Circuit Thoughts

The words of John 17:25 seem to keep coming back to haunt the American church. Last week we saw tragedy and heartache. We have witnessed death and sorrow. As we look to the future, we hear these words, “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me.”

I am becoming more convinced that when we look for someone to blame for these horrific episodes, we need look no further than our churches and our congregations.

Have you ever asked yourself why people don’t know Jesus? Have you wondered why people don’t know the bible stories that you heard, or know the hymns that you sang? Have you ever wondered why people think the golden rule is “they that have the gold makes the rules”?

It’s because we haven’t shared our faith. I can blame pastors, because we have built up a culture that focused evangelism on the pastor and not the members of the church. I can blame the pastors also for practicing “In church conversion” rather than “going and making disciples.”

Yes, I stand convicted of not sharing Christ, as Christ taught me. But I do not take the blame alone. We are all culpable for the lack of knowledge of God in our community, state, and country.

Maybe the questions we need to ask ourselves is “Why am I not sharing my faith?” or “Why am I not showing my faith?” Perhaps we need to stop looking for someone else to share the Gospel and start doing it ourselves.

Now, I’m not talking about sharing your denominationally affiliated dogma. I’m talking about simply sharing your faith and thus sharing Christ. I’m talking about sharing and showing the three commandments; Love God, Love neighbor, Love one another. This is all it takes to show your faith.

Our churches need to start giving permission to its members to share Christ. We need to stop stepping back and start moving forward in sharing Christ. We need to be a people of Christ’s Holy Church, you know the one we all belong to, regardless of your denomination.

Imagine if these perpetrators of crime had heard of Christ from someone who cared. Would that have stopped their crime? I don’t know, but it wouldn’t have hurt.

Yes folks, I am upset by what has been happening. And I can’t help but think that we of the church have a part in the blame on this. Currently many of our denominations are in-fighting. Churches are denouncing other churches. There are splits and schisms. Our witness is not very positive.

But you and I can change the narrative. We can be the people God has called us to be, and we can lead others to Christ. All we need to do is live the Christ following, live changing faith that we believe.

God will change the world, with or without us. I hope you and I can be part of that change. If we aren’t part of the change, then we are by default, part of the problem.

See you in church.