Have you ever noticed that there is no neutral ground in the Kingdom of God? Jesus said that he who does not gather with Him scatters. You're either a gatherer or a scatterer. You're either building the Kingdom of God, or tearing it down by default. There are no disinterested spectators in the Kingdom of God - only builders or destroyers.
Lately I am coming to a much greater understanding of the frustration God exhibits toward the lukewarm Christian. In Revelation he tells us he will spew the lukewarm out of His mouth. Have you ever met anyone who just didn't want to do anything? People like that really scare me. Hangers on. They don't want to lift a brick to help build the walls, but they still want to claim association with the group. They don't have the decency to sit down with the "cold" people and get the heck out of the way of those who are building. Perhaps they would recoil at the idea of being labeled destroyers because to their own minds they aren't actually tearing bricks off of the wall. But they are destroyers by default because their lackadaisical attitude impedes the progress of those who would build, either by distraction, disruption, or a refusal to add needed resources and energy to the building.
I think each of us have played both roles at one time or another. Oh, I do believe that there are those who are predominantly one or the other. But I also think its worth while for each of us to examine our daily actions and ask ourselves if we are building or destroying in different areas of our life - with our relationships, finances, and other resources. Let's not be fooled into thinking that our selfishness or disinterest affects no one but ourselves, because every choice we make is either an act of gathering or scattering.
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4 comments:
I've felt the same way in the past at times, and probably do still sometimes. But I've also grown a bit more...patient, maybe? with those who might seem to just be in the way. I'm assuming you're talking about those who seem to "do nothing" within a church?
Sometimes, people need a break, a time to heal and be nourished for a while. And for some, that time might be quite a while and I'm okay with that.
No, the ones I'm more impatient with are the ones who are busily building a kingdom they call "christian," but it's a kingdom that I don't recognize as being either biblical or Christian in nature.
As King said, when we're right, we can't be too radical, when we're wrong, we can't be too conservative. I wish more of the church would be conservative in that sense.
Yes - I would agree with you entirely, I think you are expanding on my final paragraph where I call for everone to examine each action and ask themselves the question, "Is this action gather ing or scattering?"
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