We are an ugly people reflecting our pride, greed and selfishness to the world. Our greatest goal should be to find the truth, beauty and goodness of God and shine that as bright as we can so people no longer see us but see through us to a loving God.
It may sound elementary, but what is the answer anytime you discover you’re doing something wrong? You stop, go back, fix the mistake and start doing things right. The mandate of the church is clear. In Matthew 28 as Jesus is leaving the earth He gives the church her marching orders “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations…” But don’t check out because He tells us how to accomplish this task, by “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” So we ask, “what has God commanded?” In Matthew 23 Jesus says all His commandments are summed up by two laws: Love God, Love Others. This is the purpose of the church… To create disciples by loving God and loving others. But here is the problem; the church stopped a long time ago allowing God and others to tell us what loving them looks like. We’ve told God “I will love you by building big buildings, by making sure we keep the sinners at bay, by making sure the next generation sings the same songs I do...” We’ve told the world “I will love you by treating you well only as long as you are interested in converting, by makings sure you look exactly like me, by giving you the leftovers after we have spent, ate and indulged to our fill…” and the lists cold go on. If it is true that the whole purpose of the church is to love God and love others, it’s time we stopped and listened again to God, to the hurting, to the needy, to the world and figure out what loving them really looks like.
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