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| This is a hoot of a place |
A man walks into a hospital of sick and dying people he pridefully looks around at the people there suffering some of their own afflictions from an unhealthy lifestyle others from external sickness or disease. The man becomes disgusted and starts to spew and shout at the people, "you are a sorry excuse for humanity. Look at you all lazy and saying 'I'm sick, I'm sick!' What a pathetic excuse for humanity." The police would come and arrest that man and place him under evaluation for a sickness himself.
It is interesting to hear or read preachers who will walk into the churches of our Lord Jesus Christ and look at the sick and dying people racked with sin. Yea the people are repeat offenders they get on the prescription of the Doctor but they stop taking their meds. They come back to get healthy again. And the man seeing this wall to wall hospital with the infirmed and infected will fill his lungs with hatred and spew a rage against the church. You lazy good for nothing Christians. Look at yourselves all caught up in your habits and trapped in sin. The man will even accuse the doctor/pastor, trying to bring healing to the people, of impropriety. You have sinned blah blah blah. Why is it that these men who rage this way get applauded? They should be arrested and placed under evaluation to see if the fruit of the Holy Spirit is there. If no evidence of grace is found he should be thrown out anathema.
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| Superheros Geriatric Ward |
The Church is not a Solution to Man's Problem
My Pastor Chuck Smith always sees the Church is a hospital. Even those serving are affected by the sickness of self-centeredness, lust, pride, disobedience, and what ever else you can add. He has such a big heart if a Pastor or sheep gets infected and stumbles he'll stand them on their feet again. If we see the church as the solution to humanities problem we will like the man above become disillusioned and angered. We will want to scream at the situations of family and friends getting ripped off by satan and say, "You're getting what you deserve." The Church is a problem but it's not yours and not mine. The Church is where Jesus Christ does his best work. The World is the boat sinking. If we stay in the boat our fate will be the same as the others. If we leap by faith to the rescue ship of Jesus we will be saved. Yet when you get there you are one of the refugees on your way to the kingdom of heaven.
Hospital Workers:
The problem of working in a hospital is sooner or later it gets to you. The constant on going river of humanity and the continually blood letting of Jesus to cover their sin. So sometimes the staff can become cold or calloused. They are numb to the emotions of the patient. Doctors can walk in a rudely just blurt out a remedy and never touch the patient. If a staff member gets infected and stumbles then this causes a panic. This panic leads to germaphobia. If a doctor or nurse get this it goes against their oath to help the sick. In the church, the pastor can get a type of problem-a-phobia, We get sick and tired of hearing about sin in someones life reoccurring. Usually, the infected pastors have verses down pat. They are not moved by the Holy Spirit but by the experience of time. They can diagnose a problem and prescribe 1 Corinthians 10:13, I John 1:9, and a little John 10:10 for pain relieving. They are numb to the emotions and even the outcome. "It's on you buddy" seems to be the sentiment. I like Jesus' painting of Israel, as a bunch of baby chicks and he was the mother hen. He so wants to brood over them and protect them. I see the church too is likewise a deep grievous concern of his. In Revelation, he calls the churches to repent. He doesn't sound angry but matter of fact he states the consequence of sin yet it is his loving grace he is waiting for repentance. Pastors need to understand the firmness of Jesus yet his passion to be in fellowship with the patient.
No Pat Answers: If this = not that
Somehow the Biblical educational institutions of seminaries have painted after years of research, and study, and models, a picture of the perfect church. If you do this then this. It seems too simplistic. Humanity or the Holy Spirit is not the factor for new church planting methodology, but the conditions of a B.F. Skinner model to create the environment where the Christian specimen will be most accommodated. The coffee shop is the most important condition often taking precedence over the Bible. The music must be just right not too sleepy not too rap and not to alternative. The whole plan is a set up for absolute failure in my eyes. It is like creating a spiritual opium factory. You get people hooked on church you get them loving their church you get them dependent to get in church at least once a week. You coffee them up you rock em out you punch em in the arm and say be warm and filled brother. No brokenness for the lost. No weeping for sin but just that feel good sensation that black stormy skies are blue and lemons are roses. That is the church of Satan in my eyes. Now let me step back and say there are churches where the Bible is taught mightily and yet it is okay to have a coffee shop with great lattes. I am just trying to communicate how we have as a body decapitated ourselves from Jesus as the head of our churches and are content to live in a vegetative state of mind with so called experts calling the shots for the direction of the churches. The business men are more interested in numbers and results than repentance and contrition. The specimens become victims and as an addict say, "I'm okay, really, I'm connected to the church and Pastor X." I pray people in my church don't get dependent like that. I am the one that wants to turn humanity on to Jesus. Our head is Jesus Christ. We are to be healed and directed and ministered to by Jesus. We shouldn't come into church each week all messed up and needing blessings and fillings and repenting. If you are in leadership or a teaching position at your church we should do that at home first before and then be in a better position to help those in need or share with the unsaved.
Conclusion
So the church is a hospital and we who minister to the sick are often the sick ourselves. The church is one amazing institution where the Doctor can do surgery and then take off his gear and get on the table and have others do surgery on him. If one feels he has arrived at perfection he is not looking at Jesus. You can look at others and be better than them that is for sure. But when you look at Jesus he is our standard and we need to continually press on for the higher call. We need to run the race. We need to stay the course. There is no hanging up, no sitting this one out, no docking the boat. Phil; 3:20-21 "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."
I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, And what [is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [places] Amen Ephesians 1:17-20
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