I'm learning day by day. With incredible gratitude to the Spirit of Bible revelation, I am still being developed by His riches and His power and His glory. The more I learn, the more nothing I discover myself to be. This no longer discourages me. God is good.
I'm noticing with great appreciation those before us and among us who have suffered in the church. I speak of preachers and elder-teachers and any others who have taken their calling to include the war of the cross.
Our brotherhood isn't easy. As a matter of fact it is brutal to all who are willing to disobey what I call the loud voices of Church of Christ standardization.
No longer do I speak from the impulsiveness of my earlier years. I would hope my once youthful brashness has subsided considerably. Such was offensive; rightfully so. However, the dare to go against some in the church was of necessity and will continue to be so.
The church in general does baptism and moderate believing. Extremes are rejected except in the matters of rigidity where safety, shelter, and the old paths are sought.
Thus, the perpetual need for believers big enough, strong enough, and committed enough to balk at the tides of tradition which never came from God. Admittedly, we have our fair share.
Baptism we stress. Compassion in theory is a winner. Yet, the cross comes in the peculiar zone of persecution. Few there are who dare buck the patternistic system of the 40s and 50s. I no longer speak from faulty brashness; but from firm biblical perspective. Life in the church basically avoids the cross because that would mean persecution.
Many are willing to persecute while the most are simply unaware of such action. Few there are that voluntarily suffer the fretful and mean-spirited anger of those so willing to slander and slay a brother or sister.
The path to church mediocrity is paved with cowardly men-pleasers. An irrational temper isn't what is needed. Courageous, bold, and brave believers are.
To take up the cross and follow is to walk into a hornets nest of biting and beating. The Word is clear about this while Jesus' actual walk pictures it. Again, the church-at-large is clueless to such behavior. Rejection is a monster that causes some to wither and others to quit.
Life in the church with no cross can be masked with abundant activity. However, each individual is called to take up the cross and begin to follow. We are to believe in such a way that a few in society (including the religious among us) will get significantly testy. This means clear rejection; a matter most avoid with the consequences of losing our life in order to spare it.
There are a great many heroes and heroettes among us; past and present. Thank you for leading out when you knew you would take several hits. Thank you for crying over us when you wondered if we would eventually catch on.
The church is a beautiful entity. The church faces many fronts of contest; so many that truly matter. I find this one area to be where our soldiers first drop their Bibles and run. We would rather have peace among ourselves than be estranged from the body by developing a belief system found to be closer to Jesus than that of the looking-over-our-shoulder-at-what-the-brotherhood-thinks church.
May we grow...together...to be a church with a living cross. For surely this is included in His call.
No comments:
Post a Comment