Just Thinking

Here is a wonderful teaching on the Day of Atonement.

May we all approach the throne of grace with confidence remembering what our Lord and Savior has done for us, individually and corporately.

If you go to just about any Christian bookstore, (is there really such a thing...can bookstores be redeemed?) you can find numbers of books written about the church. If you scroll back to my previous blogs, you will also note my ponderings of what the Church is. What is interesting about all of this Church talk is that just about everyone wants to reform the Church, and just about everyone has their own theory (or maybe it's just a hypothesis) on how to do such a thing...including me.

Well, here is a news flash. We cannot, nor will we ever reform the Church.

Why?

Because here is what the Church is not. The Church is not ours. We are not the head of the Church. Jesus is the head of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:22...). When we attempt to change or reform the Church, we take ownership of it. Maybe we (we, including me) should stop trying to reform the Church and allow God, through the Spirit to reform us. We can sit and debate what the Church is to do, who it is to be reaching, and how often it is to meet. However, debating is not worshipping...honoring...glorifying...edifying. We (again including me) should cease this debate about what the Church is and start living in submission to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. We should start living lives of obedience to our Master and Savior. In other words, it is time to shut up. It is time to live...serve...devote...commune...love. Let's start being the Church instead of talking about it...trying to get it right.

So, what is the Church? It is a bunch (community, family, gathering) of sinners, trying to hear the still, small whisper of the One whom it serves.

That's all.

You got my back?

Have you seen Napoleon Dynamite? Great movie!!!! As I was watching it (for the second time) last week, one scene particularly struck me. After Napoleon and his brother return from a karate class, Napoleon is at school talking to his new friend Pedro. As they are sitting in the bleachers during their P.E. class, Napoleon asks Pedro, "Do you got my back?" The first time I saw this scene, I just laughed; however, the second time something clicked. That question was what Napoleon desired deeply...it was what he needed most. He needed someone to get his back.

It is also what the Church needs today.

One of the problems that exists in the Church today that is birthed out of how we live our lives is that the desire for independence is growing. Independence essentially says that it is my responsibility to meet my needs...to serve myself. However, it seems to me that this is diametrically opposed to what God desires of the Church. He wants us to be dependent upon one another. Being dependent upon each other is about realizing that this being involved in community thing isn't just about my gifts and my desires. It is about using my gifts to serve someone else. It is about setting aside my desire for the benefit of the community. It is about laying aside myself for the benefit of someone else.

When we depend on one another, we realize that I have your back, and you have my back. Thus, the Church really is about getting one another's back.

This idea is exemplified by Jesus when He says, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Paul also tells us in Galatians 5:13 to serve one another in love.

When I have your back and you have my back, we look out for each other, serve each other, intercede for each other, love each other.

So, let all of us stop trying to get our own backs and start looking for someone else's back to get.