Today I have been reflecting on a couple of verses, Ephesians
1:15-16. “For this reason, ever since I
heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people. I
have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”
I find it very easy for Christians to love God. This is the
purpose of Sunday morning church, to praise and honor the one true God. God
gave us Jesus to sacrifice for our sins. This is powerful. I am humbled every
Sunday that God would do this for a sinner like myself. This is why I have
faith, but the second half of this first sentence is extremely tough. We as
Christians can truly struggle with love all God’s people.
Let me take you back a little while…I grew up Catholic, I
have always loved Jesus and God, but not the church. By middle school I was
weary of Church. A large group of people lived one way Sunday morning and
another way the rest of the week. I was fed up with the church. Eventually I
started attending Youth for Christ (Campus Life) and my friend Jason got me to
go to church with him. I started
attending church infrequently.
I would go into church extremely timid. I didn’t know anyone
other then Jason and his family. I would attend high school Sunday School, but everyone
in the class for the most part looked like they didn’t want to be there. Nobody
went out of his or her way to talk to me and people just knew me as Jason’s
friend.
One time in particular a lady stopped Jason in the hallway
and praised him for his Bible knowledge and answering questions in Sunday
School. It was a three minute conversation, but at the end of it she looked up
and down at me and walked away. I felt like dirt. This lady didn’t know me but
shot daggers at me and treated me like I was scum. It took a while for me to
move past this. Eventually I started attending church more frequently. Yet I
felt like an outcast and felt out of place every Sunday. Eventually I moved
passed that and got baptized one Sunday. When I came down the stairs a group of people
were there to congratulate me. One of the first people was this same lady who
didn’t care for me and she said, “Welcome to the family!” It was the first time
she said something nice to me in over two years of attending church. Christians
then wonder why people don’t like them?
Christians can be some of the most hateful people. Westboro
Baptist doesn’t help, but we all can tell story of Christians that act like
awful people. I have had my moments where I haven’t acted Christian. Most
ministers leave a church because of less then 10 people in their congregation.
A minister could be liked by everyone in a 300 person congregation but still
feel useless because of less then five people. I once met a person that tried
singlehanded to run three ministers out of a church because he disagreed with
them. I have been apart of three hour reviews where not one thing positive was
said and left the meeting questioning my calling and if I am even meant to be a
minister.
Ask any waitress which day they hate work and the majority they
will tell you Sunday lunch because church people are lousy tippers and demand
the most attention. I once had a conversation with a Christian who told me they
wished a vulnerable looking guy would go to a downtown city protecting his
second amendment rights. When one of the black thugs tried to mug him, he would
use his second amendment rights and shoot him.
This way it would save taxpayers $40,000 a year.
We Christians are flawed people, but there is something we
can do about this hate, change. We don’t have to be known as hateful people. We
can choose to be loving and it starts within the church buildings. Love God and
love his people, it’s so easy and we mess it up. We need to be encouragers of
other believers. Whether we like them or not we are called to put or bitterness
aside and show love. Paul praised the Ephesians for this. When we get in a
praise mood rather then a bitter mood, it changes us. Stress and blood pressure
can go down and love can flow again. If we truly want to be a representative of
Christ in the world it starts with how we treat each other in a church
building. Who will you encourage today? Who have you been bitter with and what
will you do to change?
Have a great day.
