Sometimes that sweet steeple can have some ugly underneath it. I think it’s safe to say it out loud. I don’t know too many who haven’t been disappointed by something ugly that has happened in church.
There will be disappointments within the walls or under the steeples of our churches, but we are witnesses to a watching world in how we respond to those disappointments.
When I say church, I mean the place where we meet on Sundays, not the world-wide church, the body of Christ made up of every believer.
I’ve experienced the two extremes of church life.
Total loss, heartache, hate and, dare I say, evil.
and…
Total fullness, hearts healing, love and righteousness.
I have never before these last two years seen Satan so at work and, at the same time, Jesus so at work.
The church institution experience can be one in which we experience our greatest heartache and our greatest joy and healing.
I’m so thankful to the Lord for surrounding my family with people who love the Lord and long to love each other. As one who has experienced such extremes, I have a renewed sense of the importance of our individual heart attitudes and actions as we build church communities. These things determine so much in the grand scheme of what God is doing. They determine what the outside world sees as they look at believers and they impact fellow believers’ walks with the Lord, their faith and their experience of joy and peace as they live life with other believers.
John 13:35- “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If we all of the sudden had the power to see inside each other’s hearts and minds, would we be able to call each other followers of Christ based on the love we have for others in the church?
My church is working through the book of 1 Peter. This has me thinking a lot about the church. The world-wide church and the smaller church community under the steeple or inside the walls. Our senior pastor recently said some things that have me thinking about our love for one another.
“We have been loved to become the best lovers. This is both a purpose and product of our salvation.”
Am I loving well?
1 Peter 1:22-23 – “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;”
Loving each other earnestly. That can be hard. We’re different. Last week I wrote about our truest identity as living stones.
1 Peter 2:4-5 – “As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
Stones are surrounded by each other as they are being built up into a house.
And we stones aren’t unfeeling if we are truly living stones among each other. While we experience the beauty of a world-wide spiritual house being built, giving and receiving the wonderful blessings of being in community, we’re also feeling our rough edges, scraping each other and striving to accept each other’s differences. The life of a Christian often plays out among other believers in a church where we experience true togetherness with each other and also have other stones in our midst that may not be living. Those who have not yet truly submitted their lives to Christ. Not only do we have the natural challenges of loving other Christians well, but we also do this in the midst of others who may not be submitting fully to this call to love the Lord and each other.
Our attempt to love each other must be, as the word says, earnest. Unfortunately, our approach to church and the relationships there are sometimes not earnest. We want it to be easy and if it isn’t, things can get ugly or we can just give up. That may mean leaving the church or it may mean going but not really being fully present.
More wisdom from the sermon on 1 Peter…
“This call to love earnestly uses the same word for earnestly as the one used to describe Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane the night his sweat dropped like blood.”
Am I loving my brothers and sisters in earnest? I wonder what it would look like if I loved earnestly to the same degree Jesus prayed the night he was betrayed…knowing what was to happen to him.
And more…
“Loving = earnest warmth directed by the Word of God.”
I want my care for the church to be directed by the Word of God…not my emotions, feelings, personal preferences and motivations.
It is on my heart to ask myself and my fellow Christians to consider our own earnest attempts in our individual church communities to love well.
Am I currently one to promote healing and love at church? Or am I a part of any level of divisiveness.
Do I support the leaders in my church when they make unpopular but biblical decisions?
Am I currently one who is moving away from certain brothers and sisters or earnestly loving them?
Am I currently one who is gossiping and slandering or one who is entrusting my situation and others’ situations to the Lord? How have I gone along with gossip or slandering by listening?
Do I currently truly appreciate each person and the way God has uniquely made them?
Am I currently assuming the best of my brothers and sisters?
Do I currently long in my heart for Christ’s power and control over my church or…do I long to have a piece of that?
A prayer for us from Jesus himself:
John 17:20-23- “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.“
Ending in grace…this last line in bold. If you are in Christ, do you grasp fully that the Father loves you to the same degree He loves Jesus? I pray that this empowers us to love Him with all of our heart mind, soul and strength and others as ourselves.
Linking up with these inspiring ladies this week:
Such a great word Amy. And great questions for us to ponder and reflect.
Hi Wanda! I hope you’re well…can’t wait to see a post from you when you’re ready! There were a lot of questions in his post weren’t there? Hopefully not too many! Thanks for visiting!
I’ve never personally been hurt by any of my churches but I speak to many people who have endured great pain from church. I know it’s out there and it breaks my heart for people. I’m not saying any of my churches were perfect. Or course not but they were healthy spiritual bodies where community was being fleshed out. We were designed by God for Body life and there’s a void in our lives when we don’t experience it in a healthy, Christ-centered way.
I agree…and nothing can replace that void when it is missing! And I should clarify– I’ll go back to see if I need to change words but–I don’t necessarily mean the church itself (meaning the government) of a church is necessarily always to blame but that just a hurtful relationship or some hurtful relationships can impact a person’s experience at church. Writing this has impressed upon me even more how each one of us is so vital to how others experience church. I’m so glad you’ve never had anything negative happen in your churches! That is how it should be! Thanks for visiting!
I really could relate to this since we have had similar experiences.
I hope that your similar experience includes ending up in a loving community! If not—keep searching! Thanks for visiting!
Hi, there! I’m stopping by from the Homemaking Party. Great connection between living stones and how stones are used to create a building! I can identify with that analogy, and the rough edges. I had a reminder just this week of how quick I can be to mis-judge a person or a situation instead of simply loving like I am called to do. Thanks for sharing!
Jen 🙂
Hi Jen…thanks for stopping by and sharing. Yeah–I think we are all capable of some of these issues in the church. The challenge is to be aware…pray…and turn once again toward Christ. Blessings to you as you do so!
Amy, thanks for the encouragement today!
Visiting from #tellhisstory. Have a great day, Kim Stewart
http://kimstewartinspired.com
**p.s. be sure to join us at Suzie Eller’s #livefreeThursday linkup too.
Hi Kim–Thank you for visiting and for the info on the link-up. I’ll definitely check it out!
Church is a place of love and community. We are the Bride of Christ. I like your discussion of loving earnestly. We need to love our fellow church members with the same passion Christ exhibited in the Garden. We need to take self out and put in God’s will. Thank you for sharing.
I like that…take self out. That is indeed what we need to do…and long for God’s glory vs. our own. Thanks Mary!!! God bless…
“I want my care for the church to be directed by the Word of God…not my emotions, feelings, personal preferences and motivations.” Powerful truth. I’ve experienced church hurt and it can be so easy to grow bitter and angry – its very dissapointing when you see those who claim the heart of Christ inflicting pain. But the church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints, right? God has shown me that people don’t belong on pedestals – they will fall every time. We really do have to focus our hearts on God and the works He wants to do in us – even if that means taking our focus off of the people around us – taking a step back and making church a place to meet Him alone. Thank you for sharing your truth – it really spoke to me. Your neighbor at #tellhisstory.
So true, Tiffany…we shouldn’t put anyone on a pedestal…only Christ. And though I agree that the church is a hospital for sinners, I do think we should long for and also expect to see the saint part. We are called saints and new creations in the NT — it is our new identity. I long for that sweet part too. But to hold it loosely is something I need to do for sure! I hope I’m moving toward that more…holding it loosely and not putting any person on a pedestal. Thanks for stopping by!
What a profound perspective, Amy! I just love this… That we are living stones, created in fellowship with one another to BUILD each other up. Thanks for sharing this!
Sharita-thank you for visiting! So thankful for your passion for building others up!
Yes! I love the idea of the stones building each other up. Thank you for brining up this important matter of love in the church. I cheer on your heart, your honesty and your bravery in speaking this. Thank you for joining the #RaRalinkup; I am touched by your words.
Thanks for visiting and being a great cheerleader! I love where God has placed you in his spiritual house!
An inspiring & convicting reminder! So glad I stopped in from the blog link-up to read this. Thanks for sharing. Blessings!
Hi Renee–thank you for stopping by and encouraging me!
Submission…Earnestly loving…Directed by God…Love one another…Amy, the truth speaks volumes. Grateful for the God we serve and for His forgiveness when I do not obediently walk these stones so that I can love the living stones.
Caring through Christ, ~ linda
I’ve been pondering this so much this week and it leaves me so thankful for that forgiveness too! Thanks for stopping by, Linda!
Stopping by from Counting My Blessings- thanks for this great reminder, Amy. Our churches are a “consumer culture” much of the time, with many looking for what they can receive rather than what they can give (myself included sometimes!) I’ve just come home from a trip to Hyderabad in India, where the church is growing and thriving and beautiful. We had lots to learn from our brothers and sisters, mostly Hindu converts, who truly treat their church as family. So much love, generosity, on-fire faith, and joy… sigh. Church as it should be. As God intended. And not just in India. Thanks again for your words- Blessings to you!
Thanks for stopping by from the link-up. I enjoyed reading your first report on your trip to India. I can only imagine what that must have been like to visit churches in India! May we be blessed to experience more and more of that love as it should be. God bless!
Amy
Great comparison – love the living stones. And this statement: how we respond to those disappointments.
Isn’t it always how we respond? Do we slash out in anger, or breathe and find peace? Following you from Weekend Brew.
Blessings,
Janis
Hi Janis–You’re right—it really is always “how we respond”. We have such an impact in our churches…just in how we respond. God bless you and thanks for your lovely link-up!