Get Out of the Way

Are we getting in the way of the Church?

If you study any type of church history, you will find that it is and has always been messy. People are involved. People are complicated. If people are complicated and people are what make up the church, then the church becomes a bit convoluted.

The (collective) Church gets a bad rap.  We are hypocrites, hateful, bigots, judgmental, close-minded, and closed off. With that description, I am surprised anyone enters the doors of any church. We seem surprised that the church is this way. However, this is nothing new. The Church has ebbed and flowed, good and bad, since the dawn of time. We have battled and argued and debated over what the Church should stand for and how the Church should behave for years. This is not a new concept.

So, what do we do?

There are a few things we as the people of the Church can recognize and change in order to bring healing: healing within the Church, healing for the people of the Church, and healing for those outside the church.

First, we need to recognize that we are overcommitted. We are so busy with life. Life is our idol and we are its worshippers. Busyness is an accolade. If we could get an award for busyness, we would all have a trophy case full. Because of our worship of busy, we lose sight of people. People become a secondary concern. Our schedules are number one and we could not imagine life outside of running on empty. No longer do our schedules permit time for people. Showing love and serving one another is pushed out and soccer practice and running through the drive-thru sneak in and take its place. Busyness is our god and we are bowing down.

Second, we are distracted. We are looking here, there, and everywhere our eyes fixed on agendas and talking points rather than Scripture and loving others. Our souls long for the latest controversies to hash out on Facebook instead of Jesus. We would rather argue and debate instead of meditating and rest. Our eyes are fixed on Fox News and CNN instead of the cross. The Enemy has stolen our gaze and we have fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

Last, when we aren’t worshipping busyness or agendas, we are idolizing theology. We are so stuck in the law of it all that we lose the love. We cannot have the Bible without Jesus. The soul longs for love, for warmth, for artistry and poetry yet we cement our feet in the box of our theology. This limits God and our capacity to live arms-wide-open. We are so hyper-focused on theology that no one can understand our language. The doors are closed to the church of our lives because we seem cold and closed off. Theology is our god and rightness is our weapon.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The Church was never meant to be the focus. Jesus was. We have transfixed our eyes on the wrong prize and we are missing it. The Church is to reflect Jesus. Who is He? What does He stand for? Arms wide open. A place to return. Love. Comfort. Redemption. Undeserved but overwhelming grace. Unconditional love. Acceptance. Return. Joy. We need to get back to this space. We need to get back to Jesus.

Just like Adam and Eve in the garden, we have fallen for the trap of deception. We have taken a bite of the apple and didn’t even realize we have been deceived. The Church has become something it was never meant to be. Yet, there is still hope. There is always hope.

We need to change our gaze. We must fix our eyes on Jesus and move from that space. He is our core, our focus, where we place our admiration. Not on busyness. Not on the latest debate. Not even on theology.

We can see that even the Pharisees, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, misplaced their focus. They were hyper-focused on law, rules, and theology, on the debate of their day that they sent the Savior to a brutal death. We are no different than them. However, we can learn from their example. We don’t have to live this way. The Church can be everything it was created to be: loving, kind, open.

The Church was created to enable people to meet Love, Compassion, Relief, Hope, Grace, Kindness, Life. A place to meet Jesus. Let’s get back to this. Let’s refocus our gaze.

Let’s get back to Jesus.

Love & Blessings,

Meg