A Sad Irony
Sunday’s service was particularly meaningful to a large number of you. I appreciate the fact that you let me know that. It was for me as well. I’m grateful to Tim and Jody for uplifting music, to Keith and the Primetimers for an extraordinary job, to Noel Harris for a great call to prayer and to Daniel for a well-worded prayer. The service, and particularly the prayer, reminded us that it is possible to be both patriotic AND committed to the universal reality of the gospel. Some forms of Christian patriotism seem to belie the fact that God loves the Russian as much as the American. It is possible to be very grateful for a free nation AND to remember that, “In Christ God was reconciling the WORLD to himself.”
This is our text for this coming Sunday (July 9). I’ve been struck with the grand contrast between what Paul says (“God has given us the message of reconciliation”) and what is represented as Christianity today. Maybe I’m just watching the wrong stations, or reading the wrong papers, but it seems to me that much of what passes for Christian action focuses on dividing. Why do so many Christians want to take God’s job? I mean his job of separating the sheep and the goats.
When televangelists call for the death of foreign leaders, when national Christian ministries raise millions and millions based on fear-mongering, when Christian leaders focus all their attention on two moral issues and ignore what ALL rational people believe to be huge problems (poverty, racism, epidemic disease) – they have lost the prime mission of Christ’s followers. Our call is to reconcile. What many seem to have forgotten is that this is about a relationship not a religion. It’s about community not ideology. It’s about seeing everyone through God’s eyes, NOT getting everyone to see God through your eyes.
I’ll be saying more about this on Sunday. For now pray with me. Pray to be led away from the temptation of the religious (for God to like you, be like me!) and pray for the wisdom of Jesus (who asked us to pray for our enemies!).
Scott
This is our text for this coming Sunday (July 9). I’ve been struck with the grand contrast between what Paul says (“God has given us the message of reconciliation”) and what is represented as Christianity today. Maybe I’m just watching the wrong stations, or reading the wrong papers, but it seems to me that much of what passes for Christian action focuses on dividing. Why do so many Christians want to take God’s job? I mean his job of separating the sheep and the goats.
When televangelists call for the death of foreign leaders, when national Christian ministries raise millions and millions based on fear-mongering, when Christian leaders focus all their attention on two moral issues and ignore what ALL rational people believe to be huge problems (poverty, racism, epidemic disease) – they have lost the prime mission of Christ’s followers. Our call is to reconcile. What many seem to have forgotten is that this is about a relationship not a religion. It’s about community not ideology. It’s about seeing everyone through God’s eyes, NOT getting everyone to see God through your eyes.
I’ll be saying more about this on Sunday. For now pray with me. Pray to be led away from the temptation of the religious (for God to like you, be like me!) and pray for the wisdom of Jesus (who asked us to pray for our enemies!).
Scott