What Church?

I have never seen war.

 I've never stared into the eyes of murderers. Never had to sit through the screams of tortured flesh. I have never had to run or hide from anything. Never had a tremendous fear for my life or the well being of my family and friends. I've never had to walk amongst the rubble of dead bodies, or gaze upon children crouching behind abandoned vehicles. Now, Let me make it a bit more personal for you. YOU have never been ripped out of your bed in the middle of the night. Hostage has never been a label you claim. You've never been imprisoned for reasons beyond your control. You've never had your mother and father or sister and brother brutally murdered in front of you. Your brow has never dripped with the toil of till. And your hands have never broken in labor. 

I, you, WE--are blessed.

Out of our mouths flow complaints and mumbles. We grumble about bitterness and gossip and slander our brothers and sisters. Different churches, different cultures, different families...SAME land, SAME species, SAME God.

What church? What church has the right to claim fame? What church has the right to claim sovereignty? What church has the right to claim truth? I'll tell you. The church who's ministry is not money. The church who's heart is not for the saved. The church who's mouths are SHUT in the face of adversity. Jesus was not a back talker. He was not a gossiper, or a bigot. He was not a deacon or a treasurer. He wasn't a politician and He was not a soldier. He was a Saviour. How dare we as a "church" think we have any right to speak against such things. Have we mimicked the attributes of Christ? Does the world see us as refuge? Do they see us as compassionate and loving? No, they see our mess... They see our anger and resentment towards other people and other churches. They see our competition and our backbiting. They see our selective processing and our weapons. 

We have forgotten our battle. We have lost sight of our struggle. We spend all of our time figuring out theologies and trying to separate false doctrine from truth and we lose sight of the real fight. Jesus never came for the saved. He didn't come for the righteous. He came for the sinner. He came for the poor man, the drunkard, the addict, the prostitute, the liars, and thieves. He came for the Mary Magdalene's  and the Zaccheus'. For the Sauls and Judas'. He came for the woman at the well, the blind man on the side of the road, the lame at the beautiful. He came to bring life in abundance. So where do we come in...where do we draw the line? How many more people have to die until we rise up in truth? How long will the world go not knowing what the heart of Jesus really looks like?

We've never in our lives had to fight for anything. We look at our insignificant struggles and cry and moan and complain. We have never had to live with bombs blaring in the middle of the night. Never had our homes broken into to be forced from our beds. Never been bound and gagged or beaten and tortured.   We have never truly had to fight. 

Church, I beg of you. Consider your life. Consider your homes and your cars. Consider yourselves blessed. Then--consider yourselves obligated to do the work and will of the Father. Because we have no right to complain--we have never seen war.