One of the main things God has taught me over the last year is the simple fact that the Church is made up of people. PEOPLE!!! It makes me think "God...I know you wanted somewhere to live on earth but why on earth did you choose PEOPLE???" People are crazy! People are annoying! People are ignorant! People are rude! People are fickle! People are mean! The list goes on.
However God knows better than me (Phew! Praise Jesus!) making His Temple out of people is a great idea because it's His. It's up to us then to figure out how to make this thing work right? Wrong. We think if we just act nice to everybody, everything will be "okily dokily". But instead we end up festering with negative emotions inside and actually the Church just becomes a beautiful looking cake that's rotting on the inside. The Sunday morning smile and small talk is poison to the Church.
The Church by it's very nature is spiritual and supernatural but we don't always believe that. We believe that some things should be supernatural and other things should be done out of human effort. Paul thinks differently though. Paul reckons we should walk by the Spirit and that walking by the Spirit will mean we don't gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16). He goes on to say 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; HATRED, DISCORD, JEALOUSY, fits of rage, SELFISH AMBITION, DISSENTIONS, FACTIONS 21and ENVY; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I've emphasised the ones that are unfortunately pretty commonly found in the western Church.
Paul tells us that in order to live like this in the Church we have to live supernaturally, we have to walk by and be filled with the Spirit. So what happens when the church leaders turn down your request to preach on a Sunday morning? Do you let selfish ambition flare or do you walk by the Spirit? What happens when everybody pays more attention to someone else than you? Do you stew in envy or walk by the Spirit?
What if we started using the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit to invade our everyday lives as the Church? What if we used the gift of discernment instead of pulling that prank on our friend who just isn't in the mood? What if we moved in the gift of faith to see that someone is made in the image of God and so we shouldn't be kicking off at them? What if we used the gift of healing to heal our own wounds and enable us to forgive supernaturally? Just thinking out loud here...
It's not just a case of trying harder. We have to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit's teaching, shaping and moulding. We're the Body of Christ right? Who knows how to be Jesus better than His Spirit?
However God knows better than me (Phew! Praise Jesus!) making His Temple out of people is a great idea because it's His. It's up to us then to figure out how to make this thing work right? Wrong. We think if we just act nice to everybody, everything will be "okily dokily". But instead we end up festering with negative emotions inside and actually the Church just becomes a beautiful looking cake that's rotting on the inside. The Sunday morning smile and small talk is poison to the Church.
The Church by it's very nature is spiritual and supernatural but we don't always believe that. We believe that some things should be supernatural and other things should be done out of human effort. Paul thinks differently though. Paul reckons we should walk by the Spirit and that walking by the Spirit will mean we don't gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16). He goes on to say 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; HATRED, DISCORD, JEALOUSY, fits of rage, SELFISH AMBITION, DISSENTIONS, FACTIONS 21and ENVY; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
I've emphasised the ones that are unfortunately pretty commonly found in the western Church.
Paul tells us that in order to live like this in the Church we have to live supernaturally, we have to walk by and be filled with the Spirit. So what happens when the church leaders turn down your request to preach on a Sunday morning? Do you let selfish ambition flare or do you walk by the Spirit? What happens when everybody pays more attention to someone else than you? Do you stew in envy or walk by the Spirit?
What if we started using the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit to invade our everyday lives as the Church? What if we used the gift of discernment instead of pulling that prank on our friend who just isn't in the mood? What if we moved in the gift of faith to see that someone is made in the image of God and so we shouldn't be kicking off at them? What if we used the gift of healing to heal our own wounds and enable us to forgive supernaturally? Just thinking out loud here...
It's not just a case of trying harder. We have to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit's teaching, shaping and moulding. We're the Body of Christ right? Who knows how to be Jesus better than His Spirit?
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