There is so much going on in life right now. So, so much. As I was in the shower this morning I got to thinking about a lot of things. For one, college football begins this weekend. Man, am I thrilled that it is here. I have been consumed by thinking about that, but specifically this morning I was thinking about it because my two oldest sons were decked out in their Alabama hats rehearsing for what will be a great day on Saturday. If you have read this blog for long now, you know my family is my passion and that brought a smile to my face.
But I digress to less important matters. I was also thinking about the church. I do that a lot as well, and quite often what I think about does not bring a smile to my face. Quite often what I think about makes me sad and well, sad covers it.
In my heart I long for the day when the church gets back to being about what the church should be about. I must confess my lack of faith to believe that this will ever happen. I was thinking this morning about a challenge that our pastor had given us as pastors recently. He wants us to be focused more on evangelism. Now this is where it will get dicey for some of you. You won't believe what I say or you'll choose to believe that things are not as they appear in my work environment, and you are entitled to your wrong and flawed opinion.
My pastor wants our church to focus more on helping people understand their need for a savior. He wants us to be a church that is responsible for the advancing of the Gospel. He wants to know that the people in our church care about the fact that their neighbors and family members may be dying without hope of salvation. And he doesn't care if the result of our emphasis on evangelism merits us one more number on our attendance log.
As I sat and listened I was convicted beyond belief. I am not evangelistic at all and to my detriment. Sometimes I like being reformed a little too much. As I sat there that day I realized that if I were honest with my self, part of my problem with the church is with me. I love to sit and write about what all is wrong and talk about how we shouldn't focus on numbers, yada, yada, yada. However as much I talk about that stuff, I need to ask my self "Do I care about people's souls as much as I say so those people don't?"
I pray that God would help us be biblical. That we would care about people as he cares about people. That we would be overcome with the burden that comes with knowing the Savior and knowing that there are more who don't. That we would allow the love of Christ and the winsomeness of the Gospel to show to all we come in contact with. AND that we would be committed to the Great Commission. That we would seek to make disciples, more than to win converts. My hope and my prayer is that the church as a whole, and I mean everyone who is a part of the church, would experience a wake up call. And I pray that it will happen sooner rather than later.
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