These thoughts tonight stem from what is to me a serious concern: When it comes to genuinely seeking to serve Christ in a manner consistent with the intent of spreading the gospel message to the 4 corners of the globe, when it comes to working to enlarge the kingdom by seeing people dedicate their lives to Christ, when it comes to seeking to exist in the center of the culture without losing sight of Christ, where is the line? I’m just seeking to explore some thoughts, and no offense is intended, just in case you happen to be reading this and know exactly what I’m talking about. I’m just being genuine.
contrivance
noun
1.
a device or control that is very useful for a particular job [syn: appliance]
2.
the faculty of contriving; inventive skill; "his skillful contrivance of answers to every problem"
3.
an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade; "his testimony was just a contrivance to throw us off the track"
4.
an artificial or unnatural or obviously contrived arrangement of details or parts etc.; "the plot contained too many improbable contrivances to be believable"
5.
any improvised arrangement for temporary use [syn: lash-up]
6.
the act of devising something [syn: devisal]
I’ve pondered this question since my Easter Morning church service today. I don’t have an answer, but I really do wonder where the line is, if there even is a line.
During the service, I found myself extremely distracted and though the message was perfect and true, the “show” going on around the message was definitely as cluttered and “contrived” as the culture it was seeking to exist within. I wonder how much of the message survived. Perhaps it isn’t our job to worry about the survival of the message. Rather, perhaps we’re just supposed to put it out there and let the message do its thing. But is it possible to get in the way of the message with our human stuff?
The other day my dad reminded me of how many thousand Jesus preached to out in the desert, sometimes, up to 5000 at a time (at least) with no postal service, no TV, no radio, no printers, no billboards, no amplifiers, no guitars (6? I think this morning), no microphones, no smoke machines, no lights, no repetitive songs, no crosses, not even any food, no coffee, no childcare, no building, no shelter, no ministers, no Bible colleges, no universities, no denominations, no money, no salaries, no t-shirts, and NO NEED for any of those things. Just the Gospel and the world, doing their thing.
But God did give me a thought at the end of the service…what about VALUE? Rather than looking at it from a “like/dislike” perspective, it would be better to determine whether there was value in what I was a part of this morning. I don’t know the answer to that, but I hope there was. By value, of course I mean value when it comes to fulfilling the Great Commission.
I do truly believe the leadership of the church I currently attend, and claim as a member, should ask themselves more frequently: Does this thing which we’re making a part of what we are presenting in the name of Jesus add REAL value to what we’re trying to achieve?
I’m not offering any answers, or opinions beyond what I’m saying here, but I do believe the question is genuine.
- Fly-Butter-G
- Married for 11 years, 2 kids ages 7 & 4 Love to serve, Love to think, Love to believe, and Love to Love. Praise be to our Lord Jesus Christ!
5 comments:
Good questions. Definitely EVERYTHING we do (not just church) should fall under the close scrutiny of the Holy Spirit. Here's another question: If we went out in the desert (whatever the desert is in this illustration), without any "flash" like Jesus, would anyone actually BE there to hear the message?
Probably none, especially considering the only thing Jesus found in the desert was Satan and temptation.
To our brother/sister who is anonymous --- "The only thing Jesus found. . ."? You've got to be kidding! He "found" (created) a way to show you and me and everyone else that as long as we remain obedient and faithful to the God who created us we indeed have within us the strength and guts to withstand Satan no matter what and no matter when. Satan is the one who "found" Jesus, my friend. And what he found was his absolute and profound defeat. What a strong way he found to kick off his 3 year ministry on earth. Thanks Jesus! If you can do it, then we can do it!
TO steadfast, the comment was not meant to be an all encompassing comment on the what happened to Jesus in the desert, but rather, in the context of the discussion.
Agreeing with everything that the original poster, and disagreeing with what I saw as an assertion that perhaps the poster was wrong by implying that Jesus performed his ministry in the desert. He did not. He performed his ministry in the middle of towns, cities, and capital cities, and had throngs of people all over him all the time.
Not sure what you misread into my comments, but hope that clears it up for you. The only person being ministered to or preached to in the desert was Jesus to himself, realizing his call to ministry.
Responding to anonymous once more. I understand your statement that Jesus encountered only Satan and temptation while he was in the desert. Of course that is literally true. In my clumsy and unintentionally sounding confrontational way, I am trying to say that Jesus' ministry is what is written about in the Bible. His desert experiences are well-documented for a reason. We are being ministered to when we read how his temptations came, and how he handled each one by resorting to scripture and faith. This is an important part of his ministry. Let me illustrate why I say that by saying this: He lived a life. He wasn't inside a box and only taken out on occasion when it would serve God's purpose to have the happenings recorded in the Bible for our benefit. Jesus spent many years living his life, and only a tenth of that was written about, ie: his "ministry". Was the other 90% not "ministry'? Could it have been time spent just being one of us and listening and learning, in order to be able to attain maturity and wisdom so the ministry we read about in our Bible would be perfect when God caused it to be recorded and revealed to all of us? Thus, the written part is "ministry". (Jesus teaching and leading us to become aware of God's eternal truth about love and sacrifice.) The desert ordeal is a vital part of Jesus' ministry to us, or it would not be found within the Bible for us to learn and to teach about. That is my point, and I appreciate the opportunity to have this dialogue with you.
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