But I procrastinated to the very last minute to sit down and write this post. I could have written three to five other posts in the amount of time it took me to write this one. I was and am extremely nervous to share my thoughts on this topic because I believe God is trying to reveal something in my life personally. He is pulling and tugging at my heart. I have so much passion for this topic right now but I am not sure what I am supposed to do with it yet. It is hard to write about something that you are so passionate about because you want the words to be clear and interpreted correctly. Certainly, I know, there will be some that will miss the point, some may not care, but maybe… just maybe one person will get it. Maybe one person will catch on and see the vision. Passion, along with vision and attitude, is extremely contagious. Alright… enough chit chat. Here we go…
So, where did this passion start? Where did it begin?
Well… I truly believe some of
these thoughts started after I got back from our 2015 Dominican Republic
Mission’s Trip. God worked in my life in a huge way on that trip. It was
definitely not how I expected Him to work, but most of the time it never is.
Anyway, I began to start thinking that in small ways in my life I have lost
focus of the bigger picture. I have lost focus of what really matters. These
thoughts increased when I talked to my older brother (Ron Young) a few weeks later. He was telling me about their
Mission’s Conference they just had and that he felt like one missionary, Oswald Smith, was speaking directly to
Him. It was one sentence that pricked my brother’s heart. God used twenty words
to move in a might way. Oswald Smith
said, “No one has the right to hear the gospel twice, while there remains someone
who has not heard it once.” Wow! It amazes me how one sentence; twenty words
can be so convicting. My brother and I spent an hour on the phone that night
encouraging each other and helping each other figure out what each of us could
do better to reach out into our communities. Sure, my brother and I are doing
God’s will for our lives. We are in full time ministry and we pour everything
we have into our specific areas of service. But… it is not enough. It is not
enough to be so busy in ministry that you miss the point. It is not enough to speak/preach
truth, encourage, and counsel kids that have heard the gospel over a thousand
times that you become blind to the lost and dying world around you.
Do not get me wrong, I
understand the importance of spiritual growth and the importance of church.
But… I truly believe if I am not focused on winning the lost and reaching out
in my community then it does not matter how busy I was in the ministry or how
many lives I impacted in my Christian circle. I was not and am not doing
enough. I am not even remotely doing what God wanted. The great commission was
not for me to keep speaking truth and shining my light to Christian teens (Matthew 28: 19-20). No… I am instructed
to be a light to this dark and lost world (Matthew
5: 13-16).
We all are! We, as the church,
should be a City on a Hill; a light to the world. So… why does it seem like we
are not making a difference? Could it be because we all have lost focus? Could
it be that the church has started placing their focus on what is happing inside
the four walls instead of placing their passion and focus on a lost and dying
world?
Interesting enough… I
literally pass six different churches on the way to take my son to his preschool.
Just sit back and think about that for a second…
It takes me about 25 minutes
to get to my son’s preschool… so that means there are six churches all within a
small radius. Not to mention the vast amount of churches in other nearby
cities. It is kind of dumbfounding when I actually think about how many
churches are within 30 minutes of my house. Maybe you live in an area where
churches are few and far between but maybe you are like me and there are more
churches than you can count. No matter which side of the spectrum you are on, I
still believe this question can apply to every church goer out there. This
question will hopefully get your blood pumping. This question hopefully will
make you think… and not only think… but act!
So… here it is… Are We Getting
It Right?
What do I mean when I ask that
question? Well, over the course of being in full time ministry for the past 8+
years I have noticed a few things… if I am honest… a lot of things. Every
church strives to have a good outreach program. Every church proclaims in their
vision, goals, and statements that they are people focused. They strive to love
people and reach people. Their statements are awesome. Their words, sentences,
and phrases are all awesome… but from what I have witnessed that is where it
stops. Somewhere in the middle of those sentences we, the church, lost sight of
the goal. We do not act. We say we love and say we want to reach out into our
communities but most of the time all of our focus is inward. All of our passion
and determination goes towards fighting with each other and making sure our
preferences are spoken loud and clear. Preferences are what drives churches
these days. Drives them to succeed and drives them to fail. It is a dangerous
game. Dangerous… because in our great attempt to prove traditional is better
than contemporary or vice versa… we ultimately fail.
Sure, the traditionalist church may
come, wear their suits and ties, sing only hymns (with piano only of course), use
one Bible version, and carry their huge Bibles… BUT if their focus is not on
reaching the lost and if they do not have love then it all is for nothing. It is
literally all in vain. All of it!
Sure, the contemporary church may
come, wear whatever makes them feel comfortable, sing praise and worship songs
(with a live band of course), use many different Bible versions, and have their
numerous Bible apps… But if their focus is not on reaching the lost and if they
do not have love then it all is for nothing. It is literally all in vain. All
of it!
I have come to the realization
that Christians love to quote, read, and even highlight 1 Corinthians 13 but fail to actually live it out. We shout loud
and clear that we want to reach the lost but we cannot even love our own
brothers and sisters in Christ. We basically rewrite this chapter of the Bible.
The world will not know we are children of God by how nice we dress when we go
to church. The world will not know we are children of God by our stand on what
version of the Bible is the best. The world will not know we are children of
God by our view on traditional or contemporary churches.
No… not even close. John 13:35 says “By this all people will
know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Does the world know we are His
disciples? Can they even see Him? Or is our display a dim one? Too many times
we, as Christians, constantly fight, argue, attack, and ultimately divide ourselves
over non-essential things. Too many times we, as Christians, miss the point. Too
many times we, as Christians, are not getting it right. Churches are started,
planted, and some grow rapidly but for some reason we are not changing the
world. For some reason the mission has become all about what we can get out of
church instead of reaching the lost.
Just think about how much more
of an impact we could have on our city, our nation, and our world if all the
churches could unite in the one thing that matters. What if we took our focus
off of each other and placed it on actually doing what we are commanded to do (Matthew 28:19-20)? What if we actually
strived to reach the lost? What if we begged God to give us His eyes for just
one second (Brandon Heath – Give me Your
Eyes)? What if we strived to let our lives be the proof of His love (For King and Country – Proof of Your Love)?
What if we stopped fighting with each other and started fighting against the
devil? What if instead of sowing discord we united and became a City on a Hill (Casting Crowns – City on a Hill)?
I am leaving you with the link
to listen to the Song City on a Hill by
Casting Crowns. I believe that we, the church, are letting our light fade
because we focus too much on meaningless things.
The
world cannot see Him because all they see is us!
This is truely inspiring Becca. I hope that more people that read this will be inspired and open their eyes back up to what's important the most.
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