As
for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging
off men and women, committing them to prison. Therefore those who
were scattered went everywhere preaching the word... And there was
great joy in that city.
Acts
8:3-4, 8
Have
you ever felt like taking a vacation from church? After a conflict, did you decide not to go back to
church? Have you left the fellowship of the brothers and sisters?
Have you ceased from the work of God? Have you been in a cave,
claiming to be the very last one left of all those serving God?
Are you afraid to come out?
When
I became a believer a decade ago, I had put everyone in a neat schema, a
properly placed category in my mind, and had figured that the church life
would be a contemporary of Disneyland; the happiest place, and all that.
Shortly after, I became disillusioned; and wallowing in my
disappointment in man (not God), my disillusionment had turned from a lack
of illusion to darkness.
Why
had I become disillusioned? I
had forgotten one important factor. We
are all in a process of transformation.
In English the -ion suffix signifies a process—we are all being
changed and when He appears we will be like Him, but not before.
I suppose my expectations were far higher than were
realistic—even for a believer aiming at perfection in Christ.
A study of Ephesians, viewing the church-life from Heaven’s
perspective, often causes us to expect everyone to be on the exact same
walk at the same place as us: and we never sin—right?
The
truth is inescapable: being with people, working with people, and
especially serving with others, you will inevitably face conflict to some
degree. It may be extreme
issue of essential doctrine or as minimal and insignificant as who has the
right to choose the color of the carpet in the sanctuary.
It
is true that many of us have been there, done that, so to speak.
Whether the sin is gossip, slander, persecution, we have all experienced
some level or degree of this type of confusion in the church, or have
caused it. We forget that, as the children's saying goes with hand
motions and all, "This is the church, this is the steeple, open the
doors and see all the people." And that is the key:
the church is the people. Long ago in the zygote/embryo stage of
my growth of life and discipleship, a saying by Pastor Brian Wood, my
pastor at the time, stuck with me—even to this day:
“Ministry is people.”
People are imperfect and make mistakes. This is what 1 John
is all about. As we are walking together in the Light and transgress
against each other, we confess to them, ask for forgiveness from them and
from the Lord, and we are cleansed from all unrighteousness [1 John
1:7-10]. Unfortunately, we do not live by this admonition given to
us by John, the beloved of Jesus. Rather, in reaction to our
experience of hurts and chaos in the church-life, we retreat--not just
from the service, or the building, but from the people and of God.
The
truth, my friends, brothers, and sisters is simply this:
God is sovereign. People,
no matter the havoc they have caused, allegedly or otherwise, have been,
were, and are being used by the Lord, orchestrated in a beautiful symphony
to obtain the means He has in mind: Eternal Plan and Destiny.
His sword has many edges. Often
He wields His sword to direct us, correct us, or protect us.
He has a purpose to gain on both “sides” of the conflict, both
of which to cause us to walk more uprightly.
In Acts, Chapter 8, the Eternal Purpose was the furtherance of the
Gospel Message. God specifically chose Saul, as a vessel; here, he
is a vessel for dishonor (Romans 9:21), and in Chapter 9, as a convert, he
is chosen to be a vessel of honor (Acts 9:15).
How
easy it is to get caught up in the social life of the church as an
organization that we loose sight of the main purpose set forth for us.
Think of it as a military organization in the middle of World War III.
Would soldiers in an army spend their time and energy quarrelling over a
poker game played while waiting for their advancement orders? Would
soldiers fight and wrestle with each other for the right to be on the
front lines, first to attack the enemy? Would soldiers ignore orders
given to them while under heavy fire? No. Why then, would we,
also engaged in a battle, although invisible but much more deadly, be
guilty of the same?
I'm
sure that many of you can attest to the fact that you often come into
contact with those who are in the trial you have experienced a year ago, a
decade ago, or are currently experiencing.
Have you not received comfort from the Lord?
We spend so much time distracted by the insignificant, ignoring
people who are injured, lying on the side of the road, dead and dying,
looking to us as a Lighthouse—a refuge—calling out for our help.
The
church is the people. Our
role in the church is ministry (a fancy word for servant hood).
Who is your neighbor? Who
are you supposed to serve? What
are you to serve? All of us
have a calling to minister the only thing worthy to the people:
Christ—Jesus—Yahweh has become Salvation. Get out of your cave. Open
up your eyes. Be sober, be
vigilant. There are lost and
dying people all around you. Fall
in love with Jesus. Learn to
love who He loves: the
church, the people—you.
