Last night I listened to my pastor "state of the church" address. Church leaders had taken a survey and compared to results to data compiled from 50,000 churches in 70 countries. We are strong in several areas: passionate spirituality. Gift-based ministry. Needs-based evangelism.
Their weakest area? Love for each other. That surprised me. From my first visit, the people have enveloped me with love and tugged and forced me out of lethargy. But our pastor challenged us: do we feel like we can't crack into the "inner circle"? Do we truly trust one another? When was the last time we invited someone over for dinner?
I'm new to the congregation, and I decided on two ways to show my love and trustworthiness: one is to simply get there every week. The second? Make a concerted effort to learn everyone's names. In time, I will need to expand but I think those are good starting points!
Great sermon. We don't need a new program to grow.
We just need to obey His commands.
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2 comments:
I think the modern church struggles with this issue. My opinion is that the ancient church was more unified, but I might be mistaken. People who connect and share each others' burdens are displaying what it means to "love one another." Thanks for sharing, Darlene.
I think if we could place the principles of Christianity (love, forgiveness, charity, kindness)before the many different personalities involved in Christianity, the Church today would be much more unified. I try look upon someone as worthy of Christ's love (and therefore mine), instead of looking upon them while magnifying what I perceive to be their imperfections in my mind. Principles before personalities, my friend. Principles before personalities. It is a difficult thing to put into practice for me. It's so much easier for me to judge someone for their rude behaviors or overbearing attitudes, instead of giving them the benefit of the doubt. Christ has called us all to love the unlovable. Thanks for the reminder.
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