Some Kind of Wonderful

The church both is and can be a wonderful thing.

The church is wonderful because God has made it so. It is all of his redeemed. It is his creation. Since God has done it, it can be nothing other than amazing. When looking at it this way, we see that it is God who is wonderful in and of himself. The church is only wonderful as a connection to God's wonderfulness (not really a word, but it conveys the meaning I'm looking for).

God's church also has the potential to be a wonderful thing. This is the living out part of being who we already are in Christ. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you've probably seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of church life. The potential for much good is there. So is the potential for much of the opposite.

What does it look like, then, when the church acts in a wonderful way?

Quite simply, the church is some kind of wonderful when we love the people around us as Jesus did. At first, that may sound cliche. However, it is anything but. It is a very profound and rare thing for people to actually live and act like Jesus toward others. Jesus Christ consistently gave of himself for the betterment of others. He looked to their good before his own. God in the flesh lived an essentially homeless existence for three years, constantly relieving the pain and suffering of others. He also taught life-changing truths. As a culmination, he sacrificed his own life in a horrendous manner so that we can know him.

The church, then, is most wonderful when we act like Christ. It's when we serve others instead of ourselves. We should not be surprised by this. Jesus told us that it is the servants who are great in his kingdom:

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

Let's all make a conscious decision to live out our part as Christ's church. It is not ultimately the form of the church that makes it wonderful (although this certainly matters). Rather, it is first our connection to Christ. Second, it is our servanthood to each other and to the world. When we live like Jesus, it is a rare and wonderful thing indeed.


(Credit for this post title goes here.)

Looking to be Great in the Kingdom?

Jesus made it clear that greatness in his kingdom equals servanthood:

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

This flies in the face of everything the world tells us. That shouldn't surprise us since our Lord's Kingdom is not of this world. The challenge to us as the church is to avoid the world's definition of greatness and instead to strive after that of Christ.

What does this look like in day-to-day living? I believe it means that we take opportunity to do for others and set examples for others. Instead of being concerned about status or authority, we simply try to help other people as they have need.

As I think back on my life, the greatest people I have known have been servants. Some of these folks have held positions of leadership in the church while others have not. Regardless, it was the service that I recall fondly. That's what made them great.

Changing Perspectives One Person at a Time

A couple of days ago I mentioned that Google Images shows 63 church buildings in a row when you type in the search word "church." Only at the 64th image do any people actually appear.

How can we change this thinking in our broader culture? I believe we do it one person at a time. How is this accomplished? It happens through loving, sacrificial acts of service. It occurs through meeting needs as we see them. It takes place through explaining that we love because God first loved us.

I realize that it is not our duty to change how our culture at large defines the church. However, if our service to others brings about the by-product of changed perspectives, then all the better. Wouldn't it be wonderful if people began thinking of photos like the one on the left to describe and define the church?

When We're Most Like Jesus

Mark 10:42-45, "And Jesus called them to him and said to them, 'You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

In these verses Jesus explicitly says that He came to earth "to serve."  He also says that in His kingdom servanthood equals greatness.

I'm struck by the fact that we're most like Jesus when we are serving others.  I'm obviously not referring to Christ's divinity, perfection, omnipotence, etc.  Rather, I'm talking about His attitude and actions while He was here on earth.  As we read through the gospels we see the incarnated Lord traveling from place to place doing for other people. The night before He died He washed His disciples' nasty, sweaty, dirty feet. The summit of Jesus' service came on the cross.

A Sign for All of Us

I was looking at various church-related signs on the internet when I came upon this one.  I like it because it applies to all Christians.  Once Jesus becomes our Lord and Savior we have direct access to God.  This makes us all priests.  Jesus expects His followers to live lives of servanthood, which is what being a deacon means.  So if you are a follower of Christ and see this sign, feel free to park next to it.

What Did Jesus Do on Thursday?

I'm still amazed that the God of the universe washed His disciples' feet.

Help in the Flood

It wasn't Noah's flood, but it was bad enough.

Yesterday morning when I arrived at the church facility, I found our secretary and one of our deacons sweeping water out of a wing of the church. Apparently one of the toilets overflowed during the night (only clean water leaked - thank God for that).

The church office, my office, and several of the Sunday School rooms all had an inch or two of water in them. This quickly led to much sweeping and drying. Later in the day it morphed into tearing up carpet and plugging in blowers and dehumidifiers.

The biggest problem for me personally was that I had to move my books out of my office. Books are heavy. They don't like to be moved. I had to quickly figure out where to move them and how to get them there. After just a few hours in the watery office, my books were beginning to warp.

I found a place to move the books, but I dreaded moving them myself. That's when help arrived. A nice lady in our church family offered to help. She lifted and moved as many of the books as I did. It wasn't easy work. Additionally, she recently had some severe back and neck problems. Now that I think of it, I probably should have declined her offer to help just because of her health!

Nonetheless, her help was wonderful. I thank God for people who are willing and cheerful servants. This lady made the long day much more bearable.

I love the church - and I'm not talking about a building. I love the people God puts in our lives who show us the love of Christ. Selfless servanthood is about as close to being Christlike as we can get here on earth.

When Service Gets in the Way of The Service

My plan for today was to get a lot of work done. I hoped to plan for tonight's prayer meeting and get a large part of my Sunday sermons completed.

Today has not gone according to plan. Several different folks have shown up needing something to eat from our church food pantry. One person in our church just needed to talk. Also, the phone has not stopped ringing with people needing different things. And it is not even noon yet.

Part of me is tempted to say, "I just can't get anything accomplished today." That is quite a sad perspective.

Our goal as followers of Jesus Christ should be to follow His example as closely as possible. He was the ultimate servant.

I can remember several places in scripture where Jesus fed people. I can remember many places in the bible where Jesus took time for people (especially those who society says are "down-and-out").

I can't remember places in scripture where Jesus planned a prayer meeting or prepared a sermon in advance.

I'm not suggesting that it is wrong to prepare for a service, but if we want to be like Jesus, we will certainly put service before the service.

Deacons Being Deacons

This past Sunday our church family was blessed to be led in our worship service by Simple Grace (the Hitch family musicians). After the service, the Hitches wanted to get back on the road to head home to Nebraska. One problem: they had a serious transmission fluid leak in their van. Since it was Sunday, it looked like they would have to wait until at least Monday to begin the long trip back to the Midwest. This would have been no big deal, but several of the Hitches are flying this coming Sunday to Haiti on a mission trip. They needed to get home as soon as possible.

In stepped one of our deacons. I'll omit his name; he wouldn't want me to post it. For the sake of this post, I'll refer to him as "John." He acted out being a deacon.

After the service I walked outside to look at the van situation. All I could see of John was the lower section of his legs. The rest of his body was under the van. He was trying to get a 5 foot long hose/pipe off the bottom of the vehicle. It did not look pleasant. In fact, it liked downright dirty.

After a while, I went home to rest a bit and prepare for the evening. John remained at the van. I'm told that after he removed the hose/pipe, he contacted someone he knew, and persuaded him to make a new one right then. John also even managed to get the hose/pipe maker to just charge his normal rate for the new part instead asking more because it was the weekend.

In all, John sacrificed about seven hours of his Sunday in order to help the Hitches get back on the road. After talking to him about it, I could tell that he was pleased to do it.

John was a deacon being a deacon. His example is a good one for all of us. May we all serve one another to build up the body of Christ. May we all be deacons to one another.