Every death is inconvenient,
And never quite on schedule,
Yet only one has been made legal,
To erase behavior too lenient.
It’s such a shame to think about
The lives dissolved in pain,
Inconvenient lives untried,
Murdered and cast out.
Who knows exactly where the road ends,
That led us to this point,
To prefer an act of pleasure,
At the cost of the life God sends.
Who will say our life’s worth more,
Than the one not yet begun,
With money so short and common sense gone,
Is the next inconvenient life mine or yours?
In Jesus’ brief ministry, I never see Him sit in a “safe” place. Rather, He, with one or more of His disciples, goes to the home of the tax collector, or walks to the well in midday when He knows the women will be there. Jesus mingles with the people and does not hold Himself above them. There is no arrogance in his words or actions – NONE! In fact, the religious leaders became upset with Him for just this reason.(Mt 11) And when, pray tell, did Jesus ever wag his finger in the face of even an open sinner and tell them they’re going to hell??? Answer … NEVER! He does, however, with tears in His eyes, weep for Jerusalem and the wickedness of us sinners and he prays for them.
Now, think about that for a minute. Jesus is, according to Scripture, the Head of the Church, yes? The “Body” of the Church should follow the Head. If Jesus (the Head) walks down to the beach of the Sea of Galilee to gather those “called” to Himself, should the “Body” sit comfortably behind closed doors hoping for the “lost” to stumble into a local gathering by themselves?
The single GREAT reason for the general ineffectiveness of the organized Church is our general unwillingness to be … like Jesus! Believers are called to be like Jesus. What He did, we should be doing (and more.) While Jesus never tolerated sin, it is His unconditional love that drew (and continues to draw) people to Him. He was clear in His love for sinners. It was sinners he hung out with. He pointed out their failures gently, but boldly embraced them as individuals. No place in Scripture are believers urged to condemn sinners, yet many believers feel obligated to do just that, even in “ministry”.
Let me ask this …
What drew YOU to Jesus? (not church) Was it fear of hell or need for acceptance/kindness? Perhaps the ugliest example of this error at work is in the way the organized church has judged and condemned the entire homosexual community. YES, homosexuality is sin, but it is sin just like anger is sin, and gluttony is sin, and gossip is sin. All are forms of self-indulgence, while believers are exhorted to walk in self-control (Gal 5:22-26), yielding even our most base needs to the Holy Spirit. Our quickness to judge comes across to others as arrogance, or an elitist attitude, and it is putrid! It totally contradicts all that Jesus represents. It drives people away from us AND Jesus, while we SHOULD be busy allowing God’s unconditional love to flow through us freely to all in an attitude of service.
It is my contention, if we, the Church, were where we ought to be, welfare wouldn’t be necessary! No, not government’s job, not even the Church’s job, but it is OUR responsibility, as individual believers, to do what we can, to do what He calls us to do and be.
Bottom line is, most people are fully aware of their sin, aren’t you? We don’t need someone to point it out to us. Rather, we need someone to love us enough to accept us right where we are and offer unconditional love – GOD’s love, and forgiveness.
Jesus is the WAY … the one and only way, but the unique thing about Jesus is that He meets us right where we are. He knows exactly what we have done, what we will do, and what we need … He never pushes, but instead, He draws us, welcomes us and frees us to find the person HE created us to be – freely unique individuals. His love empowers us to see who we are and who He is, and gives us the desire to be like Him. It’s all about God’s love! Like a shepherd to his flock, Jesus loves each sheep (person) so much that He leaves the other 99 to go in search of the one that is lost. Jesus loves the outcast lepers, harlots, and uncircumcised enough to go out in search of them, not to rebuke them, but to love them in spite of their sin.
“6 For when we were still without strength,
in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5: 6-8 NKJV
Dear reader, is it not after the Holy Spirit indwells us that He begins to change us into His likeness? He does not require us to be holy before He embraces us, nor does He require us to work toward perfection. He only requires us to admit our need of Him, His love, His grace, and His mercy! How dare we require more! Let God be the judge of the sinner’s heart, and let us be His hands of mercy and acceptance. Then, and only then will we begin to see the power of Christ change our sinful world.
“…The Texas congresswoman’s comments came in response to a question about remarks she made on the House floor Wednesday, when she said there are ‘candidates like Newt Gingrich who want to throw fuel and matches and fire to develop sort of an explosiveness in this country’ and there are ‘underlying suggestions’ to calling Obama the “food stamp president.’….
…To say children in New York should ‘pick up a broom and work…is a code word to, if you will, portray poor children and poor school districts that they have seen no one work legitimately,’ she said. ‘That they don‘t have a work ethic and these janitors are overpaid unionized workers who don’t have family and are not making $37,000 a year…”
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