Occasionally I get a comment or an email wanting me to keep my opinions to myself. Do you ever wonder why so many people are open to so many different ways of thinking, as long as it is not Christian?
I've also had a couple of emails wondering why I don't respond to comments. Most people have good reasons to be upset with Christians and the church. Reacting with words is a waste of time. Words have lost their persuasive power, unless they promise an easier way to get something done, a less expensive price or twice the results with half the effort. Empty promises are still powerful, but following Christ is none of these. So what can I say to the world's reproach?
More and more Christ seekers are re-examining the scriptures and taking a more critical look at how they live their own life, inward shuttering at the public un-Christ-like actions called Christian, and reflecting on their own failures. Following Christ is an alternative life-style. It is not main stream.
Actually, it has never been main stream. If you follow Christ you are a Christian, but many Christians do not follow Christ. Following after so called luminaries, personalities, traditions, movements and symbols is not the same as following after Christ. Scripture says that path is narrow and few find it. That applies to long ago, the so called church age, tomorrow and right now, today. It is very inclusive. It applies to me and it applies to you. Can you say whether there are more Christ followers in the church or out of the church?
I am hearing this same message repeated more and more often, in various places and in various ways. Scripture says judgment begins in the church. Those who follow after Christ need to take care of the log in their own eye rather than the splinter in their neighbor's eye.
I heard this message yesterday at Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin. It was delivered in humility and humor. Like others in the congregation I smiled in some places, Pastor Bill has a gentle sense of humor, but at other times you could hear a pin drop. Truth has a way of making itself heard, if you are willing to listen. It is like a mirror. We see ourselves in it and make the necessary changes or we walk away doing nothing.
Jesus is inviting all of us to move closer to him. The message has never changed. Those who move closer to Jesus will become more like Jesus. Everyone else will oppose Jesus, or maybe they will just talk about Jesus or maybe, like me, they will write about Jesus.
None of these matter, they are no substitute for knowing the Lord. Relationships change what I think, what I say, what I do and who I am. Relationship with Christ will change how I live, how you live and how we all live.
Why hasn't the church made a bigger difference in the world? Maybe we are not following after Jesus.
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