Get It Together!

Over the past week to 10 days, our community has lost many famous and important people to death. From Bernie Mac and Isaac Hayes, to Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones from Oh and most recently Gene Upshaw, president of the NFL Players Union. All of these tragedies have caused me to stop and think about the state of the church of Jesus Christ in its present condition, and declare that it is time for every church that claims to belong to Christ, to get our business straight and be the beacon of light that the church was intended to be, when it was established in Acts 2.

Here we are, living in a world that is going to hell in a hand basket, as my mother would say, with a pair of gasoline drawers on, and yet the church has become more irrelevant each passing day. With more people dying without ever experiencing the joy that the free gift of salvation brings to those who believe, the church sits by impotent due to it's apathetic attitude towards anybody and anything other than themselves. It is sickening!!!

Instead of attempting to make a real difference in their homes or in their communities or on their jobs or in their schools or with their friends, the church is more concerned with who's in charge, who's in control of the money, who makes the decisions, who is sitting where, who is wearing what, who is on this board and who is on that ministry. Why did the Pastor choose them and not me, and why are they in front and I am not. We spend all of our time and energy worrying about this kind of garbage, yet people who are hurting and hungry for something different in their lives are leaving our churches worse than when they came, neglected for their needs and leaving with a newly minted distaste for the church and more importantly, for the people who are members there.

We wonder why it is commonplace for people like Michael Baidsen, comedians and even politicians, to look at the church with disdain, to center their comedic routines around church mess, and to totally ignore the impact that we should have on this society. It is because we spend too much time majoring in minor things instead of putting our focus on what is really important. This makes it hard to evangelize, because the unsaved sees and hears all of these things from the world and decides that they can do better without the church. SHAME ON US!

I did not adhere to the call of Jesus Christ to the ministry to be playing church, and fighting with folk over nonsensical things, and battling with boards about control. We need to take back the church and remember what Jesus told Peter in the account of Matthew 16, upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Which tells us a couple of things:

I. This ain't our church, but it's God's Church - and since it's God's church, we need to do what God says do with his church

II. God's Church cannot have Satan in charge - that's because God's church will not have Satan prevail in it anywhere

Let us all make a commitment to retake the church back for it's designed purpose, to win the world for Jesus Christ. God Be Praised!!