Something to Be Grateful For

 

I wasn't the first to say it, but my mouth has formed the words plenty of times: Some people wouldn't be happy if they didn't have something to complain about.

And yes, I realize that's a complaint in itself.

If it's not the weather, it's the economy. If it's not the crowds, it's being lonely. Traffic's too slow, that guy's driving too fast, this food is bland, or salty, or cold...

Standing in stark contrast to that, I'd like to thank Natalie Layne for her song, "Grateful For":

It's not always easy to see the good

When it doesn't look the way I think it should

I know, I know what it feels like

When a smile don't feel right

But even the stress of a million cares

Can't cover the blessings you put everywhere

It don't take rose-colored glasses

To see the gold in the madness

I just gotta take time, slow down

Take a moment to see it now

The little things are what it's all about

What it's all about

I'll take a look around

There's something to be grateful

Something to be grateful for

It's waiting to be found

Underneath the surface

Everything I'm searching for

Couldn't find it in me, but I found it in you

I'm learning to see 'cause you're teaching me to

Take a look around

There's something to be grateful

Something to be grateful for

For your mercy, the morning light

For all of the ways that love has changed my life

I know you're behind all the goodness

Don't let me forget it

When the sun don't shine in the dead of night

If the tears keep rolling from my eyes

I know you're always by my side

That's how I know I'm gonna be alright

I'll take a look around

There's something to be grateful

Something to be grateful for

It's waiting to be found

Underneath the surface

Everything I'm searching for

Couldn't find it in me, but I found it in you

I'm learning to see 'cause you're teaching me to

Take a look around

There's something to be grateful

Something to be grateful for

In the morning, I'll be grateful

In the evening, I'll be grateful

'Cause I know that you are faithful

In the good times, I'll be grateful

In the hard nights, I'll be grateful

'Cause I know that you are faithful

I'll take a look around

There's something to be grateful for

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...As humans, we tend to notice what we're looking for. The attitude we have as we view the world has the same effect on what we see as the color of our sunglasses.

Take time. Slow down. Take a look around. There's something to be grateful for.

https://youtu.be/9fHJCmzuj2g?si=Drrzc5W8rV3vKKr6

How Do YOU View Your Leaders?

 

I didn't know I was going to have a four-part series of posts about Letters to the Church by Francis Chan, and yet, here we are.

I held back on posting a summary of each chapter because that wouldn't do Chan's thoughts justice. It would be far better for everyone to actually read the book. (And you should!) But a single sentence in the final chapter jumped off the page and demanded to be featured here.

In fear that some critics of the Church would take the chapters of this book that spell out how we've strayed from the biblical imperatives about being the Church and march into their pastor's office to berate them to a pulp, Chan closes the book with what he calls "A Leader's Guide to Loving the Arrogant." (He wanted to write the chapter to the arrogant and self-righteous, but realized they probably wouldn't recognize themselves anyway.)

That single sentence that stopped me in my tracks?

[God's] desire is for us to view church leaders as God's gifts to the Church since He sees them that way.

Here's the context:

God wants the Church to be the one institution that loves authority. He wants us to be different, a strange group of people who actually love having a King and are grateful for His commands. His desire is for us to view church leaders as God's gifts to the Church since He sees them that way.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.
(Ephesians 4:11-12)

God "gave" these leaders to the Church in order to bring her to maturity. When's the last time you heard someone refer to leaders as gifts?

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...not every pastor is the kind of Scripture-soaked, Spirit-led servant-leader Yahweh wants them to be. All of us are works in progress. But still, when's the last time you've encouraged yours?

What's Wrong With This Picture?

 

Last week (Click Here), I quoted quite a bit from Francis Chan's book, Letters to the Church. It was from a chapter contrasting the closeness and camaraderie involved in being a gang member to how an awful lot of people (and I do mean awful) think about being a church member as if it were a gym membership.

Here's last week's closing thought:

Truth is...Don't you long at least a little bit for that sense of belonging and mutual commitment to each other? Isn't there something within each of us that can't be satisfied by GOING to church instead of BEING THE CHURCH?

Not two days after having written that post, a guy I follow on The-Social-Networking-Site-Formerly-Known-As-Twitter posted the following:

A well-motivated attempt to give God some glory, to be sure, but great googily-moogily! Not only is it acceptable/normal to categorize my Christian experience as "going to church," but I can now be perfectly content to merely watch church?

There is no need for me to be a participant, apparently. I am an observer. An audience member. A consumer of content.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...may it never be.

Are You in a Gang?

 

The more I get into Letters to the Church by Francis Chan, the more I just want to reprint the whole thing so everyone will read it (as if "everyone" reads this blog!).

Chapter 4 is titled "The Gang" and contrasts the idea of "going to church" with the concept of being part of a group committed to each other...like a gang.

We live in a time when people go to a building on Sunday mornings, attend an hour-long service, and call themselves members of the Church. ... But have you ever read the New Testament? Do you find anything in Scripture that is even remotely close to the pattern we have created? Do you find anyone who "went" to church?

Try to imagine Paul and Peter speaking like we do today: "Hey, Peter, where do you go to church now?"

"I go to The River. They have great music and I love the kids' program."

"Cool. Can I check out your church next Sunday? I'm not getting much out of mine."

"Totally. I'm not going to be there next Sunday because little Matthew has soccer. But how about the week after?"

"Sounds good. Hey, do they have a singles' group?"

It's comical to think of Paul and Peter speaking like this. Yet that's a normal conversation among Christians today.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Chan then introduces us to an elder of his church, Rob, who spent most of his life in gangs but who met Jesus while in prison.

Rob tells me stories of gang life and the fear he felt when he left his gang to join the body of Christ. ... It wasn't just the physical torture or death he feared; he dreaded the rejection by those he loved. The gang was his family. These were loyal and dear friends who looked out for him 24 hours a day. There was love and camaraderie from being in a gang that he enjoyed since childhood. Now he would lose those relationships and be hated by them all.

When Rob describes gang life much of it sounds like what the Church was meant to be. Obviously, there are major differences (drugs, murder  -  you know, little details like that), but the idea of "being a family" is central to both gang life and God's design for the Church. ... Could you ever imagine gang life being reduced to a weekly one-hour gathering? No group would meet briefly once a week and call that a gang. Imagine one gang member walking up to another one and saying, "Yo, how was gang? I had to miss this week because life has been crazy!"

We all know enough about gangs to know that's ridiculous. Yet every week we hear Christians asking each other, "How was church?" Something that God has designed to function as a family has been reduced to an optional weekly meeting."

*  *  *  *  *  *  *

Truth is...Don't you long at least a little bit for that sense of belonging and mutual commitment to each other? Isn't there something within each of us that can't be satisfied by going to church instead of being the Church?