Sunday 12 April 2009

One Size Fits All??

I am tired of seeing young people, and older people too, fall away from church, and sometimes from God too because they do not fit. I am tired of seeing people hurt because they are different from the crowd, and that they are not made, or not able, to shape themselves to fit in. God made them this way and we should honor those few who are different.
Yes I know we are all different but some do fit or just about.
I have seen this happen in big church and in small church and is university Christian unions where there is a tried and trusted program that does work for the majority, but for the few they want and need something different, but those running the program either are not willing or just do not understand about bending and changing.
Jesus looked at everyone differently. He went all the way across the Sea of Galilee to heal the man known as Legion. Ever healing that is recorded that He did is different.
We talk about pray about "give us the lost, give us the marginalized" but I just wonder if we do not know yet how to deal with the lost and marginalized in our churches already which is why God hasn't opened the floodgates, which He could if at any time, bringing in those with real problems.
Yes I know they come in in trickles, some stay and some go. Do we ever ask why?
I have prayed for a heart for the lost and God seems to be opening my eyes to the lost in our churches. I now need to pray and ask what He wants me to do do with what I see. I cannot believe God shows things without an plan on what next. I suppose again it is about being ready.

I am not pointing any fingers, as I see this as an across the boarder thing in so many Western churches I have had the privilege to be a part of.

Whilst walking the dog this morning and pondering this I felt God saying we need to be be praying for these people, in fact for all people who come to know Him, to find out where they do fit in the Body. Not in just in our congregation but we need to be bold enough to know what else is out there in the whole Body, to stop seeing just our congregations as a whole Body, and be willing to take people, lead them, release them, to the places where they will fit. But that this will mean again more time, more time spent getting to know people, their hopes and dreams, their gifts and talents, but also getting to know more of what is out there in the larger Body.
It is a bit like the discipleship thing - it is something that will take up lots of time and energy with very little noticeable reward in this world.

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