May 9:
Live a Life that Matters…
Philippians 2:1-4
If you’ve gotten
anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in
your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you
have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other,
love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front;
don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get
ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves
long enough to lend a helping hand.
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship
with ‘the Church’. Or rather what She has become. I know this revelation may appear
shocking; especially since I am a daughter of a pastor, the wife of a pastor &
the mother of a pastor. But please hear me out…
I love when the Body of Christ works
together. I am moved to tears when the Bride of Christ loves enough to be
intimate. When She disciples. When she reaches out in compassion with no
thought for Herself. When She gives… till it hurts. When She makes decisions
based on what God has called Her to.
What I ‘hate’, is when we make Her
into our own image... to fit into our culture. When we treat Her like a business. I find myself pulling
my hair out when She is preferential, irrelevant, judgmental or stuffy. It is
my prayer always, for those of us in leadership, that we tread carefully… for there is
no place here for competition, manipulation, backbiting, selfishness or grabs
for power. We must be wary of getting so caught up in the programs &
policies that we miss out on what makes the Church so
precious to Jesus. We miss out on the power of prayer, the simplicity of
worship, the sweet communion of souls living in unity & the beauty of
seeing lives transformed by the Gospel.
Oh Lord, may I, may We, may your
Church, your Bride be beautiful to you…
"We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the
feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more;
more bible studies, more sermons, more programs, classes, training,
conferences, information, more feasting for us. At some point, the church stopped
living the bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and
whitewashing the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully
discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming. The feast is
supposed to sustain the fast, but we go back for seconds and thirds and
fourths, stuffed to the brim and fat with inactivity." -Jen Hatmaker, 7: An
Experimental Mutiny Against Excess
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