My pastor has been taking our church though a series on the parables of Jesus. It's been great so far as we've seen how even stories told nearly 2000 years ago contain principles that timeless and relevant in every generation. Yesterday was the parable of the rich fool. In a nutshell, it's a parable about a successful farmer who allows greed to consume his life. Even though he is very successful already, his selfishness guides him to do whatever it takes to earn the next dollar. Sure the heart of the parable is to warn us against the danger of greed and to convince us to invest our money, time and energy into following God, but there is subtle point that struck a nerve in my mind that I think may affect all of us.
Jesus tells the parable after being asked by someone in the crowd to make a judgement about an inheritance. In those days, it was common for the Rabbi to handle making civil judgements to avoid court, so a guy in the crowd wanted to settle a dispute between him and his brother. An inheritance was at stake, and this guy wanted Jesus to make an official decision for the money to be split evenly. Jesus responsed with this question, "Friend, who made me judge over you to decide such things as that?" It seemed to be a cold answer to an expected question, but after careful consideration, there is an important truth that we most understand.
Jesus wasn't being a jerk, he was staying focused. Although all of the world at that time expected Jesus to become an earthly king for the Jews and rule over every aspect of their lives, his rhetorical question silenced the crowd and sharpened his focus. Jesus had more important business to take care of then settle a silly money squabble. He was here to reveal the glory of God, and be the bridge to connect mankind back to God. Did he have the authority to make the decision? Sure. He just wasnt' going to let something superficial, something expected from the people take time away from his mission. He was focused. He wasn't afraid to say "no", and he wasn't afraid to challenge the expectations of the people around him. He knew his passion and wouldn't sell it for anything.
As a church, are we too worried about the way we've done it before or the way people expect it to be done? Do we have the guts to say "no" to something that would shift our focus? Do we even have focus? Do we have a passion like to Jesus to reveal the glory of God and connect people to the Creator through Jesus Christ? Are we just a bunch of "yes-men" and "yes-women" who will continue to have event after event, and service after service that serves no other purpose but to make us feel comfortable? We need focus like Jesus. We need guts like Jesus. If we fail to sharpen our focus we'll just be another group of people hosting meetings, services, and events that do little to impact the kingdom of God and the lives of people around us. And will do it under the false pretense of calling ourselves the church. Sounds like a bunch of foolishness if you ask me.
1 comment:
I am really struggling with the "comfort" mentality of our church. I was so angry when I sat in the back of the church a couple of Sundays ago and witnessed 10-12 "pillars" of our FBC family walk out at the invitation. Deacons and leaders of WOM! A young couple was sitting in front of me that has been visiting for a while. What kind of example were we to them, their teenage daughter and her friend? An invitation to them to give their life to Christ and/or become a member of the FBC body. What would be their incentive? Do the pillars of our church not realize that they are the majority at all services, that we are loosing not only youth and young adults but middle age adults as well because they (the pillars)don't like the music, or the incense, videos, washing of hands or a change in the order of worship? Is the old order of worship more important than bringing new believers in to the body? I think the key word may be "worship". I am still working through that one. I have a lot of maturing to do yet it seems.
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