Reversing our wrong emphasis

While volunteering in my community, I frequently meet people with generous hearts who aren’t Christians. Typically, they used to belong to a church, but squabble after squabble erupted about music or the way an immature youth pastor was “terminated.” They walked out the back door, never to return, but they were still hungry for Jesus.

Somehow all that church activity had little to do with discipleship to Jesus. This is one of the costs of nondiscipleship in the church. Because people aren’t focused on transformation into Christlikeness, they behave in ways that oppose Christ. This often happens because of the focus on the so-called success of a program or the church. 

We begin by being irritated with someone who doesn’t read the books we read or listen to the same music. We think, They don’t get what’s important! Then it becomes, They don’t care about evangelism (or whatever our concern is). 

Implementing change or organizing a program is somehow more important than loving others. More important than whether the music is “right” is whether the people on the worship team or in the choir love each other. More important than having capable staff members is whether they love and respect each other. It’s a strange thought to some Christians that the most important thing about any meeting at church is not what is accomplished or decided but whether the participants treat each other with the love of Christ. 

TODAY’S EXPERIMENT - Think of an area you feel certain you’re right about and others just don’t get. Pick one of those “others.” Ask God to show you how to pray for that person. What would it look like to have the heart of Christ toward her—to speak the truth with great love? Or maybe to be quiet with great love? Consider whether pride is blocking the movement of love in you (for example, being a know-it-all).