Superficial? A Wakeup Call to The Church.

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. from abroad.  They said, “Christianity in the U.S. is a mile wide and an inch deep.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I think I may have broken out into applause when I read this.  It’s something I have felt and believed for many years.  In fact, although I love my Christian brothers and sisters, this statement is very accurate of, certainly not all, but much of the American Christian Church.

 

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

The Age Of Much Knowledge...

Our society has been indoctrinated to believe that once you have attained a certain age/education/financial status/place in society, etc., you have all that you need in life. (Many times, people believe that they are wise rather than knowledgeable because of attaining one or more of these things!)  So often, people judge others by those worldly standards.  Jesus said to remove the plank from your eye before helping your brother/sister remove the splinter from theirs. Matthew 7:3-5 This is such a true and helpful statement.  Many times I’ve witnessed someone “advising” others when I could clearly see that that person was way off base about what they were saying. (Been there, done that, myself!!)  If we take a look at ourselves and “remove that plank” from our own eye, we would surely be surprised to see that what we thought was the case with someone may not be the case at all simply because our outlook through that plank was distorted.

 

The Bible says that a fool speaks much. Proverbs 29:11 A wise person listens and then speaks. Proverbs 1:5, Proverbs 12:15  Keep your tongue under control. Proverbs 21:23, James 1:26  Your words can hurt deeply, even if you never intended for them to do so.

 

I’ve recently had some folks make assumptions about me that were way off base simply because they were looking through the plank in their own eye.  Unfortunately, in many of these situations, it wasn’t my job to do the correcting(even though I wanted to!!). The Lord will fight for us, we need only be still. Exodus 14:14 However, there has been a time or two where I have felt it necessary to defend myself, so to speak.  I am called to be many things in God, but a door mat is not one of those things.  We are, however, called to love our neighbor as love ourselves. Matthew 22:39 Finding a healthy balance, as in all things, is the key.

 

In this journey of life, we rarely find someone who is at the same place in life that we are.  Be patient, be kind. 1 Corinthians 13:4-13  Don’t be a doormat, either.  Being a Christian isn’t an exercise in passivity, but rather a transformation in becoming more like Jesus.  Philippians 3:21, Romans 12:2 Jesus did not go around acting like a know it all, but he also was not passive.  He addressed things when and where they needed to be addressed.  He used wisdom. Age and knowledge, etc. will only produce wisdom when allowing ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit, which involves repenting quickly when we sin and dying to self, among many other things.

 

Don’t allow yourself to fall prey to the “way” of our culture...in this "time of much knowledge".  And, be cautious, because much of the culture of this world has crept into the church, as well.  Read the Word; follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. (Don’t just take my word for it. Seek God in these things for yourself.) You will find that when you follow the Spirit of the living God, the worldly way of doing things is not the only way of doing things.  God’s ways are mysterious; they are not like the ways of man. Isaiah 55:8-9  Seek him for who he is.  Matthew 6:33  Ask him for wisdom.  He will not deny you. James 1:5  Look in the mirror of the gospel to find the plank(s) in your own eyes before you begin to help your neighbor with the much smaller splinter in theirs. James 1:23-24

Where's your compassion?

You know, I don't claim to be perfect which is exactly the reason why I need a Savior.  I don't expect you to be perfect, either.  But…why is it that when I'm honest about the hurts in my life, you then choose not to meet my eyes any longer and conversation is next to nothing?(Not everyone, but many!!)  Is it because I'm not good enough for you? Probably not.  Is it because you don't know how to continue to be a friend to me in spite of my hurts? Maybe.  I'm not any different before your knowledge of my hurt than after the knowledge of it.  Why then, do you avoid me?  I don't know the answer to that, but I choose to love you anyway.  I do know this, though.  The church...the Body of Christ...is lacking in compassion towards those who are hurting…those who come from highly dysfunctional families.  I can honestly tell you that I have extensive experience in this at multiple churches throughout the past 20+ years.  My life has not been easy at all!!  And, I don’t make that statement to say that I’m special, either…because I’m not.  All too often, folks are pushed aside due to lack of compassion from fellow Christians.  "You need counseling!" "You need this program or that program!"  Those are just a few of the things that I've heard throughout the years.

I cannot change who I am within the Body of Christ.  God created me, placed me in the family that He deemed perfect for me, saved me, justified me and has placed me in the Body of Christ exactly where He wants me.  I know who I am in Christ.  Why is it that you cannot accept me for who I am...warts and all?  I accept you for who you are…warts and all.  My question is this; I wonder if that's how Jesus treated his disciples when He said for them to follow Him?  I won't speculate on that.  I'll let the Holy Spirit answer that.

You see, program or no program, I choose to go by the leading of the Holy Spirit.  I find that He has the answers to my questions.  He has the healing for my hurts…sometimes conventional…sometimes not so much.  I find that much of the Body of Christ not only lacks compassion, but they tend to believe that there is only “one” way to get the healing that is needed.  My God has infinite ways to help His children.  Each church is different.  They all have different programs that I believe can be helpful to folks.  But I also believe that the choice of each individual is just that…they’re. own. choice.  We shouldn’t judge someone because they don’t choose the same thing that we choose.  We should rejoice because we actually have the freedom to choose!!

As I close, I’ll say this.  Jesus came to supply our every need…every need. Philippians 4:19  What are the needs that you have today?  Is it healing…emotional or physical, clarity in any aspect, monetary needs, relief from addictions…perhaps compassion?  I implore you to search your heart.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you, because He will, if you allow Him to do so.  Let’s do what we can to be Christians who are better at loving the hurting.  We need to be there for each other, not shun each other…shunning is the world’s way of doing things.

Please know that I do realize that I am very blunt and to the point in this blog…but know that every word is spoken in Love…from the bottom of my heart.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8  We need a revolution of love within the Body of Christ.  Isn’t that why Jesus came in the first place?

Don't let others fit you into their...

No one but you knows what you are called to do.  Don’t let others fit you into their mold of what they think you should do.  Be the you that God created you to be.

Several years ago, I was a pretty insecure person.  I worried about what others said and thought about me…I was a people pleaser.  That behavior is all that I knew…from childhood well into my adult life as well!   

Anyway, years ago when I was a kid, I remember that I loved to sing and even tryed to write songs…music has always done it for me!  One day I heard a couple of girls singing and I said to a close relative that I could sing as well as them.  This person laughed and said, “Oh no you can’t.”  I cannot begin to tell you how many years those words affected me…because I believed them!  After that, I never even considered singing aloud for others until I was well into my twenties.  It’s true!

One day, I remembered that situation.  I realized then, just how much I had let those four little words affect my life.  I made a decision that I would no longer let someone fit me into their mold of what they thought I was capable of doing.  NO MORE!  No one but God and myself know what He has called me to do.  (Of course I only know the details on a “need to know” basis.)  I will not let the opinions of others rule my life.  That was one of the best decisions that I could have ever made.

If we aren’t secure in who God has created us to be, how can we ever be fully effective within the Body o f Christ?  When you’re on a mission, so to speak, and you know that God has called you to do it, don’t let anyone stop you.  Keep your eyes on the Lord.  Don’t look to the right or the left.  God will see you through to the end!