CHURCH: Are You Part of the Body of Christ?

I ask the question, are you part of the Body of Christ? If you answer yes, then my next question is does your attitude about the Church reflect that reality?

I just finished reading this very good book, Serious Times, in which the author asked this very question. He said that many evangelical Christians have a profoundly negative attitude about the Church and often express it more than most outside the Church. The Holy Spirit began to work on my heart as I sat the book down and contemplated how this applied to me. I have been speaking negatively about the Church as if I existed separate from it. I have had conversations with many people in which we say things like "the Church sucks at relevant outreach" or "the Church is a bunch of old people holding onto tradition". The attitude that has created in my mind is that somehow I can be separate from that, as if "the Church" doesn't not include me or anyone doing effective ministry.

I took this deeper in how I think about denominations and local congregations. The Holy Spirit asked the question about how I view various denominations? Do I talk about them as if they are part of the same Body of Christ as I am? The answer sadly is no. This seems so small but I think it affects our thinking more than we know. I have heard Christians talk worse about churches and denominations than any non-believer I have met.

But this is not what the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 4: "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

I have been convicted to change my view of the Church and remind myself that I am a part of the same Body as each local congregation of believers that calls Jesus Lord and Savior of all, no matter where in the world or of what denomination.

But this is not enough, it goes deeper. What about how we view conflict in the Church. Do we just leave the Church when we don't like something? Do we just leave the Church when we have conflict with members? I believe that if we view ourselves as intimately connected to these other members there would be less people walking out at the first sign of conflict or something they don't like. Paul uses the analogy of a body, in which each part functions with a Divine purpose, and cannot just leave the rest of the body.

Are you walking out on the Body because you don't want to deal with the hard stuff? Are you walking out on the Body because you don't like something someone said? Does your attitude of the Church reflect what the apostle Paul says it should be? If any of this applies to you, I challenge you to stop putting down the Church and acting like they are not a part of the same Body you belong to. God has convicted me of my attitude and I hope to stand up for the Church and humbly seek resolution to conflicts in the Body. Please join me in this and encourage others to do so.

ENVIRONMENTALISM: Just Because You Can...

Just because you can leave all your electronics on in the house all the time because you don't worry about your electricity going out doesn't mean that you should.

Just because you can take long showers and leave the water running in the sink because your water is always clean and available doesn't mean that you should.

Just because you can throw everything away without recycling because it is easier than sorting the recyclables from the trash doesn't mean that you should.

In recent conversations I have had with friends and with the Lord I have come to think about how I view our resource blessing in America. Most of us can get as much clean water and electricity as we want and are not required to recycle anything. Up until about a year ago I viewed conserving resources as important only when they were scarce. It makes sense that when there is a water or electricity shortage to save as much as possible, but the rest of the time its ok to use as much as I want.

This was challenged when I spent 6 weeks in China last summer on an InterVarsity Global Project. In China these same resources are scarce all the time, so much that at the University they had 1 shower house in which the students could take group showers twice a week, Thursday evening and Sunday evening. Not only was there not enough clean water for everyone to take showers everyday but there would not be enough electricity to pump that much water. This got me thinking about my everyday practices back in America. What does God think of it? Does He care?

I have since completely changed my view because of the Holy Spirit's conviction. Just because I can use a certain resource as much as I want does not give me the right to do so. This is not a liberal tree-hugging hippie kind of thing, this is a profoundly Christian concept. God's Word tells us that we will be held accountable for how we have taken care of His creation, how we have used or abused the resources of the earth. This is about being a good steward of what God has blessed us with. Christians should be the best environmentalist of all, not because it has become popular to 'go green' but because we want to be obedient to our Lord. It is also reminds of how our brothers and sisters of the church around the world live with a resource scarcity constantly.