The Missing Ingredient

“Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence, pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness. They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words. They're full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace. People actually listen to them—can you believe it? Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words. What's going on here? Is God out to lunch? Nobody's tending the store. The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches. I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me? A long run of bad luck, that's what—a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.” Psalm 73:6-14

Sounds like a bad party if you ask me. Like you I’ve been there, done that… got the knocked in front teeth, the lonely table, the cold shoulder, and cold stares. And you know what, I’m d-u-n as someone told me in Korea, I’m done. I’ve tried to open the Gospel to certain groups of people, just as you have, and we get instead… arrogance, ridicule, whispers, and looks. It’s time to polish the boots and march on (Matthew 10:14). And that hurts because you know what comes after Revelation chapter 5; the worse reality show ever… and that is only the beginning.

So what does the Bible guide us to do? “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (Matthew 22:8-10)

Back when I tinkered on my teenage car the best way to ‘fix’ my faulty starter was to get half way under the thing and whack it a good one. Sometimes to get anywhere you just have to get a little dirty. Now Christians don’t like doing that. For some reason they think it will soil their ‘righteousness’; their self-righteousness more like it. For example: if someone is smoking a cigarette they wouldn’t dream of going over there and having a talk. Or if a neighbor is drinking a beer, or you name any other of the thousands of legalistic excuses that ‘Christians’ have conjured up. Hmm… we sound “pretentious and arrogant” ourselves. Maybe that is why folks won’t talk or associate with us… the carnal mind can smell hypocrisy a county away.

You know I wonder, has the church grown so luke-warm that we can no longer relate to the common person on the street? Is the heart of the church really towards the captives of this world or towards more building projects, capital investments, and pew populating techniques?

Where’s the church (the people) who love the lost enough to give up their “pampered and overfed” ways and get into circumstances where faith in God is active, alive, and prayer is fervent? Why? Because you are in over your head… and you are not in total control of the situation… the Bible calls that… faith.