| This is an article that I wrote, and they published it in our local newspaper 03/12/05!
A useless Christ! – changing a paradigm
2 Corinthians 3:12-18 (Young's Literal Translation)
12Having, then, such hope, we use much freedom of speech, 13and [are] not as Moses, who was putting a vail upon his own face, for the sons of Israel not stedfastly to look to the end of that which is being made useless, 14but their minds were hardened, for unto this day the same vail at the reading of the Old Covenant doth remain unwithdrawn -- which in Christ is being made useless -- 15but till to-day, when Moses is read, a vail upon their heart doth lie, 16and whenever they may turn unto the Lord, the vail is taken away. 17And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord [is], there [is] liberty; 18and we all, with unvailed face, the glory of the Lord beholding in a mirror, to the same image are being transformed, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
I am very excited about where the church is going today. Hear me again, I didn’t say that I am excited about where the church is today, yet where it is going. I see and sense that God is starting to do a new thing. He is changing the wineskin for the new wine. You can see more and more everyday changes within the people of God. When I talk with a diversity of people from a variety of denominations I hear confirmations of this change in the words of those I speak to. It is a breaking away of old paradigms that are ineffective and irrelevant. It is a tearing away from being so seeker sensitive, bogged down with so many activities and programs where we forget to be sensitive to the seeker (Christ Jesus). You see, we get it all wrong when we become those who are seeking, and not the ones being sought after. We get into all of these traps that increase the time we spend in activities and programs, and decrease the amount of intimate time with God, soaking in His love, drawing His presence into our lives. We have saturated ourselves with the latest books on church growth techniques, all the coolest equipment and fads in ministry, still to be found wanting. We look in every resource we can, hoping to find a way that we can draw people into our church or fellowship. Then again, some of us don’t change the way we do church at all, and our services are exactly what they were 50 years ago. In this situation, we find ourselves being faithful to a congregation that is unconcerned about growth, or sometimes even in reaching the lost. We have the same 30 people serving faithfully, and in 10 years our congregations will be obsolete, because we failed to raise up a new generation to carry on our banner, much like Joshua did for Moses. In one hand, we have a church people who are doing everything in there power to attract new converts, and in the other there is very little being done. But I look at our communities and see very little transformation or changes to the overwhelming problems that plague us. Why aren’t we seeing the “greater things than these, you will do in my name” in our churches or communities? Why aren’t we seeing the drug addict set free? What about the abuse and neglect decrease? How about the illegitimate birth rate decline? How about this one, why aren’t we the body of Christ, instead of a bunch of heads rolling around the ground with a paralyzed, useless body? Ahh, now I am getting your attention. It’s ok to talk about all of the crazy stuff that mostly goes on outside of the church, but don’t go into the 4 walls of the church. Please hear me, I am not trying to come against the 4 walls of your church, but the 4 chambers of your heart! Well, I hate to tell you this, but I have such a hope in Christ that I proclaim this with boldness in love. I look at the church and western medicine as one in the same. Stay with me, let me explain. How do they relate? Well, they are both symptom treater’s. Symptom treater’s are those who look at a problem from the outward symptom that the condition is producing. For example, I have a cold and I go to the Doctor he gives me an antibiotic and tells me to come back if this doesn’t help. There is really no deeper look at the root of what is causing the symptom, very little or no education on prevention, proper eating habits, balancing body systems, or working on making your body function better. No, it’s take these pills and call me if they don’t work. Of course, this is not a blanket statement for all Doctor’s, just as this isn’t a blanket statement for all Christians. So don’t get all mad at me and send me hate mail. Anyway, there is a mentality in the church that these problems in our community are symptoms that need to be treated. For instance, the way we get rid of our drug problem is to urge the Mayor, Sheriff, Police Chief, and Probation to do their jobs better. The way to change the illegitimacy birth rate is to take the sex education classes out of our schools, because it only makes kids more interested. The way we change the abuse and neglect in our city is to have the Judges, Prosecutor, and CPS to come down harder on the families who commit these crimes. Let me tell you all in Christiandom something, these problems and solutions are only symptom treaters. The real root of this issue is the church. That’s right we are responsible for what is going on in our communities. We have become a useless representation of Christ. The church continues to blame shift and just put the responsibility on the leaders of our city without looking at what we aren’t doing to actually bring change to our communities. It is our responsibility to be on our knees interceding for our city, city leaders, and the community. We have become a lethargic body that functions at a very poor level. Our community is crying out “Pain, Pain, Pain!”, and all we do is sit back and prescribe a pill that takes the symptoms away, without finding out what is really causing the pain. Like, Why is the teen age girl seeking sex to feel loved? Why is it so hard for CPS to find loving foster homes for kids, that causes them to ask for a 2 million dollar levy for special facility placement? Why are the drug addicts looking for something to numb their existence? Why are our jails overcrowded with a 212% increase in 6 years? Is it really that Judicial System isn’t doing their job? I don’t think so! Or, why are our waiters and waitresses are in such bad moods when we visit their restaurants? Or how about why our city leaders can’t adequately do their jobs in running our city, because they are too busy focusing on how to handle all of these problems? All of these answers are the same, each and every one. It’s because we as Christians aren’t doing our job!!! We have failed miserably as a Church in our community. We have become so inward in our personal, as well as, congregational focus that we have neglected the very foundation of our faith, loving our God with all of our heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves. The very thing that God desires for us to unveil is the very thing we keep veiled and boxed up for Sunday, and maybe Wednesday service. We have become a useless representation of Christ, irrelevant, unneeded within our own community. We have become nothing more than a glorified service organization that raises money and helps others that come to us with needs. We have a group creed or doctrine, and we fellowship together in whatever capacity we have determined to be right. Church we have to awaken, we have to unveil the Love of God that is within us. We have to allow the God-light to permeate our beings, and not withhold it from those who are around us everyday. We must take the veil off by turning our hearts towards our Lord Jesus Christ. It is only then that we will start to see our lives and communities transformed. Our city needs the liberty, freedom, and bondage breaking power that comes from cultivating the Spirit of God in our lives individually, congregationally, and as a city-wide church. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty! Are you bringing liberty to anyone? Is liberty in your workplace? What about at your church? Are lives being changed for the Glory of Lord? We must repent, come to the place where we stop being symptom treaters, and instead become practitioners of His Love. We must get to root of the issue, (which is our heart) and bring healing to our community! This is the heart of the Holy Scriptures, that we would know Christ, and make Him known. But how can we make Him known if we first don’t know Him. We must take this serious, we must cry out to God and ask Him to help us. This is a mirror where I am looking into this exact thing in my own life, and I am sickened by the wickedness and apathy in my own life. Please know that my love for you all is a real and genuine love. Thank you for enduring my love! Let me leave you with the following instruction from the Lord:
2 Chronicles 7:14 (The Message)
14and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health.
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