Friday, May 26, 2006

Two steps forward...

Last night as I lay in bed unable to sleep, chewing on Rolaids, I was reflecting on how we as followers of Christ so often do more damage to the Kingdom of God than we realize.


Many times there is an offensiveness to us that actually pushes people away from God, as they see and hear us declare our allegiance to Him. They see us going to church on a Sunday morning or they hear us talk of our church activities, but our behavior is less than winsome to them.


They may encounter us in a close up situation where we speak out of bitterness or pain. Then they decide at that point that we and our faith are simply too offensive and hurtful to be around, and they leave.


Or, they may hear us create offensive expectations of people, them included, on how their behavior should be when they are around us and our churches.


“Do this, don"t do that, when you"re here.”? Or “You can wear this but not that, when you are here with us.”? Or my personal pet peeve, “Oh, you can"t drink that coffee, or sit in that place, or move around the room in here, that"s not appropriate behavior.”?


May God forgive us, but it becomes our offensiveness that drives the spiritually homeless, searching people away from God and his Kingdom. When in fact, the only offence they should come up against, is the offence of the cross.


The demands of the cross, and all that goes with it, should be the only offense to the one searching for hope. Not our poor behavior and not our expectation of their behavior.


May God have mercy on us for pushing more people away from him, than we attract to Him.


1 comment:

  1. how do we change it.....how do we make a difference?

    ReplyDelete



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