How are believers handling their wounded?

I've always believed in living my life with complete candor. When you take me, you get me. You get me with strengths and weaknesses. You get me with success and failures. You get me on the good days and the bad. Unfortunately, my candor has "come back to bite me" many times. God is teaching and has taught me much about candor with discretion. :)

I have decided, however, to continue to live an authentic, open life. One of the reasons the church is failing and people are looking elsewhere for their hope is that the church has ceased becoming a place where the wounded can be. Somehow we assume that because Christ comes in, we cease to be wounded. Or maybe after a few years of doing all the right things, people should no longer be wounded. I challenge you, you may not think you live this way, but it is a VERY easy trap to fall into.

Are our churches a place where the WOUNDED meet? Are they places where the wounded find sanctuary? Where we all find the rest, the hope that IS CHRIST. The recognition exists that while we live in this world, life is messy.

As a body, we MUST get past the nice clothes, the makeup, the combed hair, and the smiles and we must become authentic believers DIGGING into each others' lives. Helping, aiding.

Our pastor said today, are we people who shoot the weak? who harm the wounded? Are we more content to feed with the ninety and nine than to go after the one? Sometimes, that "one" is among us. But we'd rather stay in our comfortable circle of friends than branch out to the wounded one. That wounded one may be hiding behind a Bible, the correct theology, neatly combed hair.

Being on the receiving end of "harming the wounded," I also want to be sure that I'm not a wounder. We so easily become self-righteous instead of resting  ALL our righteousness in Christ.  I do it, and I'm sure we all do at times.

I pray this is not an offensive post, but a post that makes us ALL think every day. What type of body are we being?

Advancing God's Kingdom

So today I went into worship feeling fairly despairing of myself. I have been very sick this week. And sickness always brings with it depression for me. 

Oh how thankful I am to worship God in a church that is understanding of frail sinful humanness. The sermon was on advancing God's Kingdom, and the text was the Parable of the Ten Minas in Luke 10. The Pastor focused a good amount of the sermon on the servants who received the minas, and the juxtaposition of the 2 who did something with their minas, and the one who did not. The nobleman gave them their minas, and sent them to do their business. He did not tell them what business to engage in, but rather to use their minas in whatever business they did. They engaged in business of their choosing, and they chose to advance the kingdom right where they were in their lives. I LOVED what the pastor pointed out next. God works to sanctify our desires by using the ways he has already hardwired us. There was no censure to the man only producing five versus the man producing 10. Furthermore, they probably went out and did their business completely different from one another.  We come to the servant who hid his mina. The nobleman wasn't upset that he didn't produce even one mina, but that he hid it away because of a false view of the nobleman. Even putting it in the bank to gain interest would have been more desirable. God wants to use our uniqueness right where we ARE to advance His kingdom. The pastor was careful to point out that He doesn't expect the same productiveness out of all His children. Not everyone has the same makeup. That's what makes the body of Christ so unique. Everyone is completely different.

That was very comforting to me. I live with health issues. I often feel VERY useless. I want to be out producing like many other godly believers I see around me. I often find myself comparing myself to others. In fact, yesterday, I was really frustrated with God for making me the way I am.

I was so rebuked this morning. God didn't make me sick and then struggling and then expect me to go out and produce what others who are well produce. But he does expect me to do what I can with what He's given me.

The fear that the servant who hid his mina was based on the view of a severe God. But our God is not severe. His steadfast love endures forever to His children. God is merciful and gracious and longs to help His children right where they are! He didn't make a mistake when He made me (or you!) He is not looking for productivity; He's looking for faithfulness.