Lately, have you ever discerned about hurt caused by the “silent killer” within the church 'people' I call them alligators. The difference is we don’t expect God’s people to behave like those without Christ in their lives. You see the one place almost everyone agrees should be safe, accepting, forgiving, and free from conflict and aches. Yet in most churches at least some elements of strife, conflict, and hatred creep in and tarnish that ideal.
“Just because you miss doing some thing or change that effects your unbroken worship well-being, doesn’t mean you need it back in your life. Missing is just a part of Moving On, praying about it and doing Ubuntu Life!” Meaning, what is your quality of being, based on a God centered Life!
Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. And trust in me” John 14:1
God-centered people are not self-centered. God-centered people pay less attention to the applause of this world, because their motivation is the anticipation of hearing the words “Well done!” when this life is over (see Matthew 25:21,23). Their focus is on becoming more like Jesus rather than acquiring fame and fortune for themselves. A. W. Tozer wrote that “the goal of every Christian should be to live in a state of unbroken worship,” and the God-centered (or Christ-centered) person finds this a delightful goal.
How many of you have ever moved on? How did you feel when you moved? There’s a lot of work involved in moving. First, you have to get boxes. Then you take all of the stuff out of your room(traditions) and put it into the boxes. Then you notice some of the stuff, family pictures especially, loving memories of family matriarch’s and patriarchs. They were the ones who wrapped themselves into family “sweet chocolates” confidence building, ideas about uniting us, and devotions of get-togethers, as I remember. They expanded my mind with wisdom and encouraged me to this day. They were the ones who cared? Now it has been painted upon! Does that make you grasp at being more “prayerful” for its homecoming?
You see those Family devotional reunions, “from my perspective” are based off of the blessing of James 1:25: “Whoever [church family included!] looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.” Find compelling meaning to “Love On” maybe with action!
Then a dawning,” I am aging/growing old in my ways” now who’s the “Patriarch” dealing with change now! Is that you also? As you reflex,” having to mark the boxes. And soon a huge truck pulls up in front of the place of worship. Some strange men walk in and begin moving your boxes out. And you wonder if you’ll ever see or be aware of those emotional pictures again as we deal with the transformation of a hurtful experience.”
How do we keep unkind experiences from moving their destruction into our souls? For me I look at the book of wisdom from the Bible “guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23). We guard our hearts by carefully choosing our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and actions. Guard your heart by refusing to dwell on what happened, refusing to focus on the people who hurt you, and refusing to belabor the weaknesses of the church. Giving up bitterness takes humility, but “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34).
When the truck is loaded, you look around your old room of ways. And it’s empty. It’s sad. But the saddest part is when your ‘everyone’ say goodbye to you or even they say to you, “I did not think you were like that” judging you with out discernment. What other times have you felt sad? My spiritual responds are in regards to God’s answer to a prayer. You see expect the unexpected. Most of the greatest gifts and deepest joys that God gives us come wrapped in painful change boxes.
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it”. Hebrew 12:11
When you feel sad about parting ways with that family unit of change, what do you do? Jesus also felt sad. Jesus knew he would be leaving his friends when he said in John 14:1 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. And trust in me.” Again, the best thing to do is to talk to Jesus about your sadness. Then tell others how you feel. There’s nothing wrong with feeling sad. The thrust of this reflection from Ecclesiastes on growing old about modification, meaning in life, is fulfilled in our God-given purpose, and our purpose is only fulfilled when we take advantage of our God-given portion in Christ, God’s promised Savior.
You see before I “moved on” I thought the fleshly family was the most important building block to human society, and as such, it should be nurtured and protected, how wrong I was. But the most important thing is the new creation that God is making in Christ, which is comprised of a spiritual family, the Church, made up of all people who call upon the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. This is a family drawn "from every nation, tribe, people and language" (Revelation 7:9) and the defining characteristic of this spiritual family is love for one another: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:34-35).
You see the only casualty of war , for me, is that caring agape Love based on the parable of the Sheep and Goats, In which God’s people will love others. Good works will result from our relationship to the Shepherd. Followers of Christ will treat others with kindness, serving them as if they were serving Christ Himself. The unregenerate live in the opposite manner. While “goats” can indeed perform acts of kindness and charity, their hearts are not right with God, and their actions are not for the right purpose – to honor and worship God.
So, the next time you refocus is on “moving on”, or saying goodbye to someone, the church or your mood is sad, tell God about it. Talk to a friend or someone in your family. Don’t blame God for how His children behave. Don’t abandon the church, either. There are many more dedicated, grace-filled, loving, and forgiving people than not in most churches. Seek them out. Spend time with them find another ministry within that body to support with your gifts. Then remember what Jesus says to trust in him when you feel sad. We move from earthly centered to God-centered by having a real encounter with the Holy Spirit, who transforms and renews our minds (Romans 12:2). When we realize that nothing else matters and we are willing to let go of whatever is necessary to have more of Him, we are on the way to living in joyful abandon to the things of God.
Remember, the church is God’s idea, and He protects it faithfully even though He is sometimes pained by its behavior (see Revelation 2-3).
God Bless You and This Ministry!
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