know your Jesus? You present him and mean and unloving!
"Hate the sin, Love the sinner!"...Jesus loves all of us, yes all of us. Not just you but the sinner down the road. He wants that sinner to repent and come to Him, curl up in His lap and ask for forgiveness. The sinner down the road knows the name Jesus, ok so that person might think that Jesus is just the pizza delivery man, but everyone certainly knows God. They might believe in God, they might not. Do you think that if Jesus, (the real Jesus, not the pizza guy) knocked on "sinner down the street" door and they answered with a cigarette in one hand and a Bud Lite in the other, would tell him ALL about himself? I think he would calmly befriend the man and in love (oh there is a novel idea) SHOW him what a relationship with Him would be like. If the man wasn't receptive to the teachings, would Jesus unfriend him on Facebook? Would he shut him out completely and give up on him? I doubt it!! He would (yep again) LOVE him! Not condone the sins but LOVE the man.
Be on fire for God! Love the Lord! Shout it to the roof tops!! But get off your high horse! You to are a sinner!! You too are the son or daughter of Adam!
"As the scriptures say, "No one is good, not even one." Romans 3:10
"For all have sinned,all fall short of Gods glorious standard" Romans 3:23
Remember ALL have sinned, ALL fall short. You are part of the ALL!! You were born a sinner, we ALL were!! Help bring the lost to the Savior in LOVE. If someone is messing up LOVE THEM!! SHOW THEM LOVE!!! SHOW THEM THE LIGHT SO THEY MAY COME TO KNOW THE LIGHT!! QUIT MAKING JESUS LOOK BAD!!
Hmmm....Complicate God?? I don't think that is what people are doing. They are trying to simplify their lives. Depending on how far they are in their personal journey with God. Some first join a church "find" God and become engulfed in the rituals of being a christian. "Do this and don't do that". Some are trying so hard to pull away from where they were in their lives that they don't want to associate with people who remind them of who they were or who could tempt them to become that person again. Not saying it is right, just saying that it is a possibility. Like you stated people go to church to gather with like minded people to rejoice in their faith. Sometimes a person "straying" away from "the church" or a persons perception of what a person is changing into scares people away from them. Again, not that it is right, but again a possibility. Is there a TV show you don't watch because of the values you think it presents or songs you don't listen to because of some views you have. The people that distance themselves from others do so along those same views. This person doesn't share the same values as me, should I expose myself or family to them. No, I'll just love them from a distance and pray for them because they have obviously fallen and I can't go with them. Again, not right or wrong...just a possibility. Which of course goes back to the original thing is they, we are all sinners...have all fallen short....this could be there falling short point...churches are filled with the sinners...the politics of being a member of a church...the pressure a pastor feels knowing that some in his congregation just want to show off that they are his friends or want to be members of a certain committee just to say "hey i'm important" We all come to the Lord in different ways...We walk our journey different ways...Just be the best "you" you can be...and let others walk their journey their way...in the end as we know THE LORD KNOWS how we lived, how we cared, how we loved, how we judged, how we lied, how we lived by his values but not all the time, we're human and he knows that...
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