So, two minutes ago I was almost asleep. I mean, in bed, lights out--all of it. Then, a thought entered my mind and I have to run with it. I hope this is coherent.
People all across the world want to know what is true. People want to know what is good, meaningful, real, beautiful, worth fighting for, worth dying for... worth living for. We live in a world where people are desperate for answers, solutions, direction, vision. I'm not just talking about the current era. I'm talking about the whole human race, for all of time, across and throughout all cultures. This internal desire for understanding, structure, and purpose isn't something that started recently. We aren't the first "lost generation." We aren't the first to stumble around looking for fullness all over the place, wondering where on earth we can find it. Everyone has a theory about what this life is all about, but who really has the truth? Who's living it right? Who can we look to and see and say, "Man, they have some answers. I want to know what they know. How can I get to the place where they are?"
One of the saddest things I can think of is that the answer to that question should be "the people of the Church," but it absolutely isn't. In all reality, a lot of today's "Christians" are just as lost and confused and hurting and disabled by pain as the rest of the world. People in the Church are still getting divorced, having affairs, getting addicted, collapsing under depression, struggling with feelings of purposelessness and hopelessness, and stumbling through life aimlessly just as much as today's non-believers. Sometimes, more so than we would like to admit, our lives look really similar to the lives of those we think we need to "save." And when we admit that, we can face the terrifying reality that it's not just the secular people we should be calling "lost."
Honestly, I don't think people in the Christian culture have gotten here because of a lack of desire for what is good and true. There are a lot of people in the Church with a genuine desire for a life of truth, purpose, and virtue. I think that desire is fundamental to the human configuration. But if so many Christians' failures can not be attributed to lack of desire or motivation, what on earth could be the cause of this mess? While I don't claim to have the full answer to that question by any means, I do feel like I have an idea of one of the starting points, and I would love to share my ideas with you all so you can mull it over in your mind and see where God ends up leading you with it. So let me know what you think!
The Church is made up of broken people, so it won't be perfect on this earth. That's a given. But seriously, do we not all feel, at least from time to time, that the picture of the beautiful, glory-filled Church we were raised to believe we could be a part of doesn't actually exist? I mean, is it just me? It seems like more and more each year, people are being turned off to the Church in mass amounts, disgusted by some aspect of the Church's shortcomings. Why are people offended and revolted by the Church? Let's be real for a second here--people aren't turned off to church by the Message; people are turned off by our lives long before they even really hear the Message. That's because, if the Church is a representation of the life made available through the Message, in general, the Church doesn't seem to offer much more than any other organization of belief system. People look at the Church and they see a lot of people claiming to have "the answer," but who, really, aren't any more healed or happy than the next guy. Why is this? What is keeping the Christian culture, in general, from preaching and living out the most appealing message a person could ever hear? (Please know I am speaking in generalities here... I know there are tons of people living it right...).
There could be a million different answers to this question. However, the one my heart is most burdened with at the moment is this: The devastating reality is that, in this day and age, Christianity has largely been reduced to a system of ideals with very little practical action leading people into something different. It seems to me like a lot of Christian groups are limited to being a number of people who simply agree about the way things "should be" but who don't actually have any direction on how to get there. Sometimes, "Christians" don't even have the intentions to get there. It's as if, out of laziness, fear, lack of direction, or etc., etc., the Church isn't actually taking people out of darkness and in to light, at least not on the scale that it should be. I know God is doing a mighty work through some churches and that His Church is honestly full of incredible potential and tons of true, heartfelt, obedient and passionate believers. But as a whole... the world isn't looking at the Church in awe. The world sees a lot more failures, hypocrites, and "Pharisees" in the Church than it sees transformed, joyful, purposeful, obedient servants of a great King.
Here's what I am trying to get at (and I'm sorry it's been so round-about). In 2 Timothy 1:7, we are told that the Spirit of a believer should be that of "power, love, and self-discipline." And, honestly, that is not the spirit portrayed by the Church today. If I had to describe the Church in three words, I would absolutely not say, "powerful, loving, and self-disciplined." And I don't think very many non-believers would pick those, either. This is a significant problem, and this right here is one of many reasons why people aren't being drawn into God's community like they should be. So many people in the Church aren't living out their calling, and it's crippling the image of the Lord's Bride. So many people are living powerlessly, trapped in the same sin and lack of action as the people of the world. So many people live selfishly and absent of radical, sacrificial love. So many people are living without discipline, and therefore without the glorious traits given to those who pursue the Lord in disciplined obedience. And until people, and I mean A LOT of people, rise up and commit themselves fully to living with these spiritual attributes, granted to us and demanded from us by God, the Church is going to continue to claim to have all the answers, but with only a small crowd willing to listen. Because, like I said before, people are looking for something real. People want the Truth, but they are hesitant to believe because so few "Christians" are actually getting it. And this has got to change. The Church has got to become more than a group of people with incredible ideals. The Church has got to start doing something. Christians need to start allowing themselves to be radically healed and filled with power. Christians needs to start really loving people, at home and across the globe, in tangible, drastic ways. Christians need to stop being so lazy and pursue discipline in every aspect of their lives. Why? Because that is the true Christian life. Anything less falls short, and anything less will fail to attract, captivate, and liberate the people searching for truth and meaning.
The Church is full of potential. What on earth are we waiting for? We aren't even happy living our half-obedient lives. We want the full truth and full purpose just as much as everyone else, but we're fooled in to thinking we've got it all figured out, that this half-life can in some way be fulfilling and pleasing to God. But you know, it can't. So let's get up and do something different. Let's seek and embrace power. Let's love people so much that it hurts (lets give away our stuff and our money and our time... I'm not just talking about some feeling). Let's start actually getting disciplined, and let's see where that takes us.
My guess is, it will change our lives. Maybe it will even change the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment