We seem to believe we have enough hassle. What we are looking for is peace on earth, goodwill toward men. Times of peace and goodwill are surely not negative nor are they illegal. They are necessary. Yet, a constant diet of this is hardly reality in the kingdom.
In our search for peace and quiet the truth and necessity of disruption have been shelved. Not meaning to sound radical here, I simply wish to draw about awareness that living in the church is not all a walk in the garden.
Recall those who couldn't get to Jesus so they lowered their crippled friend from homemade opening in the roof? And then there was the woman who elbowed her way through the mob just to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. The Canaanite woman of Matthew 15 would not cease to call out for benefit of her daughter. The disciples tried to hush her. So did Jesus.
But she rudely persisted.
Tommy Tenney wrote, The Bible says of the Kingdom of Heaven, "...the violent take it by force" (Mt. 11:12). For some reason that doesn't sound like us, does it? We've become so "churchified" that we have our own form of "political correctness" and polite etiquette. Since we don't want to be too radical, we line all the chairs up in nice rows and expect our services to conform to equally straight and regimented lines as well. We need to get so desperately hungry for Him that we literally forget our manners!
The kingdom of God is not as easy nor as squeaky clean as we might prefer. From my experience, the more we get into the ditches with the down and dirty the more we find the church getting to be what God destined it to be.
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