Just now, my thoughts were drawn to a situation where someone, because of their insecurities, caused me to feel uncomfortable and unsafe whenever I was in their presence. (That being said, please know that God’s grace is sufficient in any situation.) I won’t describe the situation because that isn’t necessary. What is necessary is sharing one very disturbing thing I see in much of our society…Christian societies, The word “superficial” covers it.
Recently, I was reading an article and someone quoted a
Christian visitor to the U.S. U.S.
I ask you: Does it
matter what someone looks like…how they dress…how they wear their hair…what
they drive…what school they attend…what sub-division they live in…what town
they live in…OR what church they attend, etc.?
If we judge someone capable or incapable of sharing the truth of Jesus
Christ simply because of some superficial characteristic they do or don’t
possess, doesn’t that make us superficial?
And, what about someone’s past?
Because they were divorced, abused, physically, mentally or sexually,
born poor, not raised in a Christian home, perhaps lived in a lifestyle of drugs,
alcohol, adultery, fornication, or homosexuality… if indeed, a person totally
surrenders their life to God, making a true conversion, why should they be kept
from serving God? If someone is kept
from serving God within a church by man because of a man’s inability to look
beyond the surface or ones past…isn’t this being superficial?
Isn’t it the Bible, God’s word, that tells us that when Jesus
died on that cross, He said, “It is finished.?”
Jesus took care of everything when
He sacrificed Himself on the cross. We
like to quote those words, but do we use those words in our actions? Of course God’s timing for each of us is up
to Him and He does allow things for our benefit of growth. Please understand that I do understand that
aspect of the walk of a Christ follower.
But, all too often, I see favoritism, cliques and the like within the
Church. I have seen Christians
discouraged because of superficial rules and regulations that churches place on
people, deeming them, “not good enough” for service. Really…is this God’s way of doing things?
Unlike man, God doesn’t look at our outsides nearly as much
as He looks at our insides…our heart. 1
Samuel 16:7
About a year and a half to two years ago, I was going
through what was probably the most difficult time I’ve had in my life. And, let me tell you, my life has been a
tough ride…not that I take pride in that or cannot look around and see someone
else who has had it tougher than I have.
I want to keep a healthy outlook of who I am in Christ, where He has
brought me from, and where He is
taking me. A counselor of mine once
commented that I had been living in survival mode most of my life. Once I thought about it, I couldn’t disagree
with the statement. Anyway, a couple of
years ago, I was attending a church while all hell broke loose in my life. Being led of the Lord at a special service, I
went forward for prayer. I explained
what had been going on and asked for prayer.
I will say that God has addressed the issue that was at hand and I am
seeing miracle after miracle in this situation…a situation that, quite frankly,
I had given up on. (Never give up!!)
Now … all that aside … what I had to endure from those whom I asked
for prayer from was ridiculous. The next
time I saw these people at church, they looked the other way, wouldn’t even
acknowledge that they saw me. In fact,
it was nearly a year or more before they would even speak to me, let alone look
at me. And, to top it off, I was the
topic of gossip. It spread from these
people to others who I was directly involved with within the church. I cannot begin to tell you how hurtful this
was. I was a victim of circumstances,
both in the situation I had asked for prayer for and then the ensuing actions
of those who prayed for me. I wanted to
leave. I wanted out. I couldn’t stand how superficial and uncaring
these people were. All of this instead
of support and kindness that I needed because of the issue I had asked for
prayer for in the first place. I couldn’t
understand it at the time. God wouldn’t
release me from this church, even though I begged Him.
Eighteen months later, I still don’t understand the actions of these
people (although I have forgiven them), but I can see how God is using it in my
life. If we allow Him to do so, He will
use the hurts or bad things in our lives for His good. Romans
8:28, Genesis
50:20 He will grow us and make us stronger. Hallelujah!!
Now, I don’t believe God condones behavior like this. This is not His way. This superficial-ness and shallowness in our
churches needs to leave. It needs to be
done away with…amputated!! (This is only ONE example over the past many years
that I share at this time.) I don’t say
this as someone who is perfect. I say
this as someone who believes that all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans
3:23 This superficial-ness and shallowness
within the church is crippling the church!!
I am grateful that I was able to look past these people to God. Unfortunately, many people leave the church
for this same reason. Many will not enter a church for this reason. Unfortunately,
they don’t realize that they need to look past hurtful people within the church
and look to the only One who can heal their situation(s).
In Revelation
chapters 2 and 3, Jesus sends letters to seven churches of that time which
directly relate to the churches of today.
Only two of these churches were/are doing what Jesus approved/approves
of…only two!! Don’t allow yourself to
fall into the category of the five that Jesus didn’t approve of.
Church, we have got to not only wake up out of our slumber, we have got to get real!! We have got to deliberately make the effort to get away from being superficial, cliquey and self important. It’s not about us!! It’s all about Jesus. It’s about allowing the Savior of all mankind to work through us to save the lost from eternal damnation in hell. I would love to tell you that every person in this world I like and want to be friends with, but that would be a lie. I don’t like every person I meet, although I do make the attempt to make a connection with all. That is the truth of life in a fallen world. But…never…NEVER…would I want anyone, even my worst enemy, to spend eternity in hell!! It’s God’s will that we all would repent and that none would spend eternity in hell. 2 Peter 3:9 God’s heart is that we would all repent and choose His ways. I truly want my heart to reflect God’s heart. Shallowness and superficial-ness is not God’s heart.
I pray that we would all examine ourselves…examine our
motives…compare them to Jesus through the Holy Spirit and scripture to see
where we fall short. Jesus didn’t die,
defeat death and resurrect back to life so that we could have a superficial,
shallow religion. He died so that we
could have a true, neverending, meaningful relationship with Him. John
3:16 And, because He laid down His
life for us, we should also lay down our lives for others. 1
John 3:16
No comments:
Post a Comment