True discussion about the purpose of fasting. Honest analysis of our expectations for ourselves, our community, our Church, and the world. I don't think our group will stay strangers.
Prepared for God to transform my neighborhood because of this group.
After everyone had gone home, I was reflecting on a conversation with my friend Jenni this Sunday. We were driving back in a van full of tired youth pastors after a fulfilling and exhausting weekend of youth camp. Casting vision for the youth of Kitsap and Mason counties. Sharing heart about the passion and purpose of the church. Not just our church in Silverdale, but the Church. You know, the people who are loved by Jesus and proudly wear His name.
Everyone else in the van was asleep. The pass was rainy and gross. Somehow, we were talking about reasons people leave churches. Number one reason: selfishness.
Sure, sometimes we can spiritualize the selfishness. "I wasn't being fed at that church." "They just don't have enough of the ministries I need." "It wasn't my fit." Each of those reasons resolves around one person, and it's not Jesus...
It's part of our consumer culture. Not uniquely American, rather, a human characteristic. (Though, perhaps exacerbated by American consumer addiction.) In this consumer paradigm, the church is like a fast-food restaurant. Conveniently meeting my needs with a diverse menu. If I don't like what's being offered at one, I can literally cross the street and expect my needs to be met there. In fact, I can have breakfast at McDonald's, lunch at BK, and wrap up the evening with the good stuff at Red Lobster. Analogous to church "double-dippers" who worship with one community on Sunday morning, then participate with parachurches throughout the week for fellowship needs.
Church does not exist to introduce you to a group of friends to hang out with at the bar.
I need some time to pray for grace about this. My life still sports the scars of "church hoppers." I need to spend time with the Savior, making sure that Truth is not jaded by pain or bitterness.
But, here's the thing: Christ does not date the Church. No, He died for her. He washed her with His blood. He purchased her forgiveness. It's true. It's there in Ephesians 5.
Why do Christians date churches? Why do we consider the menu of programs available before committing to a body of believers? The church is not a fast food chain. (There's a stat in 58:Fast Living that compares the global prevalence of fastfood giant McDonalds to the prevalence of the Church. Spoiler alert: the Church wins!)
Here's why.
The Church is a hospital. It exists for the broken. It functions as the tangible extension of Christ to the hurting, mangled, cast out world. The Church brings dead people back to life. The Church seeks out the lonely, the rejected, the ones the world has given up on.
Here's a glimpse of my judgmental heart. A few weeks ago, I went to visit my sister in Seattle. We drove with our mom to a Jack-in-the-box parking lot across from a farmer's market. My sister wanted a coke, so we walked in the restaurant to buy a drink. The whole place smelled like urine. There were multiple homeless men camped out inside the store, including a large man passed out in his motorized wheel chair, right next to the counter. I turned to my mom and sister and said, "We can't order food here. We need to go outside." That's part of my expectation for a fast food restaurant: free of broken, undesirable people. I wonder if this same mindset bleeds into our churches...
In a hospital, the smell of urine is replaced by the smell of antiseptic. The man passed out in the wheelchair is met with sympathy rather than cynicism. Those waiting in the lobby hold just as much hurt. The expectation is for a hospital to gather and repair the broken.
How do I fashion my life, then, as a part of Christ's bride? If I subscribe to the fast-food paradigm, then I put on my outdated uniform, wash my hands and secure my hairnet. I try to keep the counters clean and say the right words to make the customer always feel they are right. I change the radio station if a customer complains. I don't tell them how many calories are in the "fried chicken salad" that they order, on a diet. I present the best face, always, because I don't want to lose a customer. What a sad way to pastor. What a misguided identity for Christ's holy, rescued bride.
But if I see the Church as a place for broken people to be restored, my life has new purpose. Each day, I prepare by reviewing charts and talking to other physicians. I tell patients and families the truth, even when it is painful, knowing that healing is worth it. I turn away no one. I guard, defend, and speak up for those who cannot protect themselves. This is the power of the Gospel. This is the team I want to be on.
I've spent too much of my life with low expectations of the Church. Those who follow the King know how great the battle will be. Those who claim His name believe the victory will be sweet.
if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.--Isaiah 58:10 ESV
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