I work with someone that goes to a small town church north east of where I live. I have seen the building but, besides my coworker, I have never met one single solitary person that attends worship service with him, so far as I am aware. I do not even begin to want to pass judgment on them, or anyone else. It was a statement that he made to me that got me thinking. In a tone that told that he was happy about this fact, “Our church has been around since 1885.” That is quite an accomplishment, especially as easy as it is to fall from grace these days.
To understand me, you have to understand that I examine stuff people say sometimes way more than I should. However, when he said this statement to me, it got me thinking. Is it an enormous accomplishment for your church just to exist for 129 years? As previously mentioned, that’s pretty good in our current society. There is a saying that has so much truth to it: “So goes the home, so goes the church.” What that means is that, whatever is happening in each individual member’s home, eventually, it will spill over into the church body.
That raises an interesting question in my mind. Are we content with just surviving? Is just barely getting the mortgage/rent paid every month sufficient? Is barely scraping by in this blessed existence what it is all for? Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge proponent of contentment. Be thankful for what you have. Some have much less than you do, but let’s be honest. You’ve gotten to a certain place in life where you’re better off than you were, but you could be better. You and your spouse don’t fight as much as you used to, but you never have any meaningful dialogue. To put it more simply, you aren’t drowning anymore, but your head is just above the water. Know what I mean?
I know plenty about that. I have been there. In some areas of my life I’m still there. I cannot tell you how many promises that we can find in Scripture about God wanting to bless our socks off. Malachi 3 talks about a blessing so large that your barns cannot contain all of it. It’s not only talking about money. That’s a cool part of it, but it is not all of it. Just think about something that is good that can be increased. Peace, Joy, Happiness, trust, faith, gentleness, self control, generosity, etc. can be increased to you more that you can possibly imagine. All it takes is the refusal to settle for mediocrity and obeying the direction from our Heavenly Daddy! (Who’s your Daddy?)
Take Leviticus for instance. We look at that book as instructions on how to kill things. There are all sorts of instructions on how to choose, cut up, and burn a cow. However, we usually miss the part where it gives instructions for everyday living. Example: Do not have intimate relations with close family members, i.e. your mother. If your bull kills your neighbor’s dog, replace the dog. Do not meddle/play with your own poop! If there is mold growing on a garment that is making people sick, BURN IT! Isn’t it amazing how simple solutions are contained in Scripture?
Now let’s look at the promises of prosperity and abundance. Exodus 3:8 “So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey…” Does that sound like just surviving? The land itself is spacious enough for a million people and milk and honey flow like rivers. COOL! Psalm 128:2 “You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed and it shall be well with you. “ Proverbs 28:25 “A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched”. Notice that it is only through the Lord that we are made wealthy stewards. Without Him, none of this other crap matters. If you have found yourself settled into the land of “Just Enough”, GET OUT!!! Jesus wants to lead you into the good and spacious land.
Please keep in mind that it is not for us that He does all of this. He sets us free from whatever it may be that we have found ourselves slave to, but He does it so that we can be a Kingdom of Priests for Him. We need to be the ones to show the rest of the world about His grace and goodness. That church that has been around for 129 years may be filled with wonderful people that love Jesus with all their heart and are on their way to Heaven when they die. The problem is that there is now growth beyond the building that was built over a century ago. When we begin to live life God’s way (praying for people, giving away more than just our tithe, living so that people get a good example of Jesus, etc.) we will begin to thrive on a personal level. When the individual members of the church begin to corporately thrive on that personal level, the Church that Jesus built will see true revival. People will be healed in the streets, legs will grow back, blind eyes will be opened, and crippled people will get up with no assistance. Jesus built a supernatural Church, isn’t it about time we started acting like it?
Grace and Peace be with you ALWAYS!!!
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