In spite of the glaring discrepancies I see between what the church is supposed to be and what it is, I am sustained by a great and persistent hope. God hasn't given up on His dream. The God that dreamed this place up has a dream for how it's supposed to be. He hasn't given up on that. Neither should I. The God who sent his Son to (among other things) model the Way hasn't given up on the dream of people actually living in the Way. Neither should I. The God who established the church to be a catalyst for the Kingdom of God, on Earth as it is in Heaven, hasn't given up on that vision. Neither can I. The Savior of the world hasn't given up on me and my place in any of these things (even though I've given Him plenty of reason to). He inexplicably continues to believe in me...to hope in me. It would seem His hope springs eternal...and it's infectious.
AE
8 comments:
God has a dream that had a requisite of slaughtering His only begotten. Yeah, I'd say He's got more riding on this thing than we do. His investment is far greater, so therefore patience is greater.
Praise God!
I know we have powerful verses about "hope", but for some reason I thought of the words of Andy in his letter to Red in "The Shawshank Redemption":
Red: [reading a note left by Andy] Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.
Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. Jer. 17:7
The world says that hope is merely a fond wish or desire. But, the words used for hope in the Bible tell a different story. They teach us that hope is - A deep settled confidence that God will keep His promises!
Is it me or was this not the most positive message in the world. I don't think your dad would think saying - well the church is crap but I have hope is too positive. But that might just be me. It's like one of those backhanded 'compliments' people give - oh you are fat BUT that dress does look nice on you ...
Tanya
http://afropuffs.net
Tanya,
LOL. I guess that wasn't the most positive post in the world. Thanks for your honesty. I wasn't in the best frame of mind when I typed that out. I'll try again for something positive tomorrow. Check back in and let me know how I do.
AE
Thanks to God that it is not the things we see that really matter, but the hearts being changed - even when we think that things 'down at church' are crummy ... God works through our crumminess (?) to accomplish more than we could know. Unless we are living in the hearts and minds of the people around us, we really have no idea what God is up to. We just push along in faith. Our hope is not that we hope the church gets it right one day. That is short sighted. Our hope is the living Christ in the hearts of humble men who still struggle with self-direction. Thanks for sparking some thought.
Adam,
I just wanted to drop in and tell you that I really like your blog. I appreciate your honesty man. I've been having some of the exact same feelings recently that you have been expressing.
God bless,
Brian Burkett
Post a Comment