There’s an old Hymn that says
“This world is not my home,
I’m just a passin’ through.
If Heaven weren’t my home
Then Lord what would I do?
The angels beckon me
From Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world any more.”
I feel like that some days. It seems like God is far away and the problems of this world are all around me. At times like those I feel most alone and farthest away from home. I’ve been feeling that way this morning. In times past, going to church or being around the body of believers has helped me come home to the Lord again. But, in its current condition I must confess that my church is not an encouraging place.
Over the past few years the church I attend has changed. Now… change by itself is not necessarily a bad thing. I realize that most of us don’t like change, but sometimes it’s for the best. Take my church for instance. We’ve stopped being so harsh, talked more about the Grace of God than ever before and started to be more focused upon spiritual growth than numerical growth. All of which is for the good. But we’ve stopped doing things together and the feeling of unity in a cause bigger than ourselves is gone.
I was talking with my wife this morning and realizing that the number of things the church does together has dwindled to almost nil. No longer do we excitedly go camping as a church on Memorial Day weekend, drive to Bates Nut Farm to enjoy the day as a church at harvest time, have Sunday service and a Bar-B-Q at the park in the summer, and so on and so on. We can’t even manage to get excited about raising money for missions work. It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure and I find myself very discouraged at times as a result of it.
The question of the day is what to do about it. I find myself with a few clear choices. I can do nothing and feel more discouraged. I can grumble about it to other members of the church and make sure I have company in my misery. I can charge into the fight like a storm trouper and rebuke the leadership and simply cause greater division and become more disgruntled along the way. Or I can take the road Jesus took.
I have learned that Jesus didn’t force anyone to go his way. He simply said “come, follow me” and started walking. The ministry that leads by example is the one Christ chose and the only one that works in the final analysis. So, it’s time for me to go home, hop into God’s big lap and ask my dad to help me to be the example my church can follow. It’s funny as I think about spending time with God to ask for answers that I think he has given me the answer already.
Last night, I shared this idea I had with my wife and she thought it was great. I said, “Honey, why don’t we roll the Bar-B-Q out in the driveway, put up a couple of big folding tables and have a neighborhood Bar-B-Q. The kids can shoot hoops or whatever and the adults can get to know each other. We can even invite folks from church to help us reach out to our neighbors”. She loved it… and I think it’s time we did it. The bottom line is this. I can wait for others to lead the charge or in the absence of such leadership I can pick up Christ’s banner and say “come, follow me”. You know… all of a sudden I’m not feeling so discouraged any more.
“This world is not my home,
I’m just a passin’ through.
If Heaven weren’t my home
Then Lord what would I do?
The angels beckon me
From Heaven’s open door
And I can’t feel at home
In this world any more.”
I feel like that some days. It seems like God is far away and the problems of this world are all around me. At times like those I feel most alone and farthest away from home. I’ve been feeling that way this morning. In times past, going to church or being around the body of believers has helped me come home to the Lord again. But, in its current condition I must confess that my church is not an encouraging place.
Over the past few years the church I attend has changed. Now… change by itself is not necessarily a bad thing. I realize that most of us don’t like change, but sometimes it’s for the best. Take my church for instance. We’ve stopped being so harsh, talked more about the Grace of God than ever before and started to be more focused upon spiritual growth than numerical growth. All of which is for the good. But we’ve stopped doing things together and the feeling of unity in a cause bigger than ourselves is gone.
I was talking with my wife this morning and realizing that the number of things the church does together has dwindled to almost nil. No longer do we excitedly go camping as a church on Memorial Day weekend, drive to Bates Nut Farm to enjoy the day as a church at harvest time, have Sunday service and a Bar-B-Q at the park in the summer, and so on and so on. We can’t even manage to get excited about raising money for missions work. It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure and I find myself very discouraged at times as a result of it.
The question of the day is what to do about it. I find myself with a few clear choices. I can do nothing and feel more discouraged. I can grumble about it to other members of the church and make sure I have company in my misery. I can charge into the fight like a storm trouper and rebuke the leadership and simply cause greater division and become more disgruntled along the way. Or I can take the road Jesus took.
I have learned that Jesus didn’t force anyone to go his way. He simply said “come, follow me” and started walking. The ministry that leads by example is the one Christ chose and the only one that works in the final analysis. So, it’s time for me to go home, hop into God’s big lap and ask my dad to help me to be the example my church can follow. It’s funny as I think about spending time with God to ask for answers that I think he has given me the answer already.
Last night, I shared this idea I had with my wife and she thought it was great. I said, “Honey, why don’t we roll the Bar-B-Q out in the driveway, put up a couple of big folding tables and have a neighborhood Bar-B-Q. The kids can shoot hoops or whatever and the adults can get to know each other. We can even invite folks from church to help us reach out to our neighbors”. She loved it… and I think it’s time we did it. The bottom line is this. I can wait for others to lead the charge or in the absence of such leadership I can pick up Christ’s banner and say “come, follow me”. You know… all of a sudden I’m not feeling so discouraged any more.
No comments:
Post a Comment