right in front of her

A blogpost I had drafted but not post from 2/26/14

There is a young lady who is looking for something to satisfy her. Some days she is carefree, but most days she is anxious about her responsibilities and future. She tries to rationalize things, look for the best possible route in life... She seeks comfort in her people. She looks to blogs and movies for answers. When trouble comes she questions why they come about. She tries to busy herself with work, hobbies, meaningless things. She wonders why people are unreliable, do not meet her expectations. She wonders if she will find that someone who will satisfy her needs. She looks to the right, to the left, and all around. But... her hope, her answers, her desires are all right in front of her. At the flip of a page, at folding of the hands and closing of the eyes, and at the stillness of her heart, her hope is there. I say, this young lady is me. I may agonize over things, over people, and have no peace in my heart because I ignore what is right in front of me. My hope is God and His words are right in front of me. I can pray and come to Him anytime, and He knows my heart full well. Even if I have poor reasoning, He does not.

Church

Church has been a part of my life since I was probably born. For some reason, not only because it is a weekly place I go to, it is such an important topic to me. I am not exactly sure why because I know for some even with their weekly investment, they do not think so much about it as much as I do, not that they are necessarily negligent. I think in college, having been part of a small church, I learned more about the little nuances of church as a whole. It really was when a part suffers, the rest suffers since one person may take up a great proportion.

Churches look so different across the country. Some feel like a good fit for people and some feel as a semi-good "fit". I think it is possible to be in a church that's a really good fit, be in a church that may have some things you feel uncomfortable with but you'd still commit to, be in a church where one is really not growing, and be in an unbiblical church. I have learned so much from being in two different churches. They are more similar than different in terms of theology, but somewhat different in culture and dynamics. Even having gone to school and meeting true believers but with different theology on some things, I've learned about different kinds of Christians, and it is a beautiful thing. It is tough because red flags go up when things you are taught in a church to be aware of in your own life go off but are not necessarily unbiblical and appear in others or at a different church or organization. But it is beautiful because the gospel is the same and when He is central, we'd seek the same thing. I remember watching "12 Years a Slave" on the plane while going to Ghana and at our stop in Germany, I was telling a classmate about how I think of Christ and how unjust it was for him to die just like that character being a slave when he didn't deserve it. 12 years was long, but Christ suffered the wrath of the eternal God. And that sparkle in her eyes and awe in Christ made my heart melt as she shared that joy with me.

So what is church? It is a body of believers. It is Christ's bride. God desires it to be holy. In Greek it is Eklessia meaning "out from and to". We are to look different from the world. There are churches that are "conservative" and churches that are more "liberal". But what does God want? I don't really get this conservative or liberal idea other than what does God want from us. To admit we are sinners so we love people with all sorts of sins, to obey Him so we seek to fight sin and ask for forgiveness, to share about Christ's love.

Some say evangelism should be relationships being built first and others do it cold contact style. If we love the Lord, I think we'd do it both ways. Christ did it both ways and the apostles did it both ways. What may be more bothersome is how is it within the church? It is such a great place to build relationships! It is a great place to talk about the Lord! In the church do we see each other as eternal souls? I think it'd be evident by the conversations made. There's gossip in the church and sometimes unintentional. But if we are children of God, how can we treat each other that way? We are all in this together. As we get older for some reason that rejoicing together in God, that wrestling with faith together, that accountability diminishes, the American culture of individualism soaks in, the mission for the Lord decreases... I pray we'd see the preciousness of church, as messy as it will be.

There are so many great resources for the laymen on church which have way better things to say than I can. I didn't mention any of the essentials 9Marks make like preaching, membership, discipleship, evangelism. Those are so so crucial so if anything read those than what I said because I may have just rambled. haha. A helpful website when looking for a church.

http://9marks.org/ 

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Questions/QA121