God Reflection:

Church is a loving, dysfunctional family who do in fact love each other; but we can’t seem to get along. We are followers of Jesus. I am a member of a fellowship of churches who have fought for over one hundred and fifty years. They are my people. They are my family.

We are clean through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and our acceptance of God’s wonderful gift of grace. We still have more degenerate Adam and Eve in us than we want to admit. Thankfully, Jesus’ blood flows deep.

That’s just my church tribe. I have now lived long enough and read sufficient church history to know our church family is not unique. For the past two thousand years the entirety of Christendom hasn’t fared much better.

Like our spiritual ancestors the Jewish Pharisees, we want to follow God, yet we have the tendency to establish rules that make sense to us; but sometimes our rules turn out to be far from the heart of God.

To be uncomfortably honest, it only takes a cursory glance at the big picture of the church to see how hard it seems for all of us to give fellowship and love to those with whom we disagree.

Too often, we let our human trait dominate. We love and give fellowship to those who agree with us and force the dissenters out. That this misguided thinking would exist within any circle of churches is tragic.

It concerns me anytime I act like me instead of like Jesus. At those times, I run the risk of hiding Jesus from others who need grace just like me. There are times when I block people’s vision. They can’t see Jesus because I am in the way.

The Apostle John tells the story of a short man blocked by people in front of him when all he wanted was to see Jesus. Fortunately, for him he wired around the people and climbed a tree to see the Savior and to let the Lord find him.

It is both ironic and sad to see churches composed of people who want to honor Christ who are the very ones that become the greatest of offenders. We block Jesus’ sight from lost people who need so badly to catch a glimpse of His grace.

Is it possible we project an earthly church? When a group of professed Christ followers show a sectarian spirit, they block the view of Jesus. When we as God followers refuse to recognize Jesus’ children as our spiritual brothers and sisters, aren’t we then a church that blocks the view of Jesus?

Does an assembly of Christ-followers who have set their own criteria for salvation block the view of Jesus from the lost people of the world?

It is far beyond time for the church who claims Jesus as Lord to call a truce. It is time we put away our magnifying glasses and put a stop to our search for specs of disagreement. It is time to stop fighting each other and begin to seek points of commonality among all God’s children.

The only place to start is Jesus. What were his concerns? How did he relate to people? He was hard on the rulers and Jewish Temple leaders because of their disbelief of God not because of their disagreement.

To those who sought Him and believed that He indeed came from God He continued to teach them and encourage them. Jesus was hardest on religious leaders because they were in the way of people’s line of sight to God.

It is time for God’s people to stop our alignment with the values of political parties, reject our allegiance to the marketers of more and better, renounce our discipleship to the entertainment industry, and reinstate Jesus as our Lord. Let us affirm anew our desire to acquire and reflect the values of The Risen Christ.

Wouldn’t that allow us to be more like the church he died to establish. Could WE REALLY BECOME the church he wants built in plain view of the world? Wouldn’t that make us a church with completely transparent walls that allows those who recognized their lost state to see Jesus?

Let’s resign from our self-appointed roles as inspectors of dysfunction. Yes, we are a loving, dysfunctional family who do in fact love each other and continue to learn better how to love others because God see us and all believers through the bloodstained lens of Perfect Jesus.

How about it? Let’s stop fighting one another and enjoy the journey. Shall we?

Stay tuned.

Gary Sorrells

A God Reflection on Perfect AND Dysfunctional.

Gary@GodReflectionBlog.com

Gary@GreatCities.org  

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