A Very Peculiar People

Have you ever noticed that Christians are strange? We fight like cats and dogs about things Jesus never even talked about. We spend way too much time trying to impress each other. We worship a carpenter. Christians are a pretty peculiar bunch. In fact, the Bible even says so. 1 Peter 2:9 (The Message) tells us that we are a "peculiar people" who have been "called out of darkness into His marvelous light." But in this case, peculiar doesn't mean strange, as it so often does when our society describes us. It means special. More specifically, in this instance it means we are special to God, who loved us so much He sacrificed his only Son so that we might spend eternity in communion with Him. Jesus died so that we could follow his example and show others how to walk in the Light. What a peculiar thing to do...

Demonstrating God's love is the whole reason the Church exists. It isn't intended a private club where members go to uphold sacred rituals and traditions. It isn't a supposed to be a place to argue about whether my way of worshiping is better than yours. It isn't a building where people who think they have all the answers and are better than everyone else hang out. It isn't a place where we attempt to dictate the politics of our nation. The Church was designed by God to be a living organism- a body of believers - who bring the light of Christ into a dark and hurting world. When the church gathers our message should not be "we are right and you are wrong." Instead, we should resonate with a message of hope and love. Our very lives should scream that God is love, and that is worthy to receive all the honor and praise we can possibly give our Creator!!! We worry so much about "converting" people to our way of thinking. Our job is to love them and show them Jesus. God still handles all the conversions...

When our churches are truly being the Church, working as God planned, then we are like lighthouses. When we worship God through our music, our messages, our giving and our service it is like we are shining the Light, showing all of the world what a glorious and mighty God we serve. It is true that people cannot see God. It is also true that they can, if we choose to be lighthouses, see Jesus shine through the Church and through each of us. It is not our light, not our wisdom and not our love that the world needs. It is his. Through Jesus, we are God's Plan A for lighting this dark world. There is no Plan B.  

I have heard so many people lamenting lately what a terrible place this world has become. The darkness is thick and heavy all around us. But John 1:8 reminds us that "the Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it."  The question, Church, is this: Are we still peculiar enough to believe that? Have a blessed Sabbath, my friends.

Because of Jesus,