CHURCH IS NOT SYMBOLIC GOODNESS

Church is surely one of the most misunderstood entities of all time.  It is distorted and maligned from those outside...and those inside as well.  What is it really?  Why is it misinterpreted, misread, and misjudged...all too easily?

I could offer only a hint of a reason.  The true intended depth of church has been transformed into a shallow and hollow symbol of light-hearted goodness.  The masses assume those who go to church are either good or trying to be good.  Yet, these onlookers aren't buying it.  Well they shouldn't.

The church is anything but a symbol of minding-your-own-business and being-good. No, the church is the continuation of the resurrected body of Christ.  It is to be on the go.  Such a statement right there has suffered the hiccups because church-building-concepts have demolished the "Go" only to reconstruct a fake system which calls out "Come and sit awhile."

The church is the continuation of Jesus.  We are to be deep into at least two things. Fighting off the Pharisaic legalists who make church only about law-keeping while, simultaneously, reaching to the underdogs who need to be rescued from a harsh world of political scheming.

The Cross is our logo.  So?  So be alert as to how smoothly this icon is reduced from sacrificial living for others including our enemies to simply ornate jewelry and church building decor.  The Cross calls for a life surrendered to the extent we will die even for those who wish to wreck and harm our personal lives.

Church is not symbolic goodness.  It is not a gathering of voters who cast emotional ballots as to how the sermon and music went on a given Sunday morning.  The church is comprised of plain people who have absorbed a divine love.  These, in turn, are driven to see that the poor and the naked and the prisoners and the immigrants are warmed, fed, encouraged, and loved.

Church is not symbolic goodness.  It is much deeper.  If we leaders of churches do not redirect our real mission, our young will continually drift into the mocking world.  For these, churches are mere symbols of lethargy and self-indulgence.  When we hit life in the stride of Jesus our families, too, will sense a common purpose which imitates our Savior in his fullest glory.

Here's the thing that puts us in cohesion with Jesus and his walk upon earth.  He did not make contributions to community betterment.  He, rather, made the greatest of sacrifices.  He touched the sinners.  Jesus did not come to earth to find a job he could do in the kingdom that would keep him active in symbolic church.  No.  He waded into the lives of rejects and engaged them.

Symbolic church will always be symbolic until we determine that we were sinners lost and now are found.  And, that others await.  The latter are not waiting for a symbolic church program.  These are watching for someone who cares to get down in the ditch to help them out.

Do we have a religion that has taught us to be a good and better people?  Or, do we have a faith with eyes, arms, and legs to place us into the struggling regimen of touching the hurting and the forgotten?

We want to increase in seeing those in need and then take immediate and compassionate action.  This....would be the authentic church; not a symbolic one.