I amazed again and again by the beautiful mystery of the body of Christ and the many roles and functions.
I am not an evangelist. I am not even that passionate about seeing tons of people saved. I know it sounds heretical, but hear me out. I love the lost and God has shown me his heart for the lost. I truly desire to see the lost come to know God. But my passion, what makes me come alive and gets me so fired up, is the depth, growth, maturity and freedom that a person finds after he is saved. I would rather see 5 people wholeheartedly seeking God and daily going deeper into his heart, than a thousand people get saved one night at a conference and then never know what happens after that.
And I am realizing that I am not wrong. But I am not the only one right. If everyone were like me, the church would be moving pretty slow at reaching the lost. But if everyone were an evangelist, seeing hundreds get saved every night but no follow through, the church would be wide but shallow.
And so, we need both. We need each other and each other’s gifts.
This is such a ‘DUH!’ topic but in the last few months it has really hit my spirit. I cannot do it by myself. I can’t even do it with just me and God. And believe it or not, I am not always right. I need the body. The body needs me. We have to function as a whole. As a unit. In unison. And in unity.
AAH! That is why unity is so important in the body. We could argue about music or by-laws all day long but then who is being strengthened? Who is being empowered? Who is being saved? Who is growing? Why can’t we come together? That nasty religious spirit will keep us separated at all costs and it will tell us we are right and they are wrong. It will tell us that we don’t need to change. It will tell us they need to change. It will feed our comfort and our ease. It will fuel on our arguments and resentment. While the whole time all God wants is for his kids to get along and work together. Because that’s how he designed it to work. It won’t work any other way. God is ALWAYS for reconciliation. If you feel like you don’t need to reconcile but you have a severed relationship in your life, you need to stop listening to the religion in you and let go of your pride to recognize that God doesn’t care what he or she did. I really don’t think he even cares why we’re hurt sometimes. Most of the time we just want justification for the bitterness inside of us when we feel the need to explain how hurt we are. All God cares about is forgiveness. Reconciliation. So there can be restoration. So he can actually move, bring freedom and love to the lost. So his kingdom can be on earth as it is in heaven. So that his kids would look like him and walk like him.
So can we please get over ourselves, deal with our junk and forgive already? Can we lay down our stubborn hearts and stiff-necks so God can begin to use the Church the way he desires to? It is time to stop thinking about only ourselves but to start thinking about the one we supposedly follow and give our lives to as we call ourselves Christians.
It is time to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so we can see transformation in our cities, our states and our nations.
