This is a very insightful comment I recieved to one of my previous posts: 'where is the line'.
"I don't think Paul was satisfied with his churches. Christ often had to correct His followers. One of His disciples even got Him killed. If their churches weren't up to snuff, why should ours be any different?Maybe it's not up to us to change the church--even if we're pastors. Our calling is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourself...and that's more than enough to occupy our existence. Constantly shepherding our own wayward hearts back to the Father is the best we can do, and certainly seems to be more than I can accomplish. 'What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!'"
"I'm talking to myself as much as you, when I say, "I think we should forget about trying to change anyone else, much less any institution." If we focus our attention constantly on the author and finisher of our faith, we will accomplish all that we are meant to in this life. The hard part, of course, is in constantly putting Christ at the center of our attention." - Cody
Great stuff. I am in full agreeance with these comments. I often feel like the issues I have with the church exist because I want it to be doing the things I know that I should be doing, but am not. As an individual, deep down I know that I don't care enough about the poor, so I am upset with the church, as an institution, for not doing more to help them. It is hypocritical and I acknowledge that. I'm sure this is wishful thinking, but maybe when I am calling for reform in the church the underlying truth is that I am really calling for it in me and that truth, though subconscious and unintentional, is what spurs me on and 'shepherds my wayward heart' back to God. Maybe. I hope so.
I believe it was Augustine that said, "The church is a whore, and she is my mother." She is my mother and the resemblance is remarkable.
(Cody is a fellow blogger and his site is definately worth checking out: cblair.blogspot.com)
Sunday, January 22, 2006
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2 comments:
Interesting blog. So maybe the key to changing the church is changing ourselves. I like where Cody was going. Focusing on our creator is definately worth more than all the time we have on this earth. Good stuff.
--jake
jake, i think that is the key. and not only to changing the church, but ultimately to changing the cities and communities we live in. the crappy part is, its harder to change ourselves than it is to complain about our churches and communities.
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