Seeker

Find a Church To Rebuke – They Need You

/ Lori Lawe / Leave a comment

Is it possible to separate Christian culture from Kingdom living? And what exactly do I mean by those terms? Christian culture refers of course, to expected behavior among a group of Christian believers. Of course, this varies by country and epoch.

For example, putting lots of chickens into a cage, cutting off their beaks, and letting them defecate on each other for their entire caged lives so that we can have our chicken sandwich for $1.99 instead of $2.56 has at times, been my Christian culture. This is not Kingdom living.

Kingdom living says:

Good people are good to their animals; the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them. The Message

And so we dig a bit deeper into our pockets, to the place where it hurts, and place a few more coins on the counter for our lunch. OR heaven forbid, we eat a few more vegetables instead of another chicken sandwich because it’s cheaper than another piece of chicken, when we consider the true cost of paying for cage-free birds.

This is an example of an aspect of church culture (a common behavior) that I find frustrating.

There are a lot of unhealthy churches out there because there are a lot of unhealthy people out there. And people are what constitute the church. And I do understand that some church cultures are more unhealthy than others.

Some of the very wise, and my heart goes out to you dear friend, say, “That is not a healthy place” and do not return to church. I do not blame you. God does not blame you, I believe, though He is still pursuing you, dear friend.

Keep looking.

There are safe places to rest. But it might take a bit of seeking. And God will be healing you in the process of finding a safe group of Jesus-seeking people to belong to. Who you started out as won’t be the same person as who you end up as. That’s half the joy of the process, actually.

And there will still be annoying parts of church culture to correct no matter where you call home.

It’s the reason you’re there.

It’s the reason they need you.

Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. The Message

Been disgusted by Christian culture, or church culture lately? I have too. Jesus was, too. His harshest comments were for the leaders of His church. Ouch.

May our rears be sore from the spanking that Jesus gives us because it is better to have a sore rear than for our entire selves to be oozing puss from our unhealed diseases – the diseases of pride, love of money, prestige- that we are too proud to ask Jesus to heal.

However within the mess and the brokenness of Christian culture, in pockets of beauty, is the joy of Christ’s message, which is Kingdom living.

Thank you, Lord, that you love the mess that is your church, the mess that is me. Thank you that even here, in the charred remains of my heart, there lies an ember of love that you can fan into flame. Do your good work, dear Jesus. Help us to become Kingdom people, and not merely robots of Christian culture, we pray. Help those who have been rightly offended by Christian culture to find a home, in You, and with other broken people who are loved by You, we pray.

Celebrate Flabby Muscles!

/ Lori Lawe / 3 Comments

It’s hard seeing anything get older. My sweet little golden doodle, so full of excitement to be a part of the family fun only a few years ago, could barely raise his little head when I came close this morning. And he is not THAT old, but he is older. His energy dial is turned down, way down. Sometimes he still gets frenzied like a puppy, but less often. He is limited by his little, tired body. But maybe this is a strength, I realized this morning. I had a light bulb moment. Let me explain.

“Moses . . . did exactly what God commanded. Moses was eighty . . . when [he] spoke to Pharaoh.” The Message

Moses was eighty years old! That’s kind of old, to be stepping out in faith, starting the new thing that God is calling someone to. And God used Moses so powerfully that the world still reverberates with the impacts of His obedience. We all at least recognize his name, over 3,000 years later.

God used an old, decrepit guy to lead an entire people group out of slavery and into freedom. The full story can be read HERE.

The point? Maybe the age of Moses wasn’t a liability to him, but a strength, through God’s eyes. I mean, God is God, right? He could have told Moses to start his God journey when he was young, strong, and energetic. But instead, he chose the old guy sitting on the couch. The guy who can barely stand without a few groans.

Being that old, Moses would have known that he desperately needed God to accomplish the tasks that God was asking him to do. And there lies his strength. So maybe the handicaps that we think we have – age (too old or too young), physical hardships, emotional wounds – are exactly the strengths that God will use to shine His power through. Knowing that we need to lean on God is our super strength power.

And so my golden doodle was used by God. He taught me a lesson about strength in weakness, even as he lay there on the couch. His infirmities smacked me awake. Will I step out, in faith, as Moses did, holding desperately to the hand of Jesus? Will I turn my worldview upside down? It’s not the bodybuilders who are strong in God’s eyes, but those with metaphorical flabby muscles, knowing they need to lean on God.

“My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that . . . I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” The Message

Consider listening to the song, Where the Light Shines Through by Switchfoot, and notice the lyrics “. . . your scars shine like dark stars. Your wounds are where the light shines through.” Consider asking God, “What scars do I have that are not a hindrance, but a strength in Your eyes, as I join my life to Yours? “