I went to breakfast with my family at IHOP and we discussed being plugged into the church over breakfast. My mom talked about when her and my brother rededicated their lives this past summer among many others when a guest speaker came to church the same morning they had just coincidentally decided to attend. She brought up how when her and my brother in the group of people who had come forward went to the back room after service. She explained how someone from the church was designated to each person and she overheard a man ask one of the others who had come forth, "Why are you here?" Mom explained how the guy behind her in response confessed he was addicted to drugs but wanted to quit- he wanted to get his life right- he wanted Jesus. Mom said she wondered if anyone was really going to help him. After mom got done telling me this story, something struck a cord deep within me that angered my heart, but also made me just want to weep. All I could see was this guy, just as she had said, work up the guts, fought off the enemy's excruciating lies that any initiative of him to seek help would result in people judging him, all i could see was the man who finally for the last time had come to his last resort, broke down in his heart, his will, his pride, and in front of God and everybody, stood up in that massive church filled with well dressed people whose only crime were a few traffic citations, came to the alter and finally said to God, "I surrender, I surrender, I surrender to you Lord, I am sorry, I want to do it right now, I realize I need your help, I can't do it by myself, and I want to get it right." This man who did all that in his heart, and mind, and put it on display- came out of the dark crevices he had been hiding in- and risked it all- his comfort, his reputation, his life- because he wanted to get it right. And when my mom said, "I wonder if they will really help him," my heart broke, because I know her skepticism in what she has observed in church is real and I know that she is probably right. My mother- a new believer- recognized this truth that we as mature believers have completely missed! And it is our fault that we have missed it!
The problem with the majority of churches in America today is that we are beginning to look more and more like modern day pharisees and sudducees the further time progresses. We have made no room for those who truly are in NEED- REAL NEED- of Jesus Christ. We have pushed them out, and excluded the unimportant people with no wealth or status. We dress pristinely in fine linens and robes just like the pharisees did, we look down upon those who are entangled in heavy duty sin, we gossip about one another via prayer request style, we step over those wounded and in pain because we do not have enough time to encourage, pray for, weep with, sympathize with, or disciple one another, let alone those we don't even know. When my mom said with a heart of true concern, "I wonder if they will really help him," she wasn't expressing doubt to create conversation (gossip) like we mature supposed christians do- my mom is as real as they come- she expressed the truth, and just a few months into her convictions she recognized the true pain and transparency coming from this man behind her, she knew the depths of the pitt he was crawling out of, she felt that weight, and it only makes sense that the environment she has observed within the past few months that we call "church" has called her to question weather or not we are truly, sincerely, and really wanting to meet this man half way in what he realized he can not do alone. Is the 'sit down, let me get your name, and contact information then hear the reason you came, then call you next week as soon as I get a chance but I may not because my planner is filled up but no worries the New Believers class should take care of you' thing... is it really real? Or better yet... is it really concerned, genuinely afflicted, and overwhelmingly eager for the betterment of the new believer... or is it just routine? And the ultimate question... is it how Christ would approach the situation? Friends, I write this not to criticize, but to inform of the realness of the concern a brand new believer with a fresh perspective on what this world (that we as christians remain here to be missionaries to) perceives us as. Because the hidden concern in my mom's statement was the very question the world is really asking about us too: Is it really real? As they watch us bedazzled on television, loud concerts, and flashy lights, tv crews, microphones, sound checks, business causal clothing, taller and taller stages, bigger and bigger auditoriums, stadium seating, and no true deep and cutting, risky or vulnerable response from what appears to be the audience rather than the Body.... they are wondering: Is it really real? And the question we must ask ourselves is... well is it? Yes, we will always have critics because we will never be perfect, and we will always have those who just try to find any reason not to come to Christ, but friends, I relate to my mom.
I struggled with getting help in getting plugged into church the very first time I tried to get my life straight- I was in 8th grade. In fact I was the one doing the reaching out. I never recalled anyone from the youth group staff seeking to know who I was, where I was from, or what I was about- but I didn't know any difference at the time because I had never gone to church. So I tried to hang with the good kids, but I found that I never was quite accepted. I didn't exactly fit in, and in result I never felt love from the church scene. And 8th grade was the worst year of my life. I am 20 years old today and I still claim 8th grade as the worst year of my life. I remember being so consumed in insecurity, pain, and rejection, because I had no real friends, I felt like no one knew who I was or even cared and at 13, I spiraled down into a deep depression, and went so far as even attempting to commit suicide. So I was at my worst, my lowest of lows at the age of 13 and finally in my last resort- something I had never tried before- I reached out with my whole heart to the church in hopes to be accepted, and sure I was welcomed, but I never felt like I belonged, and that was what I was really searching for, what I really needed. I mean I could have been just as welcome at Walmart because the sincerity was so practically non existent. Many christians today say, 'well we can only do so much to make them feel like they're accepted' or 'we can only help them as much as they are willing to help themselves,' and I will give the people who did reach out to me at 13 credit, they attempted, and maybe it was my fault, maybe I was broken beyond repair... or perhaps I was just broken beyond their knowledge or the time they had to help me be repaired. I had no status, no wealth, no popularity... I was no body, but I was hurt and I recognized at 13 that I had been living the wrong way and wanted help. So yes, perhaps my perception of life at 13 was warped- and I would say it definitely was- but that was why I was there. I recognized something was wrong, I sought help to fix it the way a 13 year old seeks help- i put myself out there in an environment where I knew no one would know my name, where I expected to stick out like a sore thumb, and did people introduce themselves to me? sure they did... did they invite me to a few things? sure they did, but did they have any idea of how i felt inside, what i was going through at home, at school, in my own head... did they even care? I have no idea because no one ever asked, which left me with the impression that no one must have noticed. And at 13, I started and quit church all within the same year, and never desired to go back... until I was 16.
The reason I bring this up is because, when I was 13 I had nothing anyone noted as recognizably worthy to offer in looks, status, talent, pedigree, or academics. I was the kid who fell through the cracks, and no one noticed. But something interesting happened when I returned to church 3 years later. I was dramatically and noticeably accepted then in comparison to my experience before. But why so different? Well by 16, I was Miss Teen Texarkana, I was on the A-B honor roll, I was an athlete, recognized in Art, and had become fairly well known. I fell in love with God for the first time at the age of 15, but i didnt return to church until i was 16 because of my experience when i was 13, and if it hadnt been for a friend who had persistently pursued me, im not sure if i would have ever returned to church. I was accepted with open arms the second time. The experiences were like night and day, except the more appropriate terms would be a "nightmare," and day because I wasn't at all truly accepted and I so badly wanted to be, and the majority of the reasons that caused me to be rejected was because of all the bad things I had just walked out of even though I was making the choice to walk into light. I had refused to go back to church after that because the same kids that accused me of being bad in 8th grade or didn't hang out with me because of the bad things I had been known for or didn't get too close to me because they didn't know me and perhaps were skeptical because of what blatant changes I had decided to make, those same kids once we got to high school started dabbling in what I felt like they condemned me for. At 13, the message I got from church was that I had to clean up my act before I came to Christ (that I had to be a good kid- aka no parties, drugs, alcohol, sex, promiscuity, etc- almost like the idea that only the good kids get Jesus, go to Heaven, and get to be spiritual) and when having miraculously just walked out of the lifestyle of parties, promiscuity, and alcohol at 13, plus no real substantial reaching out to me by the people around me who claimed Jesus was a redeemer and could restore my life and loved me with an everlasting love- I concluded exactly what anyone would conclude: I don't belong, this church thing must just not be for me. This is the problem. We push out those who truly NEED Jesus, who truly WANT to be better. But the Bible says Jesus meets people right where they are, and He really meets them!
Jesus walked with his disciples, talked with his disciples, formed close-knit relationships with his disciples; he reached out to the lowly and broken, He made a B-line to the ones who were unknown and the ones known for their sin. He met them there, and saw them through. He devoted time to them, and loved them- not out of obligation- but out of true sincerity. He loved them from His heart. And then had the boldness to proclaim and correct those who thought themselves so high and lofty, "I did not come to save those who are righteous, I came to save those who know they are sinners." What is so detrimental about this story is that so many people go through this experience in responding to the call to break down, open up, and surrender to God because for some reason no one is there to meet them where they have fallen, weep with them, seek to understand them, comfort them, then help them to their feet, and teach them how to walk. Instead we reach out in the most convenient way possible, while they have just done the most inconvenient act possible. Friends, that thought that we can witness through our "actions," barely works for witnessing, and it doesn't work at all for discipleship. We have to take initiative, we have to love even to the point of uncomfortable and then some, we have to give until it hurts, and we have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable too. Otherwise, the world will just continue to see Christ by way of His representatives, as hypocrites who condemn bad, but do bad, and who know how to talk the talk but the walk is just a figment of imagination, and who preach God is love, yet we all as a whole have yet to make the efforts for even initiating a reflection of that truth. My story is just one of many, and the worst part is that not only did the quality of the genuinity of the church prolong my fully coming to to know what it meant to come to Christ, but once I came, it affected my walk too.
Up until last year, I believed my winning Miss Teen Texarkana had something to do with how remarkably changed I became after I came to know Christ. I attributed some of the fruit of the Holy Spirit within me to the title I had from a pageant, and when a friend pointed this out to me last year, I was so in denial that it actually offended me because I was so indebted to the belief that my having that experience as a role model (aka a real "good kid") truly shaped me to be a better person and obligated me to become pure at heart. I was convinced for a good 3 years that I had achieved what I needed to do to get to Jesus' plan for my life. The idea that was painted into my 13-year old mind of what it meant to be a Christian revolved around good works because everything was about being "good" and in result I thought somehow my works had something to do with my redemption, because if I wasn't "good" then I wasn't a Christian. And that was completely wrong because a relationship with God doesn't come about by behavior modification, it comes about through the surrendering of your heart, your life, and everything in your life to God! Thank God my friend had the guts to tell me that to my face and endure the withdraw I made sure was apparent because I was so initially offended. But God broke my pride and showed me that He was my redeemer and not me, His hands are making me new, not mine, and I have to do nothing before I come to Him, because He loves me despite my sin, and He died for me while I was still a sinner. We can come to Him just as we are, we dont have to make ourselves "good," that's His job.
I share this story because I want you to know too that despite how anyone makes you feel, you do not have to clean yourself up, and make the right choices first to get to God. You get to God, and the cleaning up and right choices are the results. A series of circumstances I faced as a teenager made me feel the opposite way, and I know the same situation has happened to many besides myself, but no matter what the world tells us- even if they are the implied attitudes at the good places like church- know that you do not have to do anything to have Christ. God's word says come as you are.You surrender to Him, You choose Him- those are all matters of your heart, not your hands, and that is all God asks of us... our heart- our real, broken, and disgusting hearts- nothing more and nothing less- His only requirement is you. Friends, we must be real; we must encourage those seeking and surrendering to remain real- may we preserve real transparency for it is genuine, may we seek to enable those who for too long have been disabled by their own sin, may we pour out the double-portion of strength and love God has given us through the Holy Spirit, may we be there for new faces and new believers, to love them deeply, to make every effort to get them plugged in and functioning in the Body of Christ, may we show them the awesome place Jesus has reserved for them, show them they are needed, show them they are valuable, show them they have something to offer, show them they belong, show them they are worth our time, our love, our energy, our talents, and our life. May we not reserve the big spots just for the big people, or the opportunities for just the well known people, may we seek to give the new ones a chance too- not due to the obligation in fairness, but for the point of growth and our dedication to love, so that they may see that they belong here, in Christ, in His Body of believers. For it was Christ Himself that commissioned us to do so, "to make disciples." And may the awesomeness of the pure love (with no ulterior motives to benefit ourselves or build up ourselves) between all believers- new believers and believers, believers and believers- cause people in the world to wonder... "Why do they love each other so much? Why are they so abnormally joyful? How are they so genuine? What makes them so confident? Why are they so persistent? Why do they remember my name? How come they want to know so much about me? Why do they still want to get me plugged in even though i am brand new and they know just how bad my sin was?" May the world ask these questions, instead of..."I wonder if they will really help him." As the Body of Christ, may we take care of our responsibilities- for Christ left them to us, and commissioned us to work them out for the glory of God.
John 13: 33-36:
"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?" Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."
1 Timothy 1: 14-17:
"Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus. This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen."
Romans 5: 7-11:
"Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. 10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. 11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God."
Luke 6:31-38:
"Do to others as you would like them to do to you. “If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much! And if you lend money only to those who can repay you, why should you get credit? Even sinners will lend to other sinners for a full return. “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”
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| *Recommended: Even if you have already heard it, go listen to the song by Casting Crowns, "If We are the Body." Listen to the words and let it engrain a challenge on your heart. |
*CHALLENGE: It's getting colder outside, and the running is getting easier eh? I hope so, because were going to tack on some more stuff here pretty soon ladies. Share the Gospel (the 8pts) with at least 3 people this week. If you have been exercising that jaw of yours consistently then 3 people should be a day's worth, but this weeks challenge is like that of a check up. If your Gospel-sharing has dwindled down, here is your chance to pick it back up before it becomes too tempting to allow it to become obsolete. Journal in your prayer journals about the circumstances that have interfered with this commitment, and do a self evaluation of your weaknesses and strengths from last week in your academics, attitude (esp. to your parents and siblings), extra curricular activities, friendships, witness, and most importantly in your relationship with God, then apply what you find you would have done differently to this week and record results. This will help you grow ladies and we want growth! Continue praying after running, and now I want you taking on another family to be praying for as well. Big challenges for women who serve a big God. May we truly uphold what it means to be a christian! You up for it? Then lets see it! Go get em' ladies!
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