Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Loving the Bride

I got this from a good friend this morning via email. I read it twice and thought it was very good.

I have been criticized by friends of mine who no longer attend church that Church is irrelevant to them. These are people born and raised in the Church. Many are evangelical and pentecostal. They will not long come to a church that doesn't fit what they are looking for. One is wrong. They don't like looking for Jesus in places he isn't.

I love the church, but it is wrinkled and spotted, flawed and fallen, more like the wife of Hosea than the bride of Christ.

Hosea loved her anyhow and I do too.

It doesn't mean she is to be accepted in her current state. She needs to come back to her bridegroom. She needs to discover who she really is. Who's name she carries.

So in that way I love the Church and give myself for her washing in redemption.

She many times hates me for that. Thinks she is OK. She's always been like this and why should she change now. I'm not dissuaded. She needs to come back to the bedroom and know her Master. Read the Song of Songs again. She is the Shulamite. I am the Shulamite. You are.

The daughters of Jerusalem are those who beat her. That's religion. When she begins to seek her beloved Religion says NO!

She needs to learn to run to the high mountains once again and not be content to stay at home when the Bridegroom beckons.

So, read this whole thing. It should, will stir you.

WE must love the Church but press hard for her redemption. It's the only hope for salvation on the earth, the Body of Christ.

You Can’t Love Jesus and Hate His Wife

Ed Stetzer writes: "Get this. I'm standing in a reception line with my wife following a speaking engagement when this guy comes up to me and starts telling me how he's read all my books, has heard me speak on several occasions and told me how influential I've been to his ministry. (Please, go on!) He talks about how he's introduced a number of his pastor friends to all things Stetzer and how they actually traveled across country to be at this event. Wow!

But then, he starts verbally ripping on my wife like she's not even standing there. She's right there! He thinks my wife, who has been the love of my life and a partner in ministry for 25 years, is a drain on my ability to influence others. He says she's obsolete and that the "old girl is a little faded." I'm in shock.

Suddenly, the cheesy Christian motto of the 1990s flashes through my mind: What would Jesus do? Turn the other cheek? Pray for His enemy? Hand this guy His cloak? I'm about to go Jack Bauer on him..."

I think Jesus would have been ticked - like any normal husband would be. You see, the church is the Bride of Christ. And, you don’t mess with a man’s wife.

The story about my wife is made up. The reality of what professing believers of Christ do to and what they say about His bride - the church - is not. And it is exponentially more serious than saying my wife is “a little faded.” (And I would take that pretty seriously!).

You cannot say you love Jesus and abuse His wife.

Unfortunately, there is a prevailing wind currently blowing across Western Evangelicalism that has caused an ecclesiological (church) drift into dangerous waters. Research stalwart George Barna documented the trend in a longitudinal study released in 2005. One alarming element of the study showed that 70 percent of respondents found their primary means of spiritual expression through the local church in 2000, but by 2025 he predicts those numbers to decrease by at least half. Did you get that? Now, I have some quibbles about the numbers and more about the theology. But, if Barna is right, in less than 20 years, only 30-35 people out of 100 will believe that the church holds a primary significance in their relationship with Christ. That’s stunning for someone who loves the church (like I do).

We were surprised that in our recent research on young adult dropouts, the most common reasons young adults dropped out of church were lifestyle reasons. They got too busy, moved too far away, or experienced some other life change. And the church did not make the new list of priorities. Nice.

My question is how can anyone give even a cursory read of the New Testament and miss the supreme importance given to the church by the One who is most Supreme? Paul says that we were once “alienated and hostile in mind because of [our] evil actions. But now He has reconciled [us] by His physical body through His death, to present [us] holy, faultless and blameless before Him.” Paul goes on to say that he rejoices in his suffering because his suffering is “completing in [his] flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church.” (Colossians 1:21-24 HCSB)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

what does Barna mean by "church"? I would assume he means the outward visible "church" that can be numbered, that meets together in a place for worship. I think the Scripture defines the church as the "fellowship of "saints", believers in Christ, the number of those who have faith in the work , death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for salvation, and "only the Lord knows them that are His". However, if one truly has the living faith, he/she will gather for public worship, prayer, service, and be encouraged through the Word and the gospel to live out each day of the week to the glory of God, and will seek for strengthening of faith and motivations for service through the fellowship of Christ's people.The church is not one person. People who say they believe in Christ but not the "institutional" church, have some problems probably. (1) They may not be in a"church" that is faithful to the Gospel and the Word of God (2) they are reluctant to get involved in the real mission of the church, as outlined in the Scripture (3)they are repeating the worn-out mantra as an excuse to not get involved in the mission and ministry of true Christian churches.