HippoChurch

So, I’m accelerating on the highway on-ramp today with my 39-week pregnant wife and this guy whips around me into the right lane of the on-ramp and punches his truck to get around me. Now, for those who know me or my driving style, you know I’m no wallflower. Probably has something to do with the fact that my mom would have chosen “race car driver” for her profession, if she’d had her druthers, and I have those same genes. So, I’m immediately ticked off and thinking, “Who the heck is this guy and where’s the fire?”.

And then I recognized it! That little spot in my heart where I pass judgment on anything that doesn’t jibe with what I think is right or appropriate. That’s exactly the spot where all the venom from the conversation on “franchise” church spews forth. I just needed to be transparent and fess up when I saw it in myself. The difference I think though, is being aware enough to recognize it and check yourself before spewing off at the mouth, ESPECIALLY in the name of Christ and within the Church.

It’s far too simple to use the pulpit, blogs, billboards and whatever else to communicate condemnation, judgment, etc. and springboard it all from a little verse that seems to illustrate the point. You know why that’s so easy? Because it originates from us, in our sinfulness. It comes naturally, and it’s not from God. You know why it’s so prevalent? Because it makes all the attenders feel a little bit better than all the “lost folks” who didn’t make it to church that day. And the pastor gets a handshake and “nice message, pastor” on the way out the door. Really? Seriously? Is that all church is supposed to be? Jesus went to the cross for that?

I don’t think so and it pains me when we get so off-mission within the Church. There are enough people and resources within the Church today to affect real change on a national and global level. But, we won’t get there when we keep backbiting at ourselves within the Chuch and spewing forth judgment on those outside of it. Leave the judging to God and recognize like I did in myself today that there’s a part of my heart that wants to justify my right to do that and act out of it. Nothing good will come from that. All the divisive issues within the Church, witness our little discussion about franchise over the last week , and the way we in the Church have polarized ourselves against those outside of it, should melt away if just recall our true standing before God without Christ and His grace and mercy – lost, hopeless, and justifiably condemned. When we realize the depth of the forgiveness we’ve received, why would we ever quibble over whether large church or small church is right? Whether Sunday School or small groups are correct? Which discipleship study is best? Who cares! Are you moving people towards God and finding ways to connect the lost to their Heavenly Father? That’s it! Keep doing that by whatever methods or systems help that happen. Go get ‘em Church!