I've grown up in the church my entire life. From the earliest times I can remember, I was always at the church building: Sunday School class, morning worship services, then back again for evening youth groups - those defined my Sundays. During the week - yeah, it felt like we lived at church as well - Bible studies, missionary updates, service projects, special events - you name it. And that is not a complaint; I knew of (and still know of) no greater use of my life. Simply stated: I LOVE Christ's church!
But when I decided to go into the ministry, I learned that my view of the church would be altered. Instead of that naive childish viewpoint, I was on the other end of leading a church. And I was now given a glimpse into her "difficult" side (for lack of better terminology). The "politics" of Her... And worse, the struggle for "power" within Her... Oh, the church is still a beautiful place; She's the "Bride of Christ." But I've seen Her beautiful white gown soiled with the stains of selfishness & arrogance over the years. But I wake up each day with the aim of helping make Her pure --- radiant.
One of the greatest challenges of the church is to create an environment of "unity." It was Jesus' prayerful plea in the gospel of John... It's the call provided by Luke that jumps off the pages in the book of Acts. But sadly, if the church doesn't embrace unity, She has only one other option: "uniformity." I suppose there are many ways to define these two concepts, but I like to keep things simple... Unity is when we embrace & love others in the church in spite of our differences. Uniformity says I will only embrace you when you conform to my views of how things should be done. A universal ministry lesson I have learned: when churches have a leadership vacuum, I can promise you that uniformity will always win the day...
So what is the result of this breakdown on a personal level? My suggestion is this: we come to a point where we don't even know who we are as a person anymore... In an effort to conform to the pattern of the "religious rulebook" -- we wake up and realize we've been pretending to be someone else just so we can fit in... (At this point I'd ask you to re-read that quote - the very first sentence of this blog post).
In my 2016 Bible Reading Plan, I found myself in 1 Samuel 17 this morning. It's a familiar story - one many of us learned as a child: David & Goliath. When reading this story, there is a vantage point a child will have... But as an adult, there are much deeper ramifications. There are two verses in this narrative that totally grabbed my attention. It's when David was getting ready to head out to the battlefield to confront the Philistine giant. Saul (the outgoing king - only he didn't know it yet) suggests David put on his armor. You can almost picture the comedy of this scene: a grown man giving his armor to a child to wear. And give David credit - he immediately realized the silliness of this moment. We are told the following in 1 Samuel 17:38-39:
"Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off."
David understood something that many of us in the church would be wise to remember: you will never win life's battles pretending to be someone you are not. God made one version of you - and you are left with a choice: embrace it or ignore it. But if you take door number two, realize this: you will allow others to define you, and uniformity has become the dominant force. (And that can happen quite easily in the church - because the church is a place where we keep an eye on each other). Unity means I embrace the collective vision & values of the church, as defined by Scripture. But in doing so, you get to use your unique flavor to help build that culture.
And remember something: unity is defined by love...uniformity is created by bullying.
Be like David... Be wise enough to understand when the armor of another doesn't fit you. God will walk with you, and as you embrace Him, He wants you to embrace you...
Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.
Very powerful and gives us something to think about.
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