Sinners

As a faith, our response to "sinners, unbeliever's, and the disenfranchised" usually takes the form of angry sidewalk rhetoric or polite social causes that stop just short of uttering the J word.

We love having something to say and nothing doing.

In many ways we have abandoned the actions of the fruits of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. The act of acting out the fruit of the spirit is too much work in the face of those in need. After all, if we truly live out the fruit of the spirit we'd have to serve, and serving others ain't American Christianity. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know you and your church are doing a good job.

Last night someone asked a simple question about our response to the world, "How do we engage those who are caught in sin or have no belief system?" We went through a myriad of thoughts from Christ, Paul and Timothy. It all lead back to the fruit we produce. Fruit that looks like Jesus and devoid of Christian subculture judgement.

It's our appetite for power, to be God and know what He knows that bends and contorts our response to those outside the club. Our leaders would rather wrangle the faithful than disciple the unbelieving. The fame power produces in this subculture makes me kinda wanna quit sometimes, but my faith always guide me.

The fruit of those bent on power, selfish vision and demagoguery driven ministries is very obvious... sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness and orgies and the like... sounds like a great L.A. night club don't it? The Bible calls these the acts of a sinful nature. It's funny, Christ came to reconcile us back to God the Father in one giant act of unselfish love and we honor that by building leader driven communities that rarely stray from the parking lot while accepting the lack of congregants as a puzzle to solve rather than a commission to be had. You don't need faith anymore to disciple people, just a sizable ego and good fund raiser.

The question of response has a simple yet self deflating answer for you and I, and perhaps this why the workers are few. Our response to those who are caught in sin, disenfranchised or simply have no belief system???? Love them. Be full of joy with them. Be patient with them. Be kind to them. Be good to them. Have faith for them. Be gentle with them and observe self control with them.

Comments

[mark davidson]

good post...

ps

i'm diggin' the cheese and i'm diggin' the sauce.

[Pastorbiz]

Christian Faith is a Verb, not a noun.
To quote someone you know
'It all lead back to the fruit we produce. Fruit that looks like Jesus and devoid of Christian subculture judgement.'
That's the real problem, 'the fruit we produce' verse the fruit that God produces.