Church is So Much Easier When...
...you don't actually know the people you attend with. I went out to lunch yesterday with a couple of fellow board members, and learned that the nice old lady who gives me a kiss every Sunday morning harbors some poisonous grudge against another woman in the church and has been known to make totally inappropriate comments about her in the foyer. Unbelievable.And then I'm reminded that were there are plenty of things about my life that would come as a total revelation to the people I attend church with. I swear far more than I should, I am a total screwup with my finances, and I harbor thoughts that I don't ever want to share with another soul.
But my real point is that after the awkwardness of discovering unpleasantries about another person, what should prevail is grace. I need it, she needs it, we all need it. God gives it abundantly, and we can and should be conduits of that grace to each other. Confessing the truth about the sins we commit shouldn't invite alienation or condemnation, it should invite grace.
posted by Zeke @ 8:26 AM
2 Comments:
I remember as a kid when I met Snoopy (at least, a guy in a Snoopy suit) at a Butternut Bread outlet. I shook his hand and hugged him, then went into the store.
It was a hot day, so Snoopy came in and went into a back room.
I snuck over and opened the door... and saw Snoopy reach for his head.
GASP!
He took it off, and some sweaty guy who looked like Napoleon Dynamite (it was the 70's, okay?) wiped his brow.
Sometimes it stinks to look behind the door.
Then again, I think I grew up a little bit that day.
How amazing it is that our God says, "Come near to me and I will come near to you." He isn't afraid for us to see Him more closely... for there are no masks when it comes to Him.
Mr. Zeke, that was so beautifully put! I have enjoyed your authenticity. It is breath of fresh air.
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