ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
November 11, 2021
People throughout the history of Christianity have tried to create a corollary between success and divine blessing. Many great armies crushed their opponents, and then made the assumption that God must be on their side. History often shows how there was absolutely no connection whatsoever. In fact, many were the antithesis of what Jesus embodied. For this reason, I am more than cautious about making any such declaration. In fact, I don’t believe we are to claim God as being on our side. Instead, we are to seek out how best to be on God’s team. Maybe another way of thinking about it is to point to communities of people who have found themselves in the divine flow of love and mercy, righteousness and justice. In those moments, amazing things happen… but not always how our culture would describe success. Remember, many who were aligned with God and participated in God’s good work, ended up getting killed by empires and the power brokers of the world. It really complicates how to evaluate a “successful” church. Sadly, the American way has often been with worship attendance and large budgets. As a pastor, I will confess my own covetous thoughts on the subject. Yet the Bible seems to point to something very different – measuring things such as sending capacity, the ability to disrupt the status quo, the capacity to welcome those who no one else will and to love with the tenacity of Jesus. As one who is passionate about the vision and mission of Cypress Creek Christian Church, I want to see our impact on the community grow exponentially. Often my mind goes to worldly definitions of success. When this happens, the daily impact our folks are having on the community is often overlooked… overlooked by everyone except God.
Holy God of Love, let me never distort who you are so as to suggest you are in agreement with me. Instead, allow me to be filled with your Spirit so I am brought closer to you and a way of life that resembles what was seen in Jesus. Amen.
