Ted's Espresso Cafe

Is the Church becoming an amputee?

I have been reading this book called “The Love Dare” which is a series of devotional stories to help you in your marriage realize the importance of your marriage. At the end of the devotion there is a love dare, a challenge for the spouse to complete which can be difficult but rewarding at times. In this book I was reading the devotion today which dealt with a person who takes there car in to a mechanic. The owner finds out that the cost of the fix is more than their current budget. The owner of the care decides it would be better to trade in the car for a newer one rather spend the time and money to fix it. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Another gentleman who is an engineer crushes his hand in a piece of equipment. He goes to the emergency room and has it x-rayed and finds multiple broken bones in his hands. He proceeds to have a cast put on his hand and also goes through many costly surgeries and physical therapy visits in order to fix his hand. This scenario also seemed pretty reasonable. The example here deals with a marriage and how many people would rather trade in there spouse for a new one rather than to work on the marriage even though it is hard work and costly. The engineer didn’t just cut off his hand and give up. As I thought this through I also thought of the church and wondered if the church is giving up because we are experiencing difficult times in this world. I look and read about so many churches who are cutting off this ministry or that ministry or their association with other churches because it’s too difficult to work on the CHURCH relationship, the community. I think it is becoming much easier for the church today to separate themselves from other churches and do their own thing. I don’t know but it would seem to me that if we are to go into battle against the opposition of the world, wouldn’t it be better to do it with greater numbers. If you are on the battle field face to face with five of the enemy and you had another person near by that you didn’t see eye to eye on everything, wouldn’t you use that person anyway to fight? Wouldn’t you beg for help and receive that help? Wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to get him on your side for a common cause? Or would you simply cut him off and try to be the big hero even when he might have more ammo, more experience, and more people behind him. I see the church doing this today. I’m not saying every church, but more than we need. If we see a need in our own church, in order to move forward into battle and win the war, why do we turn our back on the problem, cut it off from the finance and prayer it takes to make it work? We are loosing the battle within our own walls a lot of time. If we can’t win the small fights in the walls of our own church then we will never win the battle outside of the church. Soon we will become crushed and we will be amputated and lifeless.
10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas[a]"; still another, "I follow Christ."
The Mission at hand is bigger than you and me. I surly don’t want to be cut off from what God has called me to do. Christ told us to amputate the sin not the sinner.