9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)
As I was listening to the well meaning pastor cutting in and out on my car radio, I made note to how she communicated the message of Christ. With the tone of a parent’s heartbreak, they painted a dire picture. Cosmic debt, the garden, and sacrifice were all explained with the frustration that only comes from years of pleading. As I sat and pondered in my Saturn Ion amidst the delayed red light, I thought about how we are to communicate these cosmic truths. The message of Christ is as simple as it is multi-faceted. Spending any time in a church or in ministry, will teach you that there are many ways to present what is known as the “Gospel”. On this particular day I found frustration with the pastor who, like many of us, presents in a way that only insiders understand. It is like you need a hall pass to understand these basic truths. In that one-way monologue, there was no room for an outsider, no room for questions, and no room for community. All three are foundational to our faith and loom large shadows underneath our cross of salvation.
Perhaps the expanse of the message of Christ is best presented under the broken confines of relationship than by the cold and distant pulpit.
We are a product of our past. Good or bad, we carry with us all the choices and strain of a life half lived. The Church is no different. Even the most progressive churches among us, still hold to the history of those who came before. And while tradition is beautiful and desired, we can be limited by it just as we are limited to our own genetic makeup. We then simply pass on what we have learned, in the manner in which we learned it all the while claiming buzz words like “relevance” and “authentic”. Yet until we create something new, we might simply be recycling the old.
While saying this, I pray for Christ to take back over His Church. The ways we fail are unsuccessful because we alone are not humble enough to let Him lead us into the corners of culture and reason in which we fear to travel. May He present fresh ways to articulate, relate, and love, and may we simply listen and act. The Church has always needed followers not leaders. Christ doesn’t care how many are behind you if you have no one in front.
Today, pray for understanding. May the Lord of the Gospel present His compelling life and mission to your heart and may it create a beautiful art that penetrates a desperate culture.
Matt simon blog 