Organized Religion ...

Does a Christian need a church to be a Christian?  Can we call ourselves followers of Christ but not subscribe to any form of organized religion, or does being part “of the body” require more of us than our individual devotion to our Lord?  In today’s culture there seems to be apathy if not disdain for organized religions in almost every variety.  A good number of people who identify themselves as Christians also admit they do not attend church regularly, some not at all.  Even within our own faith, church membership on the books or registry roles far exceeds who we see next to us week to week in the pews.  What appears to have so many Christians disinterested in weekly fellowship?  Is organization itself the cause, or is it something deeper?

To be of one accord; this was our goal, if not our mandate as Christians; to be one, as Jesus was one with His Father; a level of unity of purpose and intent that to date seems to have eluded us as Christians.  There are nearly 1000 different denominations of Christian churches around the world with reasonably significant memberships.  How can we even begin to talk of unity when there are a thousand different varieties of Christians who hold beliefs significantly different enough to warrant a thousand different organizations dedicated to the preservation of those differing beliefs.  It seems the only real thing that might unite us is our enemy.  Everyone (in the Christian community) would agree Satan is no friend of the followers of Christ, and yet almost each faith would gladly accuse the others of having been influenced by Satan for holding beliefs different from their own.  Everyone (again in the Christian community) would also agree that Muslims are mistaken in their beliefs and somehow seem to pose a threat to Christian values, yet most cannot point to a particular Islamic doctrine they are opposed to.  Atheists in general seem to pose the greatest “threat” to Christianity at large, as they are generally tagged as liberal, elitist, intellectuals who wish to see only their own anti-god agenda become the norm for society at large.  Sadly, only external opposition seems to bring Christians of different churches into any sort of unity with each other.  How far this is from the words of our Lord to be “as one”.

Organized religion must also contend with the woes of financial collection and distribution.  How much money should a pastor make?  If he is a pastor of a small church, should his income be equally small – or of a mega church, should his income be equally huge?  And when charitable missions are undertaken, who should receive the funds, in what amounts, to what audiences (local, regional, national, or global)?  Over time even the most patient of Christians begins to wonder what happens to his tithes and offerings once they exit his wallet.  It is easy to find a way to disagree with how your organization uses your funding, and then as a result become reluctant to continue giving.  How money is distributed becomes a substantial point of contention for many.

But perhaps more serious than how we spend our funds, is how much dedication we put into maintaining the rigidity of our beliefs among our various congregations.  It is not uncommon to hear a particular Christian church accuse another one of differing beliefs, of missing the kingdom of God, simply because they disagree about particular doctrines.  How interesting that particular points of faith become the determining factor in another person’s salvation.  In this regard, apparently His grace is a bit lacking?  My Bible reads “sufficient for all”, but then I like the King James version, and may not be a member in good standing in your church.  How easily Christians appear to do more than simply accuse other Christians of being mistaken, they develop antagonistic relationships with other churches.  Resentment builds when Christians “convert” from one faith to another.  Pastors are strictly watched to insure they do not preach any truth from the pulpit that may stray from the denominational traditions.  And as a result, very little “new” truth is ever revealed in any church, in any denomination – rather the traditional viewpoints are followed for decades on end.

The most obvious question an Atheist might ask a Christian attempting to witness to him, is simply – why your church?  With a thousand different choices he could make, why yours, why mine, why anyone’s outside of perhaps his own interpretations of scripture?  Assuming he is willing to ignore the 999 choices, upon a close examination of most churches, the follow-up question might be – where are all the members this week?  Has the acceptance of Christianity been reduced to a mere tacit agreement with a denominational viewpoint, membership on the roles of the local church, and a resumption of “normal” life after that?  Do we seek only the intellectual persuasion that our version of truth is the best one on the market, and then become content to see each other “as time, priority, and schedule permits”?  It does not look much like the model of the earliest Christian church.

But then the early Christian church was less organized, and more life altering.  It was more of a movement, than a set of doctrines.  It had a mission each member was committed to living not just remembering.  It required activity, and left little distractions to interrupt it.  Early Christian converts in the time of Peter and Paul, sold every belonging they had, gave everything to the church, and became avid witnesses for Christ.  They literally lived the gospel.  They dedicated their entire existence to the idea that everyone must hear the good news of Jesus Christ and come to know what it means to be truly saved from self, and from the slavery to self, we all suffer from.  Christ threw off the bonds of self service, even to those who continued to wear the chains of physical slavery.  Souls and lives were set free by Him.  To see this message encompass the globe was the burning desire in each new member’s heart.  For it was not just a recitation of scriptures, or an intellectual understanding of the role of the Messiah; rather it was the personal life altering freedom that Christ brought in the age old war against self, and the pain that self causes.  Christ had finally conquered the true enemy of our souls – “I”.  By submission or surrender, we could come to Christ, acknowledge our inability to free ourselves, and accept His gift of real change in our hearts, our minds, and our actions.  This was burning message that early Christians made a life of spreading.  And it spread like wildfire, changing the hearts, minds, and lives of all who encountered it.

Today however, the burning truth and the power of change that Christ can bring to a life, has been lost in the preservation of each denominations fundamental beliefs.  We spend more time attempting to distinguish Catholics, from Baptists, from Lutherans, from Methodists, from Adventists than we do living the fundamental life altering change that Christ brings to the heart.  As organized members of particular faiths it is no longer enough to merely point others to the source of love and change, we must go further and insure they have our unique view of truth as well.  Thus Christians spend more time attempting to proselytize other Christians, than they do sharing the gospel with those who are wholly unfamiliar with the name or power of Jesus Christ.  In this we fail the world, we fail ourselves, and we fail our Lord.  Would that we could reunite under His banner, and focus more on the sharing of Jesus Christ and His ability to change lives, and lead each soul to deeper truth.  If we could simply point people to Christ and let Christ lead them into further truth, even if that does not happen to correspond to our particular faith, we would do more for the Lord and have a larger impact on the world around us.  But alas, our organizations are not structured this way, and appear content how they are.

We lack a fire in our witness, because we lack a fire in our lives.  Our pews are empty because our members feel no compelling need to share what they have accomplished in the effort to witness this week, and need no encouragement for the coming days.  It is because our meager efforts to witness are few and far between, not the consuming passion of our very existence.  Our witnessing efforts tend towards pointing out the sins in others, and warning them of their impending doom – more than showing a genuine tender interest in the life and well-being of another, and providing a living example of what unconditional love looks like.  Our own hearts are unaffected because we have simply not allowed our Savior to affect them.  We cling to our own notions of how to conquer sin and achieve perfection, or worse become completely complacent with our condition in sin.  As such we cannot personally attest to the life altering change that Christ alone can bring.  Our denominations can do nothing to supplement the personal truth of a personal experience when Christ removes a sin that He alone could do from your everyday life.  That kind of experience is not found in a list of fundamental beliefs, it is found in a daily submission to Christ.  We rely on our organizations to find a way to witness to the world.  We are content to allow nameless pastors and evangelists to do the job of pointing the way to Christ, rather than pick of the banner ourselves; and so no personal need, no personal fire, translates to empty pews, and an apathetic crowd.

To begin to think about unity once again, is not to forsake our differences in beliefs – it is to unite around the most fundamental principle of all of Christianity – that Jesus Christ alone can save us from ourselves, our evil, and our pain.  In this my denomination does not matter.  In this my other ideas are not quite as important.  It is simple logic to assume that not all 1000 Christian churches can be 100% correct about every competing doctrine or ideology.  It stands to reason, that it might be me, or you, who is mistaken about a point of fact or two.  So why not simply point people to Christ and allow Christ the freedom to show us where we are wrong in His time, in His manner, and using the methods He wishes?  Why not concentrate less about the persuasion of doctrine and more on the surrender of a life to Christ.  This alone will restore the power of the gospel.  This alone is a solution the world is craving, needs, wants, and would listen to as they see it lived out in an actual life of a Christian.  Our lives can once again become our witness, not through our organization, but through our personal existence.

Having restored a passion for Christ in each of us, it leads us to crave the company of others.  Not only those who need to hear the hope and truth of change that only Christ can bring, but those who have already heard it, and now are living it out like we are.  We begin to want that communion with each other.  We begin to realize those with differing skills can fill differing roles in the body of Christ.  We begin to see the value in each member in the pew, and develop a passion to be involved in that person’s life.  This is the kind of renewal we need in each church regardless of its particular version of doctrines.  To mimic the ministry of Christ by intensely loving others first, all others, even those still in sin, even those we think above or below ourselves – literally everyone – this was His commission to those who call on His name.  If we are to call ourselves Christians, then we must mimic our Lord and LOVE first.  We can worry about the teaching MUCH later in the equation.  Let us restore love as our first passion, and bring back the tired to our churches once again.  Let us live a witness rather than simply talk about what might be, or what could be – rather let us talk about what is.  Let us make the love of Christ a reality in our own lives, and kill the “I” once and for all.  Perhaps then Christian unity might have a better shot at reality than it has thus far.

Looking the Part ...

Would you go to church in shorts and a tee shirt?  Would you consider it if it were a cleaning day or work bee?  How about to a game night at church?  Does it matter “when” you wear these clothing items, or for what purpose we get together in a church to accomplish?  Despite a general trend towards dressing more casual in America, most Christians would still hesitate on wearing shorts to a formal morning worship service in church.  Those that might consider it are decidedly younger in age than our more senior church goers.  So does how we dress matter anymore, or is it a non-issue?

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” … although this is found nowhere in scripture, it is often cited as a reason to dress appropriately in church.  But then, what is “appropriately”?  In the days of Moses, when God sought to talk directly with His people, He asked them to refrain from sex with their spouses for 3 days.  He asked them to clean themselves and their clothing.  They made an effort to prepare, and then approached Him at the foot of Mt. Sinai.  This was a singular event, and there was no prescription recorded mandating everyone put on their best clothing, or buy new clothing – only to insure that what they had was clean.  Perhaps more important, that they themselves were clean.  After all, “to obey, is better than sacrifice” and “to listen, is better than the fat of Rams”.  God always tried to direct Israel to examine their hearts when approaching Him, more so than their exterior.  Nonetheless, modern Christians have adopted a tradition of wearing their “finery” to church on a weekly basis.

So how good is too good?  I could wear my $200 suit from Burlington, or my $1500 Joseph Aboud suit from Nordstroms, or my $5000 Armani from NYC.  Does it matter what I spent on my suit when dressing for church, or where my suit comes from, or how extravagant it looks?  I could wear my $40 leather belt on my pants, or choose to wear my $400 crocodile Italian belt instead.  Does it matter if I have these choices and choose to wear the less expensive items?  The same could be said for a pair of leather loafers – one pair is $60, one is $600.  And none of this touches my watch where the numbers get really crazy.  My Seiko, or my Rolex, or my Bvlgari – which do I believe most honors God in His worship service this week.  Often we pick on women and how they fuss over their clothing and outfits, and seem to struggle with make-up and jewelry.  But a wealthy man can easily wear clothing and accessories that would outstrip a typical women in cost in no time.  It is not just women, who need to examine what they wear and why, it is also men.

And what about those who have no choice, or very limited choices?  A young man enters the sanctuary wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a cut-off tee shirt; our first thought – is he too poor to dress up, or was this done by choice?  Was he too lazy to at least clean up his clothing, or perhaps does he live on the street and is only looking to duck the heat of the sun outside for a while before wandering on his way?  Our thoughts center on his ability to choose, and in so doing we reveal more about us than about him.  There was a young man who wore his work clothing to the sanctuary every week.  He worshipped our God in humility, read scriptures with power and authority, and taught those who would listen in truth they had never even considered before.  But his clothing was never new, and never varied.  He kept it clean, but he wore it to work every day, on trips, in the sun, He may have even slept in it.  His name was Jesus Christ.  At His death, his tormentors cast lots for the only thing He owned, His single outfit of clothing.

Jesus had no change of clothes to wear to worship on Sabbath at the local synagogue or even the Temple in Jerusalem.  He had only the clothing he wore every day.  He could have owned more, but He chose to be poor and keep nothing but what He needed instead.  And apart from His death, His clothing is rarely if ever mentioned in His ministry.  No one cared what He was wearing when He taught, healed, or showed the magnitude of His love for us.  And He never made a single comment about what someone else was wearing when He encountered them.  “Clothing” was not a barrier for access to Christ.  Instead it was completely irrelevant.  What Christ wore never prevented Him from reaching a lost soul, working when it was required. and worshipping as He was able.  His clothing was practical, functional, and not extravagant.  His disciples never mentioned their own clothing throughout their subsequent ministries.  The only time clothing was mentioned after His ascension, was in relation to new converts selling everything they owned and giving the proceeds to the ministry.  It appears our early Christian ancestors modeled themselves more like Christ and kept no spare outfits to set aside for worship services.

So how about just showing up in a bikini?  Why bother with clothing at all?  Perhaps again here our Lord could serve as our role model.  His clothing was not only clean and maintained as He was able, it was practical and modest.  Again throughout scripture it was not the goal our Lord to become the sex symbol of His day.  He made no effort to show off His pecks, or six pack abs.  He did not keep his robe cut short in order to show a well-developed leg from all the walking He did in His time.  Nor does scripture speak of Mary, Martha, or Mary Magdalene ever attempting to wear seductive clothing in His presence.  Clothing again was a non-issue, the concept of dressing to seduce would have been the farthest thing on His mind, or on the minds of those who followed Him.  Seduction would be confined to the auspices of marriage, not designed for public display whether at recreation, or in worship.  When a man leaves his shirt undone, or chooses highly tight fitting clothing to display the muscles he works hard to maintain he sends a message – “look at me”.  When a woman wear skirts cut high, or slit high; or wears a top with a low cut and a push up bra – she too sends the message – “look at me”.  As Christians, do we really want to send this message, particularly when as Christians we know just how far from His perfection we really are?  Perhaps our clothing would be better suited to draw no attention and send the message – “look at Him”.

And what of our ornaments?  To wear jewelry or not continues to be a question long debated in our congregations.  The rational to wear jewelry is that makes us look more attractive, and gives us a sense of being more “complete” in our overall outfits.  The rational not to wear jewelry is that causes too much attention to ourselves, does not scream humility, and scripture seems to proscribe not wearing items “that the heathen wear”.  But our rational is wrong.  Neither line of thinking is the right one.  Jewelry is not inherently evil, if it were we would not be receiving a jeweled crown in heaven.  Diamonds, gold, and precious stones are not the problem – we are.  “I” am my own worst enemy in the spiritual warfare of my life.  It is my lust for more, my desire to out-do, my need for attention, and my pride in my accomplishments that so often causes me to reason that wearing my $40,000 watch is somehow a good idea in church.  When in truth, there is no “good” reason to wear it there.  Further, there is probably no “good” reason to even own it.  Even if I am wealthy, the money could be better spent on those in need, than on “me” – the enemy of my soul.  Jewelry does not complete our outfits any more than it completes us as individuals.  It is window dressing in a vain attempt to distract from the gaping hole in our conscience that allows others to suffer while I continue to accrue my earthly kingdom.  In short, it is me putting my treasure in the completely wrong place.  Again it says more about me than I would care to admit.

So back to our original question, what is appropriate to wear to worship?  I believe the answer is found in the ministry of Christ.  I should wear clothing that is clean wherever possible, practical, modest, and comfortable for me to meet, and assist others as they have need.  My shoes should be comfortable to walk in, as rarely do I find those in need within only a few steps of where I am today.  My clothing should not alienate people, or make them feel uncomfortable to be around me, as they cannot match my ability to dress well.  In short, it should not be extravagant, immodest, or designed in a way to promote me at all.  My clothing should become a non-issue in my encounters with others, and being able to meet their needs becomes the more important part of the equation, than what I look like when I do it.  Were the church to adopt this pragmatic approach, the debates over what is modest go away.  The debates over jeans, shorts, tee shirts, cut offs, and expensive accessories go away.  Humility becomes the guiding principle, and service the overriding goal.

Our sanctuaries are nothing but brick and mortar, our members are the value in our churches.  “When two or three are gathered together in my name” says the Lord, this is where church is being held.  It happens at the beach, in a restaurant, in a hospital bedside, in a mall, almost anywhere where believers get together and make ministry and Christ their first priority.  Dressing up in order to accommodate a traditional time, in a traditional place, to keep traditional standards is about honoring man made traditions of the past – not about honoring God or the ministry or example of Christ.  Humility, modesty, cleanliness as we are able, practicality; these are the hallmarks we should strive to achieve, remembering that service to others “is” the ministry of our Lord.  Attention to self has nothing to do with Him.  I long for a day when clothing is no longer any concern of the people of the Lord, for they are known for their love and unfailing interest in the needs of those they encounter.

Ordaining Women ...

Separate but equal?  How can we divide people based on an arbitrary criterion and simultaneously expect equality post division?  The Supreme Court of the United States finally came to see the wisdom of eliminating arbitrary divisions in order to affect equality.  But the church seems reluctant to do the same.  The church seems content to segregate based on sex, and sometimes even on race, or age, yet continue to expect equality in the work of Christ.  After all, the Bible does seem to identify certain roles for men that it does not seem to state women should perform.  This has led some modern folks to decry the scriptures as based in the prejudice of the day, and the prevailing sexism in Middle Eastern cultures.  But if we are to accept the Bible as our cornerstone of faith, unaltered, and speaking only truth, what should be our position on equality in the church.  Is it OK then to ordain women to the ministry of Christ?

To begin I think it important to understand how the word of God comes to mankind.  In the beginning, God Himself walked in the Garden of Eden with both Adam and Eve.  He spoke to them both.  He treated them both as His children.  He did not choose to speak alone, and only with Adam, trusting Adam to relay His messages of love to Eve.  Instead He showed Eve the same respect He showed Adam, and the same love.  Later, God spoke through Miriam, the sister of Moses, as His prophetess.  Moses already had direct communication with God.  Aaron, his brother, was already God’s high priest in the Sanctuary services.  Yet despite both of these men in elevated positions, God still spoke His prophecies through the mouth of their sister Miriam.  One could argue that Moses was the leader of the people, and Aaron the leader of the ministry, yet Miriam’s role was no less important to the people of the Lord.  And Miriam was not the last woman to serve the Lord in the role of prophet to His people.  Others would follow.

In the days of Christ, there is much focus on His disciples and work they performed.  But when the friends of Christ are mentioned there were at least three – Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.  Two of the closest friends of Christ were women.  He counted them as His friends.  In addition to saving Mary Magdalene from stoning, He also accepted her gift in washing His feet, and seemed to take a genuine interest in her life.  Christ speaks openly to the woman at the well.  He rewards the sickly woman who touches merely the hem of His garment.  He compliments and blesses the widow who gives her last two mites into the offering – elevating her sacrifice ABOVE all the rich Pharisees who gave much money into the coffers.  Christ heals the daughter of the Roman Centurion and holds out this Gentile’s faith as an example for the Israelites to aspire to.  Christ showed through His own life and ministry that the lives of women were as important to Him as the lives of men.  He spoke with women directly, not through their husbands or other intermediaries.  He held direct conversations with women.

The counsel given to men regarding their wives, was to love their own wives more than they love themselves.  Were men to honor this counsel, the problems in marriages would all but disappear.  Women are NO less important to God, or to His work, than are men.  So assuming that God values each of us the same, does not mean He intends each of us to be exactly alike.  There are some men who are excellent speakers, and could make excellent evangelists.  Other men, not so much.  We tend to gravitate towards those who appear endowed with the gift of evangelism, and away from those who are not so blessed.  It is the gift of God’s Spirit that determines our ability to fill a role in His church, not our age, not our sex, not our race, nor our education and seemingly natural abilities.

“And a little child shall lead them.”  How often have we quoted the words of Christ, and ascribed them to some cute thing done by one of our kids.  But to consider that a little child would lead us full time appears to stretch our credibility.  Yet Samuel was called to God at the age of seven.  Christ taught the most learned men of His time, at the young age of 12.  Ellen White began a course to God that started in her teens.  All of these past servants of God were not called in their old age, but in their youth, even when youth was not such a prized commodity.  Being 12 years old would not afford Christ much respect in a community of older learned Rabbis who spent lifetimes acquiring wisdom – yet they were so intent to hear His words they stayed for 3 days listening to Him teach.  What was surely a baby in their eyes, had such a clear understanding the love behind their scriptures, that ALL were captivated by His teachings.  A 12 year old.

We ignore our youth as being too inexperienced to really lead us on a sustained basis.  We cynically disregard their idealism as being not based in the real world.  Similarly we set aside the wisdom of our much older folks as being “dated” and based on a life in the past that no longer represents reality.  We look at the differences of people from other races and cultures and decide it is better to “allow” them to meet and group together and worship however they like, rather than attempt to integrate “how” they worship into our own services.  Then we attempt to develop ministries to meet the unique needs of groups of people based on age, or sex, or race – thinking that meeting unique needs can only be done through segregation.  But this was not the approach Christ took.

Christ so valued children, He stopped what He was doing and took time to minister to them first.  Christ so valued women, He spoke directly with them, and was found in their company – even the ones whose reputations were not so stellar.  Christ so valued those of different races and cultures that He personally took time to heal the daughter of the Roman oppressor, and accepted help from the Foreigner who bore His cross.  Christ instructed Peter through a dream that Peter would understand. that the Gospel was meant for all, not for just the Jewish people.  Age was not a barrier to Christ.  Sex was not something to be segregated against.  Race was no obstacle.  Culture was no wall to Him.  Literally ALL were included in His work, His love, and His ministry.

“Where two or three are gathered together” – note He did not specify two or three men, or two or three people of certain ages, cultures, races, or even doctrinal persuasions.  He said two or three who gather in the name of Christ.  Our church was to include all.  The gifts of the Spirit were to include all.  The Holy Spirit was not confined to merely men of a certain age, and a certain race.  Instead the Holy Spirit was poured out on ANY who would accept the gospel and this gift.  Any who were willing to serve the cause of Christ were eligible for this outpouring.  And ALL were blessed as the Spirit saw fit, and the church had need.  Not everyone was called to be a preacher, or teacher, or evangelist – but it did not matter who was called to these tasks.  Whether young or old, men or women, Jew or Gentile – all served, and many died martyrs of persecution for their faith.  The enemies of God did not spare women, children, or foreigners – they killed any who claimed the name of Jesus.

In our day, we limit God, by limiting through our own expectations “how” and to “whom” His gifts should be poured out.  Instead of accepting whoever He chooses, we disregard those who do not come in the appropriate packages; according to the standards we have setup.  The Pharisees missed the Messiah in doing a similar approach.  Our church should cast down the barriers of prejudice based in human tradition and human wisdom, and allow the Spirit to determine where and to whom He will pour out His blessings upon.  If a woman is called to preach, teach, or evangelize – then praise God she is willing to serve, and He is willing to reveal Himself to us through her.  She should not be denied ordination based on our collective “wisdom”.  It is our job, our duty, to accept the will of the Spirit, not to try to define it.  It is our job to accept the wisdom of Christ, not to try to override it based on our own ideas.  If God calls a seven year old girl, from an Inuit culture in northern Alaska, with different traditions and cultures than our own, to be our next evangelist – are we to supersede the ideas of God in this regard?  God forbid we refuse His guidance.

And while we should not deny God His ability to pour out the gifts our church needs on whomever He sees fit, we should also avoid conferring roles to those who are clearly NOT called to serve in the capacity they desire.  We may think ourselves fit to serve in a particular capacity, but if the Holy Spirit does not bless our efforts in this regard, it may be that we deceive ourselves as to where we are actually supposed to serve.  We should not ordain a woman simply because she is a woman, no more than we ordain a man simply because he is a man.  We should instead look for the influences of the Spirit, and the lives and skills that have been clearly touched by God and seek to honor His will in so doing.  We should include everyone in our desire to serve God, disallowing no one based on our preconceptions, nor forcing anyone into a role they are not fit to hold.  We should in a word – follow the will of God, not attempt to define it.  Were the church to do this, the questions of women and ordination would completely disappear.  Children would lead more often than they do.  The aged and elders would carry the respect they deserve.  And the cultural diversity found in the world, would be reflected in our worship services and ALL would benefit as a result.  In short, the church would become UNITED under the banner of Christ, without any form of segregation based on any criterion.  This is what Christ intended for His church; perhaps we could forsake our own wisdom and get back to His plans.

Gossip and the Rumor Mill ...

The scarlet letter, a public symbol used to brand the adulteress, thus humiliating her and serving as a warning to rest of the community.  Today we would not think of using such tactics … publicly.  But between friends and confidants, we are free to share our opinions on stories we have heard about the failings of various brothers and sisters in our church.  If a church leader is suspected to be found in some sort of compromising position, it becomes fodder for the membership, and excuse to warrant our own various objections to offerings, attendance, or any other element of worship we simply do not enjoy.  Harmless gossip after all is innocuous right?  What real harm can it do?  Shouldn’t a community of believers show an interest in what happens in their own church?

The TV images of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson in the 1950’s presented America with an image of family life.  Divorce was a dirty word.  Just being divorced and attending a church would often immediately bring condescending looks, and social slights, enough to let the sinner know their place in the community.  Women would stand guard over their husbands to insure the recently cast out, would not attempt to take their man to cover the loss.  So too would interracial couples find a hard time with acceptance in either community.  Christians would tacitly accept them, but not usually make them a part of the inner circle.  Nominal acceptance with back door critique was the norm for the day for years to come.  Fast forward 50 years and these earlier improper treatments have all but vanished.  Not because divorce is gone, but because it is so wide spread it now dominates the membership.  Mixed families, children from other marriages, step children, all now are commonly seen in the pews and the “stain” of divorce is now too common to make much ridicule against.  So too, racial prejudice has subsided to a great degree.  It is not gone entirely, but it is no longer politically correct to express it publicly, so it now only lives in the dark recesses of the unchanged heart.

How a Christian treats his enemy is a telling event.  But how a Christian treats his brother speaks volumes more.  Gossip, at its core, is about making one feel better about themselves at the expense of another.  Rumors, by definition, include the various thoughts, feelings, and preferences of the person speaking.  Rumors are seedy, unverifiable stories, usually designed to achieve a particular result.  To spread them, or relay them if it makes you feel more comfortable, is to be a gossip.  The only proper response to a rumor is to quash it entirely.  But instead most folks who indulge in the listening or spreading of rumors add their own embellishments to the story as it is relayed.  Most of us would focus on the victims of the gossip and discuss the harm that comes to them from this practice.  That is well known, but the damage continues.  I believe the more salient focus should be on the damage that is done to the gossip than to the victim in their stories.  If the gossip truly understood what is happening to them, perhaps the practice would disappear altogether.

A need to feel better.  A need to be respected and heard.  A need to matter.  All of us crave these things.  Our sins have so long beaten us down, that some of us decide to compare ourselves to others in order that at least comparatively we can begin to feel better about our own lives.  We reason that we may not like someone else, but at least we don’t go beat them up.  Of course the person guilty of assault reasons that at least he did not kill the guy.  The murderer then reasons that at least he only killed the guy who deserves it, not his entire family.  The mass murderer then reasons that at least he did not kill as many people as Hitler.  Hitler reasons he is doing God’s work.  Thus an entire chain of Christians reason that at least they are not quite as bad as their neighbors.  But ALL suffer, all remain in pain, and none find relief from it.  Comparative salvation is not salvation at all.  Comparative holiness is nothing holy at all.  It is vain empty pursuits to bury pain, rather than find a way to end it.

When we embrace the idea of “relative salvation“ (or this sin is not as bad as that one), we implicitly accept the pain that comes from our own sin.  In addition, our focus on the sins of others, leaves us focused only on sin - period.  We do not look to Christ for relief from our own sins, nor can we in any way effect the life of our brother who is also in sin, so at the end of our investigation we have accomplished nothing.  We are no better because our brother is found to be in sin.  He remains in pain as well.  This kind of thinking is what the devil longs for.  Instead of an end to our own pain and evil, we extend its life by ignoring it, and comparing it to the lives of others.  We make our own lives seem even better by embellishing what we know of the failings of others.  In so doing we lie to ourselves, as well as to those we talk with.  We want to believe our own lies.  We need to believe them.  For if we face the unvarnished truth about ourselves we see our own evil up close and personal.  We are then forced to admit we are NO better than anyone we know, probably worse when it comes to it.  This is a truth we wish not to find or admit, but truth remains regardless of our desires.

It is an incredible waste of time and life.  Instead of focusing on pain, why not focus on the cure to pain.  Instead of searching for meaning by comparison, why not allow God to create meaning within you?  A life that matters, a life that will be remembered, a life that will be missed in this world and honored in the next is not a life of pain, but a life of love.  When a person dies, we miss them the most if we loved them the most, and even more if THEY loved us the most.  We do not miss the ones we never knew.  We do not mourn the loss of random strangers.  But our hearts break when one who spent their lives loving and giving to us is taken away by the pain of evil’s ultimate reward – death.  The sting of love lost is keen and is remembered.  Most folks do not miss the absence of a gossip, in fact, most prefer it.  But to lose a loving servant of God is mourned by every life that person touched.

A change of heart is needed, and one is offered.  To change the life of a gossip, one must begin by allowing Christ to change how we think.  We need to value different things.  We need to love in a different way than we understand today.  The feelings of love we have now are dwarfed by comparison to what God is able to install within us when we let Him.  A person may not naturally be drawn to help the homeless or downtrodden.  It costs us our time, our money, and our convenience.  Most of us naturally avoid getting personally involved with “these people” choosing rather to give an offering now and again and let someone else do that actual work.  But when we love like Christ loves, it is an entirely different matter.  Christ while here on this earth, went straight into the ghetto’s.  He spent more time on the Martin Luther King boulevards of His day, than in the places of pomp and spectacle.  He hung out with the hookers, pimps, diseased, and possessed and freed every one of them from their physical and their mental chains.  He broke the bonds of sin that held the weakest in slavery because the weakest knew they could not do it themselves.

Christ longed to teach the Pharisees what it meant to be free from sin, free from the chains that bind us to want to do what is wrong.  But the Pharisees and religious leaders of His day, believed they had no need of this freedom.  They were content to find righteousness in their own actions and self-denials.  They measured their spiritual holiness by comparison with the publicans.  They performed their actions and kept to strict lists to prevent any action that might be deemed inappropriate, but their hearts were completely unaffected.  They did not know how to love.  They desired wrong doing in their core, and denied it in their mouth.  But ultimately, their own self-centered ideas of holiness drove them to kill the only perfect life that revealed their hypocrisy.  Christ came to die for them as well.  He longed to reform their hearts and free them from their chains.  But they would not have it, rather they thought to end Christ and resume their own ideas unchallenged.

The Pharisees and the Publicans both needed a change of heart and mind.  Our actions follow our thinking.  We do what we want to do.  For there to be change, we must want different things.  We must value something else.  We are incapable of accomplishing this change on our own, but we are not asked to perform this work.  Instead we are offered a God who longs to do it for us and in us, and sometimes in spite of us.  All we need do is surrender ourselves to Christ.  Not just to accept that He is our God, or that He created the world, or inspired the Bible.  Those are facts not our personal surrender.  Our surrender is to the idea that we cannot change ourselves and ONLY He can change us.  We need to think differently than we do, and ONLY He can make that happen.  We need to want what He wants, not what we have always wanted.  We need to love like He loves, not like the paltry thing we call love.

When we do start to see people like He sees them, the homeless and downtrodden become the Prince and Princess of England.  Will and Kate are seen in the faces of the dirty street walking, mentally challenged, medically needy who seek only their next fix whatever that may be.  Like Christ, we do not care how they smell.  Like Christ, we do not care what they look like, what skin color they have, how old they are, how lazy they are, how greedy they are, even how dangerous they may be.  Instead, like Christ, we see only hurting children that SO much need an end to their pain.  Our hearts break as we look upon those in such desperate need and we are no longer content to simply give an occasional offering for them.  We need to get involved.  We need to make a difference.  Our hearts explode with love and sitting still in our chairs is no longer an option.  We - MUST - DO - Something.  This is how Christ felt as He walked our earth and saw the pain in so many lives.  He could not rest.  He could not leave the work up to others.  He had to take action.  He loved us too much to sit still and hope.  He got involved and made a difference and 2000 years later billions remember His life.

To indulge in gossip, is to prolong the pain in your own life.  It is to grant an extension to evil, to allow it to remain unchecked and unchanged and it hurts the life of the gossip far more than the lives of those they propagate rumors about.  But it need not be so.  It need not consume the years you have left on this planet earth.  There is meaning for those who seek Christ that they have yet to understand or imagine.  There is love so great that it truly changes how we think and mandates what we do, if we only come to the source of it and allow Him to begin to remake our hearts.  To surrender our desires to Christ is to see them replaced with desires that will echo through eternity and make an indelible impact in our here and now.  The journey to perfection begins as we let our enemy die.  Not the enemy in the world, or even the enemy beyond our sight.  Instead our enemy lies in the mirror.  “I” and my own worst enemy and as I allow Christ to recreate me, it is Christ who is found in me, and “I” who disappears.  This is the beginning of a life of meaning, and an end to the pain we embrace.  Rather than focus on our pain, let us begin to focus only on its cure – Christ.

Homosexuality in the Church ...

So what should be the church’s position on the acceptance of homosexual members in its midst?  Should we welcome them into the pews beside us, or attempt to keep them beyond our doors?  Should we allow them to participate in our worship or lead in a ministry, or keep them confined in the pews?  Should we accept them as spiritual leaders if they choose to serve, or restrict them from our pulpits until their lives reflect our ideals of what a pastor should be?  To date, the majority of Christian churches have ostracized the gay community if not by direct mandate, then through protests with hateful rhetoric that would imply gays are not welcome in the doors of the local sanctuary.  There are a few other Christian churches that have elected to completely embrace the gay community and declare that homosexuality is “no longer a problem” with God.  Is either correct?  What should be the position of the church with regards to members who do not comply with its ideals?

The predominant church bearing the name of Christ for many centuries was the Roman Catholic Christian church.  It had the widest membership and farthest reach for nearly a thousand years.  When the reformation began, the term Protestantism (or protest against various Catholic dogmas) arose and gained momentum.  But church discipline and traditions still mimicked its Catholic roots for centuries to come.  The early Catholic church viewed dis-fellowship (or in their vernacular excommunication) as being the most severe punishment it could inflict on its erring members.  Those who would not comply with the leadership of the Catholic Church were forced to remain outside its doors.  The thought being that only through the church could one obtain salvation and therefore excommunication essentially doomed a person to eternal hell.  This idea carried through into Protestant churches for a few centuries further.  Though Protestants do not believe that salvation is found exclusively inside a church, they do believe that Christian “standards” must be maintained; and traditionally those found to be in sin were sometimes asked to withdraw their membership from the church and go somewhere else.

Public sin, is an interesting concept.  While a pastor engages in an adulterous affair that nobody knows about, his sermons appear to be just fine.  But after his affair is discovered and revealed, his shame requires him to leave the pulpit and seek other employment, or at least another congregation.  Most traditional churches believe that a “leader” of the flock must live a life more righteous than a regular member.  But this implies a degree of relative salvation, that some of us are effectively more “holy” than others.  It implies we expect a higher degree or a higher level of perfection in our leaders than we do in ourselves.  Interesting given that scripture teaches we are ALL inundated with sin, that NO-ONE is holy outside of Christ, and that ALL of us are created equally.  Scripture does not describe a spiritual hierarchy within the church.  People in spiritual leadership positions are selected based on the gifts of the Spirit, and their own willingness to serve.

Some argue that the model of the first worship services in the sanctuary that was carried through the desert by Moses, then placed permanently in Jerusalem by David and Solomon, had a hierarchical system setup within it.  But this ignores some of the foundations of “why” this method of worship was established and how the hierarchy worked.  The Levites were selected for the priesthood because of all the twelve tribes who exited Egyptian slavery, only they chose to remain loyal to God when presented with the golden calf alternative for worship.  This loyalty on their part was rewarded by God by selecting their tribe for all the various roles associated with the worship of God.  Not all of them were selected to perform every single role in the sanctuary services.  Some performed the tasks of setting up and taking down the structures of the movable sanctuary.  Some performed music.  Some participated in the daily sacrifices.  And one priest was selected to be the high priest, to perform the tasks of entering the most holy place once a year, and to wear the breastplate, and carry the stones that God reflected His will through.  Only one priest was selected to perform the most sacred part of the first ministry.

The high priest was to represent the work of Christ.  The original worship services did not create an organizational hierarchy with the high priest on top, then the next layer of priest leadership, then the next layer and so on and so on.  When Christ Himself came to our world, He established Himself as the head of the church.  He did not delegate that the 12 should rule over the 70, and that the 70 should rule over the next layer and so on and so on.  He setup Himself as the head, all men are equal in His service, no one was set up over his brethren.  Those who wished to lead, would be the servants of all.  So if all are equal under Christ, even our leaders.  And if all are sinners, then why do we hold our leaders to a higher standard than we hold ourselves?

The true Christian church then is any association of believers who are willing to submit themselves to the true leader of our faith – Jesus Christ.  It is only in Christ that salvation is found, not in the buildings we dedicate to our worship services.  It is in Christ that we find truth, not from our own collective wisdom.  The ministry of Christ was to redeem man from his bondage to sin and evil.  In coming closer to Christ, we are transformed by His presence.  It is not our own actions that change us, it is our willingness to recognize that Christ alone can transform us from the pain we embrace to the perfection He intends.  It is an error to think that ostracizing a sinner somehow protects the church, or maintains its standards.  We all fall short of the standards of heaven.  And we all need the transformation Christ provides.  Church discipline then that centers on casting away those caught in sin, or known to be in sin, is merely the elitist classism you would expect to see in a typical high school, not in the ministry of Christ.  Where can the sick go but to the master physician.  To deny them this access for the purposes of preventing further corruption is to ignore the pressing needs of the patient and to disregard the obvious; the disease is already among the brethren.

There is a difference in attempting to excuse our shortcomings and living with the struggle to submit to Christ to see them removed.  We are none of us perfect yet.  But all of us are on that journey through our submission to Christ.  It may be years before Christ is able to perfect in me what must be changed.  The delay is not His fault.  It is exclusively my own stubbornness and unwillingness to submit.  But as I learn to let go, I free Him to fix in me what must be fixed.  And soon I realize that He is not just fixing what I thought was broken.  He is literally remaking every single part of me; because as it turns out, I am COMPLETELY broken.  I think wrong.  I reason wrong.  I want the wrong things.  I believe I need things that only cause me pain.  I do not know how to really love.  I am bathed in self-centered thinking.  I am an absolute mess.  It will take time to repair me.  The church then, serves as my hospital.  Getting together with other ill patients to talk about how good our Doctor really is, encourages us all.  We all benefit from this encounter.

I may be a liar, or an adulterer, or a murderer, or simply full of pride.  I could also be gay.  The fact that I am diseased with evil is NOT the question.  All that matters is whether I am seeking His perfection, or content in my own self-assured sense of holiness.  When I define perfection based on my own thinking, I tend to disregard what Christ thinks and advocate only what I want.  When I put self at the center of my religion, I begin to try to excuse my condition of evil, rather than to confront my own errant thinking on the matter.  When I put my own views of what is right and wrong, and what is good for me or not, ahead of submitting to Christ; I effectively tell Him … “never mind, I do not need Your help – I am fine on my own.”  This was the state of the Pharisees in the days of Christ.

Christ was content to be found in the company of hookers, tax collectors (cheats), low class, poor, down trodden, those plagued with contagious diseases, even the demon possessed.  Christ was not there with them to participate in their evil, but to free them from it.  They could not free themselves, and had been shunned by the pious who need no such conversions.  Christ had to enter their company in order to reach them.  He was welcomed by those in need.  And He was worshipped for taking from them, what they were unable to free themselves from.  Church in the days of Jesus, was measured in how close you could get to the Son of God.  To be near Him, was to be near the source of Love, and the source of Healing, and the end to pain.  To be freed from sin by Christ was not merely to be forgiven, but to be unbound to the former desires to commit those sins.  When Christ said … “go and sin no more.”  It was not an arbitrary edict for the lame man to rely on his own decisions and willpower and not make any more mistakes.  It was the gift of reform in the lame man’s heart that despite his new found physical abilities, his mind, his heart, his soul were to be henceforth freed from the chains of evil that had so previously consumed him.  This is the kind of freedom that Christ alone can bring.  Our churches are supposed to represent being close to Jesus.  It is the purpose of our getting together in the first place.  Proximity to Christ brings relief to the soul, not the glorification of our evil.

The definition of hell is separation from God.  Conversely the definition of bliss is proximity to our Lord and Savior.  Our churches should accept all manner of sinners into its ranks.  Not for the purposes of excusing our sin-sick diseases, or attempting to glorify the pain we live with, but for the purposes of allowing Christ to free us from it.  We should encourage each other in love.  How are we to do this, if we cast aside all we find in sin?  Gay people should be welcomed into our family of believers, NOT because they are gay, nor because we believe this condition is ideal, or OK with God.  Gay people should be welcomed into our family because our Lord, welcomes us into it.  If we are welcome to sit in our churches, take leadership roles despite our own shortcomings, or preach from pulpits – so should those who suffer from a bit different condition than our own.  We are equally struggling to allow God to completely change who we are.  This is not a gay thing.  This is a Christian phenomenon.  We are all seeking to have Christ completely remake us.  ALL of us.  Our journey’s will be different, our timelines will be varied, but our destinations are all centered in Christ.  ALL are welcome in His kingdom.  In His kingdom ALL of us will be former sinners of one variety or another.  Do you think it will matter in heaven that I am a former liar, and you are a former adulterer, and he is a former person with pride?  God will see us only us in the perfection which He intends and has wrought within us.

If we ALL give God the freedom to rule over even our own sexual desires and ideas, then we allow God to craft us into what He intends for each of us.  It is not our place to judge each other in this matter.  It is our place to accept His leadership individually.  Our Lord has more work to do reforming the corrupt hearts of adulterers in our churches than He does altering the lives of homosexuals.  In sheer numbers, there are more straight sexual issues to contend with than gay ones.  Christians live in shame for the sins they commit.  Few try to glorify them.  How many pastors have stood in the pulpits and advocated that we should all be unfaithful to our spouses?  None, or none that lasted very long.  Glorifying evil or trying to excuse evil, is blinding oneself to the pain that evil causes and merely prolonging the agony of evil.  Yet many pastors who have preached sermons on the value of fidelity in a marriage have been caught cheating in their own.  It is not intentional hypocrisy; it is human weakness and self-sufficiency that leads to these failings.

I would not expect a gay person to stand in the pulpit and try to justify his history, his choices, or his point in the process of perfection.  I would not expect him to give us a report on how far God has altered his thinking on his being gay as of this moment in time.  I do not ask pastors to tell us how far along they are in their struggles with sin and submission.  Nor do I volunteer this information about myself to any who seem to have an interest.  Instead, like the publican, I stand afar off, unwilling to lift even my eyes towards heaven, beating my own chest and joining in his prayer … “have mercy on me God as I am the sinner.”   It is no-one’s business to know where I am on my spiritual journey towards the perfection God intends for me; as it is none of my business where anyone else is either. 

I am content then to journey alongside of you, regardless of what it is you struggle with.  You may not think you suffer from a particular evil that I believe exists in your life.  But then, this too is the condition I find myself so often within.  Christ is patient with us both.  He reforms how I think, reveals what must be changed, and then does the work as I allow Him to.  He is patient with me in this process, tender and caring.  How can I be any less with my brothers, whether they be gay or straight or something else entirely.  Those who seek the perfection found in Christ are more than welcome in my home, at my table, in my pew, or in my pulpits.  I realize the truth of inspiration does not come from the person who is willing to serve, but from the God who inspires behind them.  We are vessels of truth to others when we serve God in humility and love without condition.  But we remain vessels not the source.  Christ alone is the unending source of love and truth and change.

It is time for Christians to quit condemning particular sins, and instead focus on the healing of all sins.  It is time for us to forsake the mediocrity of living with cherished evil habits and the pain that comes with them, and seek Christ to be freed from them entirely.  It is time to seek perfection, realizing that ALL must journey to this as well.  There is no time keeper.  There is no yard stick.  There are no standards we do not all fail to meet.  There is only Christ.  There is only the TOTAL transformation we must ALL be willing to embrace before perfection can be achieved.  It is difficult to realize the magnitude of giving literally everything about us over to Jesus, but when we embrace it, it is life altering. 

It is a process that begins here and will one day reach fulfillment.  For those alive to greet Him in the clouds, this process will reach fulfillment in our lifetimes.  For those who die before this perfection is fully achieved, they will be granted the total transformation in the twinkling of an eye at His second coming.  Praise God He is willing to save me, to save you, and to save those who are different from us both.  Praise God He welcomes all into His kingdom, and does the work of perfecting ALL of us from what we are today, to what He intends for each of us.  Our God desires ALL to come to Him.  We should echo His desires in our churches.