Church-shmurch

Ok, so I'm on a rant again.  I'm noticing a pattern here...

I had an encounter with one of the rudest people I have met since we moved to Louisiana.  Guess where? A doctor's office?  Close, but no.  Walmart?  Good guess, but that was a few weeks ago.  If the title hasn't already given it away, at a church...building.  She was the church (building) secretary.  I have so many issues with this already I don't even know where to start.

In case you don't already know my stance on this, the church is not a building.  The building is where the church comes to meet.  It's just a meeting area, yet we treat it like the moment we step foot inside we must be solemn, maybe even pious.  It's a conference room, people.  The church is not even a family, with crazy uncles who talk to themselves, and aunts we only see once a year, and parents we try to avoid certain conversations with (although you may find all of them in the church).  The church is ONE BODY. One cohesive entity working toward one purpose.  At least that's what my Bible tells me.  Where is this?  Why don't I see it readily within the walls of the church building?  Why does this building feel less like entering into rest and safety with the precious bride of Christ and more like a spiritual DMV?

Let me share what I see that a body does and does not do.

A body does NOT ridicule, avoid, or cut off a part that is hurt or ugly.  It gives every bit of attention and energy to taking care of that part. It nurtures itself.

A body gets rid of FAT.  Fat, the part that sits there and contributes nothing, but keeps the rest of the body weighed down and keeps it from operating at its full potential.

A body fights infection, disease, blemish - those things that take attention away from the health of the whole.

A body does NOT have a secretary.  Corporations do, the untouchable upper crust do, not bodies.

We are a body and our head is CHRIST.  The head - the part that controls everything else, the part that judges the actions of the body to be right/wrong, good/bad, etc.

THE PROBLEM is that no one sees the HEAD.  All they see the body as a representation of the what the head MUST be thinking.  See the issue here?  If we are not WALKING in Christ, how can we know what He is thinking?  How can we represent Him well?

I am tired of hearing about Jesus.  I love to be fed spiritual meat.  Don't get me wrong.  But every week I sit in a huge room with a bunch of people that I don't know, much less know if they are my brothers and sisters in Christ and we listen to stories about Jesus.  How is it impacting our lives?  Are we showing the Jesus we know so much about to those who are hurting, both inside and outside the walls of our building?  Maybe, if we can get past how loud the music is on Sunday morning, or if it fits into our schedule on Tuesday because that's not a church night, or if it doesn't require us to get dirty or interact with those who are.

Salvation is not personal.  Jesus came to die for you, yes.  Because Jesus did that you get to go to heaven, yes.  You are grateful and thankful, as well you should be.  But it doesn't stop THERE.  Jesus did not come solely so that YOU could make it into heaven and be with Him because well, you are such a cool person.  As Jen Hatmaker would say, Be blessed, Jesus.  Salvation begins with you and is infinitely bigger than YOU.  It doesn't stop there.  It can't...stop...there.  Jesus came to redeem you so that you could spread that to others. Jesus came to fulfill a plan so ridiculous no person could have invented it; Using you and me as the vehicles to spread His saving grace, so that by some miracle someone will look at us one day and say, "I want some of what you have.  I want to know about this Jesus."

As I fume over the eyes of the body that looked down at me in that building hallway, I count myself in this number.  I am guilty.  I am a self-consumed piece of a diseased body, wanting to look in the mirror all the time and admire what Jesus has done and what He is doing.  I am NOT the face of Jesus to my kids, my husband, the woman who cut me off in traffic.  And you can forget about the Muslim neighbor, the atheist at work, the homeless downtown, or the suffering across the globe.  I am the unmentionable parts that the "eyes" made me feel like.  And I long for change.  Come quickly Jesus.

I atrribute this burning desire to do and be and move to the Holy Spirit.  And Jen Hatmaker and David Platt.  If you haven't read "7: An experimental mutiny against excess", do it.  If you haven't read "Radical", do it.  You may not agree with them.  That's ok - at least you are thinking.  You may agree with everything and already be those blessed feet bringing the gospel.  Awesome!  I thank our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for you.  Then you may be like me...tired of the status quo.  Longing for Jesus and to be used by Him.  No longer satisfied to be the "fat" of the body.  Good for you.  Let's go...