What do you long for, wish and hope for? What do you dream about and desire for your life? How about for the ones you love and the world at large? When you take the time to reflect on the things that are most important to you, what kinds of things occupy your mind? Is it to be beautiful or handsome, strong and courageous, bright and insightful, at peace with yourself and others, or perhaps financially prosperous and successful? Is it to see your children flourishing in every area of their lives and to see your marriage full of richness, love, romance and sweet friendship? To see the world at peace, where all people regardless of race, color, nationality, or social status are treating one another with honor, respect, and dignity? The list could well be endless.
My personal list includes things like being confident, courageous and at peace with who I am. I imagine being in great physical condition, about being wise and insightful. I daydream about being independently wealthy and able to give and spend money in any way I may choose. I also reflect and imagine what it would be like to be really close to God, to live my life in a manner that reflects one who knows and walks intimately with him. I also dream about owning a Victory motorcycle, looking cool in riding glasses and full leather, enjoying the open road.
What do these thoughts, dreams, and desires reveal about us? I believe most people entertain, even if only seldom, dreams and aspirations which reflect, though dimly, a glory we were originally intended for. In other words, much of what we deeply and inwardly long for arises from a very legitimate source, one that is directly connected with our original destiny, our original glory, if you will. Living in a world, however, where thousands of years of human history shout an opposite reality, hope tends to gets smothered and the glory veiled.
There’s an amazing verse in the Old Testament which prophetically speaks of something the coming Messiah, Jesus, would not do, while at the same time implicitly revealing what he would do. It is found in Isaiah 42:3 and it reads, “A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
Have you ever felt like a bruised reed or a smoldering wick….like life has turned you every which way just short of stomping you in the ground and putting your lights out? I have. What we have to learn not to confuse is God’s heart with everything else that works against the glory of which we were originally designed. In contrast to breaking, God’s heart is to mend. In contrast to snuffing out, God’s heart is to gently fan back into a flame. In other words, God’s heart is to restore – to restore things back to his original purpose and to their original glory. Growing in Christ is a process where our original glory is being restored, “from glory to glory”.
Listen to these words from Marianne Williamson, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
“Christ in you, the hope of glory”
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Doing and Becoming
Do you view your life more as a series of events to be a part of, destinations to arrive at, and tasks to be done, than as a journey of becoming a particular kind of person? Granted, life is full of things to do, places to go, tasks to accomplish, responsibilities to attend to. There really is no end to the "doing" part of life. But, who are you and who are you becoming? Does it really matter and why?
Observing contemporary American culture one gets the impression that accomplishing things and accumulating things far out weighs any concerns about the kind of people we are or may be in the process of becoming. Image, that outward view and perception others have of us, which is typically based on looks, talent, athletic ability, charisma, intellectual brilliance, or even the doing of "good" deeds, tends to rank very high as a core value of our culture. But all these accomplishments or natural attributes can be accomplished or possessed by people of very little character. Built-in social restraints may be able to reign in poor character for a season, but as we often witness in the public arena, who we really are eventually shows up in one way or another.
Up against this value of "image" which our culture, and honestly everyone of us, so carefully protects, stands the example and teaching of Jesus. He said such things as, "a bad tree cannot bear good fruit", and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". His emphasis was always on the the kind of person one is or is becoming, for he knew that it is out of the content of a person's character that flows the nature of a person's deeds. It's that simple. We produce what we are. A good tree produces good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit. The deeds of Jesus flow out of the person he is. How often we attempt to reproduce the deeds of Jesus while trying to short cut around the process of becoming the kind of person he is.
Being is all about process and not first of all about performance.
Observing contemporary American culture one gets the impression that accomplishing things and accumulating things far out weighs any concerns about the kind of people we are or may be in the process of becoming. Image, that outward view and perception others have of us, which is typically based on looks, talent, athletic ability, charisma, intellectual brilliance, or even the doing of "good" deeds, tends to rank very high as a core value of our culture. But all these accomplishments or natural attributes can be accomplished or possessed by people of very little character. Built-in social restraints may be able to reign in poor character for a season, but as we often witness in the public arena, who we really are eventually shows up in one way or another.
Up against this value of "image" which our culture, and honestly everyone of us, so carefully protects, stands the example and teaching of Jesus. He said such things as, "a bad tree cannot bear good fruit", and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks". His emphasis was always on the the kind of person one is or is becoming, for he knew that it is out of the content of a person's character that flows the nature of a person's deeds. It's that simple. We produce what we are. A good tree produces good fruit. A bad tree produces bad fruit. The deeds of Jesus flow out of the person he is. How often we attempt to reproduce the deeds of Jesus while trying to short cut around the process of becoming the kind of person he is.
Being is all about process and not first of all about performance.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Learning the Hard Way
Needless to say, we are in tough economic times. Even with the recent passing of over a 700 billion dollar "stimulus" package, the economic prospect for our nation still does not look good. Prognosticators of all kinds are predicting at best a small improvement to the economy over the next few years to an all out depression, potentially leading to revolution, at worst.
To be sure, we have gotten here by our own accord. Rampant mismanagement on the part of our leaders, as well as the creation of a spend and debt culture, have landed us in this predicament. A lot of people and families are hurting. In my own county, unemployment is at twelve percent. I happen to be part of that twelve percent.
But, as in everything, there is a lesson to be learned here. As money is tight, jobs are continuing to be lost, and the light at the end of the tunnel not yet in sight, a great many of us are having to reevaluate priorities and values. The list of things that are really important is beginning to be rewritten, rearranged, and shrink. The longer these tough time persist and the more difficult things become economically, it is my guess more things will find their way off that list, and the list of priorities go through even further rearrangement. Difficult times typically force us to reevaluate. This is a good thing.
I have been reassessing some things myself, particularly my own relationship with money. As a follower of Jesus and his Kingdom I have known, at least intellectually, there exists a difference between God's view of money and the view typically held by secular society. Jesus taught a great deal about money, what our relationship to it should be, and about our stewardship of it. What has dawned on me is that my practices regarding money and material things tends to simply reflect, in large part, the attitude and practices of the secular culture in which I live. Let me explain. Earlier I referred to how, as a nation, we have turned into a spend and debt culture. The practice of a great many Americans is, perhaps I should say has been, to spend what we earn, and to go into debt for what we want. The simple practices of frugality, saving, reigning in our wants, or at least postponing immediate gratification instead of going into debt, and having money on a regular basis to give to others in need, have not particularly characterized the average American consumer. Based on this plumb line I have not fared much better than the average American. I really believe that if I had been applying these practices more faithfully I would be in a much better place today financially.
What's really behind the consumer, spend now pay later, mentality and practice of our culture? Why is it we tend to spend the maximum of what we make and are so ready to go into debt for our wants? In all reality, it is a value system where money and the things that money can buy reign supreme. When things, more things and bigger things, and the drive to get the money that buys them, is a core value of our life in practice, we really do convict ourselves of serving the god of Money. Jesus put it bluntly, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money".
To a large extent, that same potential vitality, for the church in America, has been hijacked by an accommodation to the value system of our current culture. As followers of Jesus, perhaps we need to look at this current economic crisis as an opportunity to reorient ourselves to the value system of God's Kingdom. Let's reexamine our own attitudes and practices regarding money and establish the priority of God's Kingdom as the true priority of our life.
To be sure, we have gotten here by our own accord. Rampant mismanagement on the part of our leaders, as well as the creation of a spend and debt culture, have landed us in this predicament. A lot of people and families are hurting. In my own county, unemployment is at twelve percent. I happen to be part of that twelve percent.
But, as in everything, there is a lesson to be learned here. As money is tight, jobs are continuing to be lost, and the light at the end of the tunnel not yet in sight, a great many of us are having to reevaluate priorities and values. The list of things that are really important is beginning to be rewritten, rearranged, and shrink. The longer these tough time persist and the more difficult things become economically, it is my guess more things will find their way off that list, and the list of priorities go through even further rearrangement. Difficult times typically force us to reevaluate. This is a good thing.
I have been reassessing some things myself, particularly my own relationship with money. As a follower of Jesus and his Kingdom I have known, at least intellectually, there exists a difference between God's view of money and the view typically held by secular society. Jesus taught a great deal about money, what our relationship to it should be, and about our stewardship of it. What has dawned on me is that my practices regarding money and material things tends to simply reflect, in large part, the attitude and practices of the secular culture in which I live. Let me explain. Earlier I referred to how, as a nation, we have turned into a spend and debt culture. The practice of a great many Americans is, perhaps I should say has been, to spend what we earn, and to go into debt for what we want. The simple practices of frugality, saving, reigning in our wants, or at least postponing immediate gratification instead of going into debt, and having money on a regular basis to give to others in need, have not particularly characterized the average American consumer. Based on this plumb line I have not fared much better than the average American. I really believe that if I had been applying these practices more faithfully I would be in a much better place today financially.
What's really behind the consumer, spend now pay later, mentality and practice of our culture? Why is it we tend to spend the maximum of what we make and are so ready to go into debt for our wants? In all reality, it is a value system where money and the things that money can buy reign supreme. When things, more things and bigger things, and the drive to get the money that buys them, is a core value of our life in practice, we really do convict ourselves of serving the god of Money. Jesus put it bluntly, "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money".
I am not opposed to material prosperity, nor do I believe there is something inherently bad or evil with being wealthy. The Bible simply warns of certain spiritual dangers associated with wealth and the desire to get rich. And one does not have to be wealthy to be challenged by the temptation of placing money and things as a priority in their lives. This is a particular challenge living in an affluent and materialistic culture, where the serving of money and things is so prevalent.
This issue of money and the things it buys really is a matter of the heart. In the context of the quote above Jesus instructed his followers, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Money is not the problem, it is the love of it, or the consumption with, competition for and a scramble to accumulate the things money can buy.
As I read and reread the book of Acts in the Bible, I am struck by the vitality of that first century church and the resultant impact it had on the world of it's day. Those early believers practiced what Jesus had taught. They lived the value system of the Kingdom of God and as a result, in the span of one generation, they had literally turned the known world upside down. Their lifestyles, which included their practices regarding money and things, engendered both admiration as well as persecution from their culture.To a large extent, that same potential vitality, for the church in America, has been hijacked by an accommodation to the value system of our current culture. As followers of Jesus, perhaps we need to look at this current economic crisis as an opportunity to reorient ourselves to the value system of God's Kingdom. Let's reexamine our own attitudes and practices regarding money and establish the priority of God's Kingdom as the true priority of our life.
Friday, December 26, 2008
Is Yours a Wonderful Life?
I love the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". I just watched it again for the umpteenth time a few evenings ago. It's a Christmas season staple on T.V.
There are a number of reasons why I love this movie. It has all the makings of a really great story; a flawed yet heroic main character, George Bailey, faced with internal and external obstacles to achieving his dreams of success, and finally finding resolution through an "otherworldly" experience that puts his life, his dashed hopes and his struggles, into proper perspective. I am moved to tears nearly every time by the final scene of the movie where there is a generous outpouring of support and love to rescue George in a time of great need by family and friends, many of whom he had helped in some way in the past. At the very end of the movie the camera zooms in on a written quote spoken earlier by Clarence, George's unlikely guardian angel, "No man is a failure who has friends".
Why does this movie move me? First, it touches me at a core need to know my life has been worth living, that others, within my sphere of influence, are better off for me being born and living the life I have lived....that somehow, in the bigger scheme of things, my life has made a difference for good. Second, I am moved by George's willingness, though reluctant at times, to help others even at his own expense. Finally, I am touched by the ultimate richness of George's life through the many relationships of friends and family. His life was part of a larger tapestry of community.
This movie does a good job of cutting through all the superficiality of what we humans think is important and laying bare the issues of life that are most important and of which make for true success. Though George Bailey is not portrayed as a particularly "spiritual" person in regards to having a close relationship with God, he certainly is not without spiritual sensitivities. The movie really reflects a time in American culture that was overall still much more "in touch" with a Christian or biblical influence. However, the issues and truths this movie addresses are timeless in nature and are not simply the product of a particular world view. Rather they reflect the ageless moorings of the human heart and conscience that can still be felt by those retaining even a slight semblance of either. This yearning for significance and our need for connectedness is anchored ultimately to the very source of our being, God, regardless of how separated and alienated we may be from him.
Stories, such as this reflect the longings of the human heart for the kind of world we were meant to live in. A world filled with hope, generosity, good will, the triumph of good over evil, significance and meaning, love and community. The more absent these things are the more the heart aches for them. Why? Because God has placed heaven in the human heart.
"Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
There are a number of reasons why I love this movie. It has all the makings of a really great story; a flawed yet heroic main character, George Bailey, faced with internal and external obstacles to achieving his dreams of success, and finally finding resolution through an "otherworldly" experience that puts his life, his dashed hopes and his struggles, into proper perspective. I am moved to tears nearly every time by the final scene of the movie where there is a generous outpouring of support and love to rescue George in a time of great need by family and friends, many of whom he had helped in some way in the past. At the very end of the movie the camera zooms in on a written quote spoken earlier by Clarence, George's unlikely guardian angel, "No man is a failure who has friends".
Why does this movie move me? First, it touches me at a core need to know my life has been worth living, that others, within my sphere of influence, are better off for me being born and living the life I have lived....that somehow, in the bigger scheme of things, my life has made a difference for good. Second, I am moved by George's willingness, though reluctant at times, to help others even at his own expense. Finally, I am touched by the ultimate richness of George's life through the many relationships of friends and family. His life was part of a larger tapestry of community.
This movie does a good job of cutting through all the superficiality of what we humans think is important and laying bare the issues of life that are most important and of which make for true success. Though George Bailey is not portrayed as a particularly "spiritual" person in regards to having a close relationship with God, he certainly is not without spiritual sensitivities. The movie really reflects a time in American culture that was overall still much more "in touch" with a Christian or biblical influence. However, the issues and truths this movie addresses are timeless in nature and are not simply the product of a particular world view. Rather they reflect the ageless moorings of the human heart and conscience that can still be felt by those retaining even a slight semblance of either. This yearning for significance and our need for connectedness is anchored ultimately to the very source of our being, God, regardless of how separated and alienated we may be from him.
Stories, such as this reflect the longings of the human heart for the kind of world we were meant to live in. A world filled with hope, generosity, good will, the triumph of good over evil, significance and meaning, love and community. The more absent these things are the more the heart aches for them. Why? Because God has placed heaven in the human heart.
"Your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
Monday, November 24, 2008
Worship
I am reading a great little book by Mark Driscoll entitled, "Vintage Jesus". The author does a great job of presenting the timeless truths of the person of Jesus while targeting his message to teens and twenties. Though the language is a bit edgy in places, Mark succeeds at peeling away the "religious dressings" Jesus has come packaged in down through the ages and revealing the wonders of this magnificent person. As one cover leaf endorsement reads, "This is a Savior worth fighting for".
This morning I was reading the chapter entitled, "Why Should We Worship Jesus?". Mark spends time talking about what worship is, what it is not, the fact that everyone worships something, and why Jesus is worth our ultimate worship. It's not that I have never heard teaching of this sort before, but it was just hitting me in some fresh ways...kind of like something you know but have not given much thought to for quite some time, or perhaps, even more convicting, realize that your own worship has been a bit displaced.
Mark defines worship as "living our life individually and corporately as continuous living sacrifices to the glory of a person or thing". As he was going through a litany of things and people we worship, including ourselves, pointing out how, and in what ways we sacrifice for them, I could not help but recognize the many ways I have been pulled toward certain other things, lessening my grip on a primary affection and devotion to Jesus. Or, I should say, the lessening, in regards to awe and devotion to Jesus typically preceeds the pulling toward other things.
Even for those of us who profess a strong commitment to Jesus, there is this constant danger of having someone or something else displace him as the object of our worship. This does not happen so much deliberately on our part but often subtley as the wonder and greatness of Jesus begins to dim in our consciousness by a simple act of inattention over an extended period of time. Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to "fix our eyes on Jesus". We are pulled towards those things or individuals we esteem worthy of our time and sacrifice.
Who or what do you worship? Mark posed these simple questions to help us uncover our possible idols:
This morning I was reading the chapter entitled, "Why Should We Worship Jesus?". Mark spends time talking about what worship is, what it is not, the fact that everyone worships something, and why Jesus is worth our ultimate worship. It's not that I have never heard teaching of this sort before, but it was just hitting me in some fresh ways...kind of like something you know but have not given much thought to for quite some time, or perhaps, even more convicting, realize that your own worship has been a bit displaced.
Mark defines worship as "living our life individually and corporately as continuous living sacrifices to the glory of a person or thing". As he was going through a litany of things and people we worship, including ourselves, pointing out how, and in what ways we sacrifice for them, I could not help but recognize the many ways I have been pulled toward certain other things, lessening my grip on a primary affection and devotion to Jesus. Or, I should say, the lessening, in regards to awe and devotion to Jesus typically preceeds the pulling toward other things.
Even for those of us who profess a strong commitment to Jesus, there is this constant danger of having someone or something else displace him as the object of our worship. This does not happen so much deliberately on our part but often subtley as the wonder and greatness of Jesus begins to dim in our consciousness by a simple act of inattention over an extended period of time. Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to "fix our eyes on Jesus". We are pulled towards those things or individuals we esteem worthy of our time and sacrifice.
Who or what do you worship? Mark posed these simple questions to help us uncover our possible idols:
- Who or what do I make sacrifices for?
- Who or what is most important to me?
- If I could have any thing or experience I wanted, what would that be?
- Who or what makes me most happy?
- What is the one person or thing I could not live without?
- What do I spend my money on?
- Who or what do I devote my spare time to?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Understanding
Have you ever wished you could get your mind around a certain issue or subject, really understand and master it? This happens to me all the time. There are so many things I wish I could understand, wrap my mind around, and feel like I really know the issue or the subject well. It seems the older I get the bigger the list becomes of things I feel intellectually inadequate to fully explain. I believe I had a much better grasp of things when I was younger.
Shouldn't we be gaining in understanding the older we get? Doesn't insight, wisdom, and the ability to understand a greater number of things come with years lived? To some extent, certainly. But the greater part of insight, wisdom and understanding is not the amount we know but the amount we realize we really don't know. Years lived often carries with it enough experience to teach, even the most reluctant learner, that we really don't have the grasp on something we thought. I guess this is one of life's paradoxes....to be growing in experience, wisdom, and understanding, at the same time the bench mark for fully knowing keeps being set further and further out.
The Bible talks about this paradox of knowing yet not knowing, of understanding but not understanding. For example, the book of Proverbs instructs us regarding the value of gaining wisdom and understanding. "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7. This same author devoted himself "to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven". At the end of that experimentation he wrote,"of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body". His conclusion of the matter: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man".
It seems the older I get the more questions I have. Do I possess more knowledge and wisdom than when I was younger? Yes. But that knowledge and wisdom has also created more questions and a greater realization of how far I fall short of knowing fully.
"Now I know in part". The apostle Paul
Shouldn't we be gaining in understanding the older we get? Doesn't insight, wisdom, and the ability to understand a greater number of things come with years lived? To some extent, certainly. But the greater part of insight, wisdom and understanding is not the amount we know but the amount we realize we really don't know. Years lived often carries with it enough experience to teach, even the most reluctant learner, that we really don't have the grasp on something we thought. I guess this is one of life's paradoxes....to be growing in experience, wisdom, and understanding, at the same time the bench mark for fully knowing keeps being set further and further out.
The Bible talks about this paradox of knowing yet not knowing, of understanding but not understanding. For example, the book of Proverbs instructs us regarding the value of gaining wisdom and understanding. "Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." Proverbs 4:7. This same author devoted himself "to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven". At the end of that experimentation he wrote,"of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body". His conclusion of the matter: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man".
It seems the older I get the more questions I have. Do I possess more knowledge and wisdom than when I was younger? Yes. But that knowledge and wisdom has also created more questions and a greater realization of how far I fall short of knowing fully.
"Now I know in part". The apostle Paul
Saturday, November 8, 2008
"Institutionalized" Christians?
April 8, 2007
Recently I was thinking about the term “institutionalized” and how it relates to the predominate form of Christianity as practiced here in the West. One of the uses of the word references individuals who have been incarcerated the majority of their lives. In this context it is meant to describe the process of becoming so accustomed to life in prison that it is difficult to resume normal life and relate to others outside the walls of the institution (prison in this case).
I believe there is an application here for those of us who have been “spiritually reared” in institutional church. Can one become impacted in such a way, through emersion in institutional church life, that the result is certain undesirable effects that actually run contradictory to the simplicity of devotion to Jesus and reflecting his likeness? Unfortunately, I have found this not only to be possible, but true.
One such potential negative impact of institutional church is that of making people religious. By religious, I mean the process and result of which one becomes disingenuous, unauthentic, pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental and unapproachable. Not a very attractive list of characteristics, nor, none of which, are thought highly of by Jesus.
Often inherent in the system and structure of church life is an underlying pressure to perform, much like an actor playing a role. There is this explicit or implicit standard by which “spirituality” is defined and by which everyone’s life is measured against. So, to make sure we are accepted, we perform. We play the part. We “act” spiritual. And because institutional church is typically weak relationally, it is easy to “act” the part and nobody knows the difference, or even worse, cares to know the difference.
The emersion into institutional church life can also have the effect of leaving many Christians feeling uncomfortable and awkward in relating to non-Christians. I personally struggled with this issue for years.
This begs the question for all of us who call ourselves Christians. Are we more “institutionalized” than authentic followers of Christ? Is our life marked more by a religious mind set and behavior than by a likeness to Jesus? And for all of us who make up institutional Christianity, are we making authentic disciples of Jesus or institutional Christians?
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” Matt. 23:15
Recently I was thinking about the term “institutionalized” and how it relates to the predominate form of Christianity as practiced here in the West. One of the uses of the word references individuals who have been incarcerated the majority of their lives. In this context it is meant to describe the process of becoming so accustomed to life in prison that it is difficult to resume normal life and relate to others outside the walls of the institution (prison in this case).
I believe there is an application here for those of us who have been “spiritually reared” in institutional church. Can one become impacted in such a way, through emersion in institutional church life, that the result is certain undesirable effects that actually run contradictory to the simplicity of devotion to Jesus and reflecting his likeness? Unfortunately, I have found this not only to be possible, but true.
One such potential negative impact of institutional church is that of making people religious. By religious, I mean the process and result of which one becomes disingenuous, unauthentic, pretentious, self-righteous, judgmental and unapproachable. Not a very attractive list of characteristics, nor, none of which, are thought highly of by Jesus.
Often inherent in the system and structure of church life is an underlying pressure to perform, much like an actor playing a role. There is this explicit or implicit standard by which “spirituality” is defined and by which everyone’s life is measured against. So, to make sure we are accepted, we perform. We play the part. We “act” spiritual. And because institutional church is typically weak relationally, it is easy to “act” the part and nobody knows the difference, or even worse, cares to know the difference.
The emersion into institutional church life can also have the effect of leaving many Christians feeling uncomfortable and awkward in relating to non-Christians. I personally struggled with this issue for years.
This begs the question for all of us who call ourselves Christians. Are we more “institutionalized” than authentic followers of Christ? Is our life marked more by a religious mind set and behavior than by a likeness to Jesus? And for all of us who make up institutional Christianity, are we making authentic disciples of Jesus or institutional Christians?
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” Matt. 23:15
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