Recently, a couple of my blogs have been about the troublesome times in which we find ourselves today. I believe that because of that hard fact that there is no better time for the church, those blood-bought by the Lord Jesus Christ, to stand together and put away a childhood trait that Jesus illustrated in Luke 7. I remember when growing up that there was always a baseball game going on in our backyard, (Mother preferring an "infield look" to her lawn so she could keep her eyes on us) and there was one boy who was a very good athlete but we were always cautious about choosing him because when things didn't go his way, Billy bailed. Yes, that is right- left the game even if we were in the 9th inning and the score was tied, he would take his glove and ..."no, Billy, please leave us the ball, please....aww", we would sigh as we saw him heading for his house.
In Luke 7, Jesus uses an illustration of children being petty when He says to the Pharisees and lawyers that they did not like John the Baptist because he was too stern and "weird" and now because I socialize and mingle with the people, you have a beef with Me also and call me the "Friend of sinners!" (So glad He is!!). Jesus said-"Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like? They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept. For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!' Can I paraphrase? "You guys are like a bunch of children who just cannot be pleased!" They would have understood His illustration because children would play the game in the streets where they would imitate a happy occasion like a wedding and the other side was to follow their lead but would whine and say "we don't want to play happy games!" "Okay, then, let's sing a funeral dirge and you all join in." "Nope, we aren't in the mood to weep either." They had made up their minds that they would not cooperate, regardless of the message and so it is today, sadly, in our churches. As the war rages, we are preoccupied with our pettiness. My Daddy was a pastor and I have been in church all of my life and have observed much, often being wrong myself and am sorry for it,but have made the statement at times over those many years that I didn't think that particular pastor could get an "Amen" any more from some of the congregation even if He said "Jesus is Lord!, simply because immature people had made up their minds.
It isn't a new problem because so long as fallible people make up the Body, there will be disagreements like the one that I was reading about in Phil. 4 this morning. The details are left out but two women were not getting along and I love that Paul simply instructed "...stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved... be of the same mind in the Lord." Note that these two women were believers and had helped Paul and he doesn't tell them to "stand fast in what they believe and don't back down." No, standing fast in the Lord and being like-minded in the Lord means we can give up our "have to have it my way" attitudes and and stubborn "my great great great grandpa did it this way" silliness for the greater good of the team, for the all- important cause of Christ. It is good to be reminded that great Granpa didn't have air-conditioning and 24-hr. ESPN coverage either. I have been told that most church splits aren't about essential doctrinal issues but rather about preferences and traditions and Saints, we can agree and worship together even when our particular "likes" are not lined up. There will always be those differences and I, for one, am glad that God did not make "cookie cutter" Christians. Study the disciples and see how those few men that were chosen were very different in style and temperament but were used to turn many hearts to Christ. Peter and John had different approaches and in Luke 7, we have made note of the differences of John the Baptist and His Master and their style of ministry.
Saints, we need to grow up. Paul said in 1 Cor.13 that when he became a man, he gave up childish things. The mature don't pick-up their bats and gloves and march off angry because they just knew they were "safe" when all other players and umps saw the play and called them "out." I love the comment made by a long-time nursery worker once when she was asked if she would like to relinquish some of her responsibilities since she had been with the children for so long and she replied "No, I prefer working with babies who are supposed to act like babies." I agree with her that we adults, we who have traveled many miles with our Lord, just aren't very winsome when we whine and insist on our own way. Let's stand fast together in the Lord and ponder and pursue His way. His is perfect- ours isn't. His leads to unity- ours doesn't. He's never wrong and there isn't one of us who has not erred and been in the wrong. I saw a church sign today with the sermon entitled for tomorrow- Blind Spots. Yes, we all have them, don't we? Children aren't especially anxious to "fess up", are we?
I close with a quote from the Puritan writer, Thomas Brookes: " For wolves to worry lambs is no wonder, but for lambs to worry one another, this is unnatural and monstrous." (The Golden Treasure of Puritan Quotations Moody Press 1975.) May we be found "endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Eph.4:3
- Deborah
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