Church leaders, we need to take an honest look at what we value about the church, ourselves, and other people. We are called to be and make disciples with the hope of building the Kingdom, not just make converts with the hope of building our churches and padding our stats. Jesus never gave us the keys to the church; He gave us the keys to the Kingdom (Mt.16). We need to daily submit ourselves to this vision. We need to repent and change the way we view success. We need to care more about what God says than we do what our peers or those who consume what we provide say. We cannot live and/or lead as if this is not a huge problem, temptation, and risk.
Christians, we were called to love God and our neighbor, not love our own agenda and serve our own appetites. Let’s stop blaming our pastors and/or our church, and let’s start living it ourselves. Many of our church leaders would rather do this anyway, but they’re afraid we won’t let them. We need to live a faith that serves something besides us. We need to fight individualism and consumerism. They serve as direct barriers to the Kingdom. We need to constantly be asking God, “What do you want me to give up next?” both personally and collectively.
This is the tension we must live in. And Jesus calls us to head into it with both guns blazing.
God invites us to test His ways. He challenges us to taste and see. Try something different than serving yourself. Open up your definition of church to mean a way of life, not just a location or a timeslot on Sunday. Expand your understanding of discipleship. Seek to be Good News to someone in need. Give yourself permission to model grace and goodness. Don’t reduce it to form or function. Prayerfully offer your heart and soul. Let this be your sacrifice.
And if you don’t know where to start, start with the poor. Start with those who have absolutely nothing to offer you back. This exemplifies the genius of Jesus’ teaching. Bottom line, Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He challenged us to serve the least.
Wherever this leads us, I believe that it will be in that place that we’ll experience God’s presence and provision. We’ll begin to understand and cherish the paradox. It’s there where we’ll finally find the Jesus we read about in Scripture. We’ll see Him at work (in us). We’ll wonder how we ever had any fellowship with Him anywhere else. And then, my friends…we’ll feel the power, the confidence, and the affirmation that we’ve been searching for.
