My Social Responsibility – The Church is Not Always Right

Greetings Dear Reader,

As I move through the gospels and the book of Acts I wonder more and more if the church was ever meant to be a collection of buildings and rituals.  I am not saying that either of those things is inherently wrong.  I do, however, think that they contribute to the ineffectiveness. 

When one takes a living thing like the Gospel and wraps it in processes one puts things in place that can hinder the Gospel.  The cares of maintaining a business can supersede the mission of the church if that local church is not vigilant.  Things are not the only problem though.

If we are not careful we get more involved in our traditions than we do in the Gospel.  We put God into a container and insist that people get into that container if they wish to know him.  Local Churches and denominations become entrenched in traditions and practices instead of in the Gospel and in following Christ. 

This results in a dead orthodoxy that is both unattractive and ineffective.  Unfortunately history teaches us that the orthodoxy becomes the god and that there is little room for God.  It becomes about politics, money, and power instead of the living Word and pursuing a living faith.  I should not expect the entrenched religious leadership to accept needed course correction in the church.  It never has.  This does not mean abandon the church. It means fight from within until they throw me out or kill me.

Know You in the Now – Michael Card

Echo of history

A light so many strain to see

The One we talk so much about

But rarely ever live it out

Could You tell me why

Was it for this You came and died

A once a week observance

When we coldly mouth Your words

Lord I long to see Your presence in reality

But I don't know how.  Let me know You in the now

We should confess

We lose You in our busyness

We've made You in our image

So our faith's idolatry

Lord, deliver me

Break my heart so I can see

All the ways You dwell in us

That You're alive in me

Lord I long to see Your presence in reality

But I don't know how.  Let me know You in the now

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store."