Rest in Peace

Over the course of the past few weeks, God has laid this idea on my heart that I can't seem to shake. It was inspired by a sermon that I heard one Wednesday night from the preacher who I grew up learning from, Mr. Mike. Mike Warner, for those of you who don't know him from a four-year-old's perspective. Just like the tootsie rolls he used to give me as I ran around church in my white frilly socks, he has, yet again, shared sweet blessings. So I apologize if the following post is a little heavy for some. Don't hold it against me. :)

Let the church go to hell.

The phrase keeps repeating over and over in my heed. Yes, I know this statement seems controversial. It's meant to capture attention. Stay with me. I promise, the message behind this is not as offensive as it seems. Or maybe it is. I suppose you can be the judge.

I grew up in the church. As a minister's kid for many years of my life, I learned at a tender age what it mean to be a part of the body. Potlucks and bibles... Acapella music and passionately delivered sermons. I learned when to be quiet and when to sing at the top of my lungs. I carefully observed the things you are meant to say to others in the foyer... and which older men had the best candy. Church has been a staple in my life for as long as I can remember, and I'm so thankful to have been blessed with parents who are believers. I've seen the church. I know what it looks like.

Now I'm older, and those observation skills that I developed in that church building on the corner of Shiloh and Paluxy have been practiced in other areas of my life. I've learned what poverty looks like, and desperation. I've observed people willing to do anything necessary just to feed their children. I've seen depravity... desperation... sadness. I've carefully observed the things that are said to people begging on the side of the road... and which addictions cause which side effects in people. This has become a staple in my life in the few short years that I've been learning and practicing social work.. the hurt and ache in the world. The brokenness. I've seen hell. I know what it looks like.

Don't misunderstand me... in no way am I seeking to allude to earth being even a fraction as terrible as hell itself. However, I do believe that many in our world are experiencing a taste of what hell is... the unhappiness... desperation... utter remorse. I do believe that I, as an individual blessed enough to grow up knowing of salvation, can never fully understand what many people go through on a daily basis. I don't seek to make those assumptions. But I do seek to point out that many in our midst are living in the midst of a form of hell on this earth, and many of us don't even recognize it.

I love the Great Commission... Matthew 28:16-20, for those of you are unfamiliar. In it, Jesus calls us to something so great...

¹⁶ Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

I love who Jesus calls us to be in these short words. In just a few sentences, he calls us to an entirely different way of living, and a transformational way of looking at the world. In his few moments with them, Jesus spent his time left teaching his disciples, not more rules, but compassion. Love. Dedication to others and their places in the kingdom. Go. Make disciples. Baptize. Teach to obey.

I feel as though we've lost focus of this within the church. We've built walls to keep things out... we've created memberships to show who belongs... we've limited our spirituality to Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights. We carry our bibles, and we underline our favorite verses... but when it comes to truly KNOWING the word, we often fail. Trust me, I'm speaking to myself as much as anyone else over the course of this blog.

Let the church go to hell. Let us go to the places where it's dark and void of hope. Let us bring light... goodness... righteousness... grace in the midst of condemnation. Let us look on those in the midst of brokenness with mercy rather than judgement, with compassion rather than indifference. I am so tired of being lukewarm. I pick and choose which teachings I want to believe, and I smudge the meanings of the others. What's worse: I make excuses for my indifference. I tell myself that the lost are the ones at fault... that I'm justified in my lack of action.
I couldn't be more wrong.

Let the church go to hell. We tell ourselves to sit quietly... to sing when we're told and to listen when we're told. God tells us to GO OUT; to make a difference in our world. He calls us to be more than just space-fillers in some pews! He calls us to use the word for more than just accessories on the shelves in our homes! He urges us to be the truth screaming louder than the lies that consume so many in our world. How can we do so when we don't even know what the truth is?

James 2:14-17 tell us:
¹⁴ What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? ¹⁵ If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, ¹⁶ and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? ¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

Dead. My faith, without doing anything about it, is nothing. It's good to no one. My faith might as well be slapped on a tombstone, with REST IN PEACE engraved above its existence.
My God is alive. So should my faith be alive. It should be working, and active, and discontent with complacency. My faith should be transformative in my life, and the lives of others. It's not enough for me to just say that I want others in the kingdom... that I want people to know the joy of the Lord and the hope that it brings. If I do not proclaim it... if I'm not being active... it's worth nothing.

So let us go in the midst of hopelessness, church. Let us go to the dark... let us leave the confines of our walls and the safety of our pews, and let us heal the brokenness of this world. We are not called to heal the healthy, but the sick. Yes, we should have community with one another. Yes, we should spend time worshipping within the assembly. But when we lose focus on who we are called to be in favor of zeal for righteousness, we'll fail every time.

Blessings on you and yours,
Amanda Christine