loving the church

I woke up sad this morning. It felt ackward. I couldn't explain why. I just felt sad. So, curious to what the Lord might be doing I sat with Him on the couch and began to process my thoughts. Why do I feel this way?

Then it hit me. I'm tired of Believers slandering Believers. And I'm really exhausted from the amount of power abuse that I hear about when leaders try to "control" their sheep. I'm not talking about subtle power trips. But its manipulative condescending counsel that ultimately ends up bringing a lot of confusion, A LOT of hurt, and many times feeling alienated within your community.

Here's my simple revelation. Everyone has feelings. Treat people with honor. If you don't agree with someone, get over it. And if the Holy Spirit hasn't told you to give (your) advice, then choose not to give any at all. What's the point of idle talk (not being guided by the Holy Spirit in your speech), just so you look good and have all the answers, but yet have no fruit? If you disagree with a leader, still love them.

Jesus was not about being right, but He became the Truth to the people. If we really want to have an influence as leaders, as the Church, we must become passionate about one another! Put away our differences, our doctrinal disagreements, our perfect formulas for winning people's hearts, and our ideologies for the simple fact that we need to be brought back to a place of loving each other. Philipplians 2 is a beautiful example of what it means to lay our lives down for one another. If you have another problem with someone, or a particular group, or even a ministry itself, be the person who rises above and settles it with those leaders. It would help to hear their hearts before we choose to make our judgments. Don't be putting it on fb or twitter, or slander an individual by spilling it out with your spouse, and especially don't go to someone who is not even a part of that group and begin to vomit over everyone how much you disagree or hate something about a leader or group.

Let's change the world differently than how we have in the past! When you want a child to be obedient, you don't tell him what he's not doing....you tell him what he should be doing. Likewise, instead of picking on the Church about every single thing they are doing wrong, how about teaching the truth of God's Word and living out how to do it right?! The truth is, people would rather tell you what you're doing wrong because then they don't have to be accountable to the truth of how to live out the gospel right. For example, instead of saying "the church doesn't believe in signs and wonders anymore. They've taken the supernatural life out of their daily walk." How about changing it to, "if you want to see healing in your church, all you have to do is believe the fullness of God lives in you, receive, believe and pray. You can do it!" But teaching the truth challenges believers, because then they become accountable to the Word. Live your life as the loudest influence for believers. And choose to honor people despite what you think or what you observe. If you have questions, ask them....don't just assume or make judgmental or cynical presumptions. Choose today to love your neighbor. Remember, were brothers, joined together by the blood of Christ. You deserve to be loved and accepted by me. It seems as if believers find it easier to love the unchurched rather than the churched. That's messed up. Jesus paid for it all. I don't need to persecute you. Hear my heart. I'm choosing to get over our differences so that Jesus is not limited through my own ideas of what I think is right. Love outside the box.....He did.

John 15:12 "My command is this, that you love one another as I have loved you."