Duct Tape for Churches

They say that duct tape can fix anything. I wonder if there is a spiritual duct tape for churches? Next week, I have the privilege of preaching for a local church while the Pastor, a friend of mine, is on mission. In my preparation, yesterday, I was listening to a sermon on community by Matt Chandler at the Village Church. The front part of the sermon he was describing the kind of life we are called to live. He says this:

"Romans 6 has one of my favorite ways to put it. It says, 'In the same way you once chased what is sinful, now chase what is godly.' So think back on when you were a scoundrel. For me, I would stay up late for my sin of choice, I would rearrange my schedule for my sin of choice, I would forgo sleep for my sin of choice. There were things where I enjoyed this or I wanted to do that or I wanted to go here, and I wired my life in such a way. And this is saying, 'In the same way, you once chased sin, now with that same energy, with that same zeal, with those same sacrifices, chase what is righteous.' That’s profound if you let your mind think on it and chew on it and wrestle with it."

That is profound, but how do you make that happen? He concludes that without living in community, where someone has free access into your life - in which to speak truth in love, to walk fully this out is virtually impossible. That is what God designed the church to be. He is the one who empowers us through His indwelling Spirit, but the body works in us to love one another, encourage one another, and rebuke one another to make this happen in our daily life. I need my brothers and sisters in Christ and I am grateful to those of you who know me and love me enough to speak the truth in love into my life when it is not well reflecting Christ. The body is what God designed for accomplishing His will in your life and on this earth. If you are not connecting in community to the Body of Christ, you are missing out! You will not likely be all that God has created you to be.

It breaks my heart as people are leaving churches in droves, much in response to bickering and complaining within the walls over things that have absolutely no eternal significance. If we are going tell people about the love of Christ, we must first show the love of Christ to one another. This takes hard work... sometimes ALOT of hard work. But the payoff is out of this world. The church, when functioning as it intended, is irresistible to the world. We have got to keep it together! I believe there is a spiritual duct tape. It is called love. Love covers a multitude of love... love never fails... love preserves all things... It is when we live together in love that the world knows that our Christian faith is real.

Group Hug!

It has been a few days since I have been available to post anything. Jill's dad has been in the hospital in Houston having a tumor removed from his head, so we have been preoccupied with that, and will probably have periods of the same in the coming weeks. He is doing okay, but the recovery is longer than anticipated as other complications have arisen. We covet your prayers.

This morning I read something this morning that seems to fit what we have been dealing with. Facing tough times alone can make or break you. It was true with my mom before she died, and I believe it is what broke her spirit and led to her early death (she was 64). She had isolated herself from true community, and with the exception of her family, she had no one to walk with in her life. I read this quote by Larry Crabb in Andy Stanley's Creating Community (finished it this morning, good book!) "As our lungs require air, so our souls require what only what community provides. We were designed. . . to live in relationship. Without it we die. It's that simple." I don't know about you, but I have found that to be very true in my own life. I think how well we weathered the roughest times we have faced in our lives was determined almost exclusively by whether or not we were walking through the storm in community with others or not. True community is there to remind us of the Truth of who we are in Christ and God's character.

Our society does everything it can to counter development of true community. Oh it offers many counterfeits, for example, one of Starbucks core values is that they don't just sell incredible coffee, they sell community. They market to a real need in our world, and their profits show they know what they are talking about. The old sitcom Cheers, "where everybody knows your name" theme song cries out what people long for most.

One thing that takes place in a community of believers in Christ that doesn't happen in what the world offers is life change based on the truth of God's Word. I think that is what was experienced in the book of Acts where the church was first born. In chapter 2:42-47, it speaks of them having all things in common, and the result was all the things that we seek to accomplish in the life of the church: true worship, ministry and service, fellowship, discipleship and the end result was that God grew the church. It happened in the context of community, the greek word used to describe it is koinonia.

Unfortunately, we, even in our churches, often do to ourselves that which counters the opportunity to grow in community. We busy ourselves with things that really don't matter in the eternal scheme of things, and our society suffers as a result. Perhaps it is time to simplify our lives, throw off the junk that complicates our lives and pursue that which feeds our soul. Okay, so now it's time. . . everybody. . . group hug!