Spaghetti Thoughts

Ok folks, here is my first blog post. It's a mess of thoughts that have been pieced together. This is a lot of what's been on my heart and mind the past week so it doesn't exactly flow well but i needed to get it out. Enjoy!

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We are told to go into the entire world and preach, to go make disciples, to go proclaim the message, to follow Him. If we are told to go and seek and do these things, why haven’t we? Why are we sitting on our butts in a building instead of going? I understand that sometimes we get too old or we have to take care of someone and I understand that maybe our calling is a little closer to home but everyone has a role in the church. Elders, grandmas, preachers, all minister to the church body. What does this church body do with this knowledge? The message isn’t for us. We’ve already received, believed, and accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior and God as the one and only God. We got the message. So why are we holding on to it so tightly?

 

Church buildings frustrate me so much. People become attached to them, start to clean them up. Then they start adding ‘frills’ to it to try and attract younger people into the church. This usually results in some killer bills to pay for the lights and a fog machine and the big speakers. Then the church gets scared of telling people to go out and do things the further the Kingdom of God because if the church building doesn’t attract enough people, we won’t raise the money we need through offering to keep the building going and then the building will fail. Just because the building fails doesn’t mean the CHURCH does. The Church is made of a group of individuals that have joined together to become one Body in Christ. “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21. We already have a ‘building’, so to speak, that was created by God so why are we trying to materialize it permanently? I wish that house churches were still a very real thing here in the States. Then people wouldn’t become so attached to the building as ‘home’. Missionaries are often alone and thought of as brave and radical for going out and living out of their comfort zone or in another country. I would just like to point out that ALL of us are called to go and make disciples and that in the bible many of the disciples were not alone in their travels. Paul was almost never alone as he traveled; he had people travel with him and they strengthened each other along the way. Paul never left his ‘home church’; he and those he traveled with were a church! So where have these ‘adventurous ‘people gone over the years? Has the ‘call’ changed from “go to all nations” to “go to people…if you are comfortable talking with them”? I think not. The ‘Call’ hasn’t changed at all, God is still calling us to ‘Go’, we just aren’t as willing to accept it with open arms. I think that sometimes God just gives a great big sigh and lets us stay within our comfort zones because we start to shut Him out if He tries to tell us something we don’t want to hear. He knows that we could be so much greater over there but we don’t want to hear it. We don’t want to leave our friends, and family, and our life here so we fight to stay here.

Many Christians are familiar with Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”. I do not understand why so many Christians say they look forward to the day Jesus comes back. I’m sorry if this is you, reader, but I just can’t see it as a happy day. We will have joy because we will finally be going home to heaven but that day will also be a terrible day full of pain and sorrow and guilt for those we lost, failed to reach, and failed to be an example to. And many, I fear, will be people of the church who thought they were ‘safe’. “As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:26. But in regarding these two verses I think it is wise that we are very careful in the reasons behind our deeds. We shouldn’t do good deeds because Jesus wants us to and we’re striving to earn His great act of love. This is impossible for us to do. We cannot earn such a great sacrifice; this is why it is called ‘mercy’ (He showed us mercy by saving us from eternal damnation). Likewise, we cannot earn heaven; it is a gift to us called ‘Grace’ (He showed us grace by giving us the gift of heaven along with saving us from eternal damnation. He gave us a bonus that we do not deserve). We shouldn’t do good deeds because it’s what Jesus/God would want of us. We should do them because we want to do them. If Christ lives inside us them His wants become our wants and His desires become our desires and there should be no way to separate them.

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Why are we judging those who aren’t Christians by Christian standards? They haven’t made the same commitment as us Christians. We chose God and the Bible, they haven’t, therefore we cannot hold them accountable to the things we are biblically held accountable to. Now back to judging, why are we doing it? I fully agree with Billy Graham when he said, “It’s God’s job to judge, the Spirit’s job to convict and our job to love. And we dare no mix those up!” Romans 14:10 says, “You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.” If all of us Christians could just get off our high-horses and show love to people, our life style/choice would be a lot more appealing. In Galatians it says, “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Notice the last word in that first sentence, “gently”. If this is how we reacted when someone around us messed up, this next verse would be a whole lot easier to do. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” James 5:16.

Comments would be awesome and don't be afraid to give constructive criticism. Have a wonderful day!

~Liz