Sunday, July 27, 2008
The Sabbath
Well, today is Sunday...In our culture the day we are suppose to go to church. I have been struggling with this tradition for a while but I am seeking God's guidance as to what I am to do with it! I started reading a book, "The Early Church" by Henry Chadwick, in my search to discover how the church started and how we ended up where we are today. It is a great book with a lot of information. I consider myself a fast reader but this is a book that takes some time to comprehend! It is not that I do not ever want to attend church, it is that I want to know why I am there and if I am in the place God has called me to be. I have never in my Christian walk asked God where I should go to church. I have always attended a particular denomination because that is how I was raised. I was told that was the "right way." Now, as I have matured in my spiritual walk, I am beginning to see that one denomination is not better than another. It doesn't get you to Heaven faster or closer to Christ quicker. Denominations are simply preferences to how you worship Christ. The only way to Heaven is belief in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Throughout the gospels, Jesus repeatedly says He is the Son of God and belief in Him is the only way to God. He mentions nothing about dividing the church into denominations. I am all for finding a place I feel that I can worship Christ and it is a fit for me, but when I find myself judging other believers for their style of worshiping the same Christ then I need to check my own heart. We will all worship together one day in Heaven and who knows what that will look like!! So maybe we need to be more open minded to others styles of worship! Now, my struggle is this... I have tasted the depth of relationships and it is becoming very hard for me to be surface with people so I don't want to waste my time doing activities that are surface, including church! I want to go to church for the sole reason to worship my God and Jesus His Son. I don't want to be the church lady- involved in activities up to my head but none of them for the right reasons. Believe me, I have been there and it is not fulfilling. When I do stuff for myself and none of it is for my relationship with Christ. I want to serve everyone God puts in my path. People in the world are hurting and have needs and they have been so turned off by church you will not find them there, so I need to pay attention to who God is putting in my path and reach out when The Spirit is telling me too. I have a strong belief that we would not find Jesus in church on Sunday! I think He would be out healing, ministering, loving the broken, hurt, sick people in the world!! Now...what do I do with my struggle...I am seeking God and I don't have an answer right now, so I am waiting......
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3 comments:
Love it Jame! Rock on!!!
I love your Heart and I am so blessed you share it with me!
I thought I might give some insight to the whole sabbath question. I think this is a good struggle for every Christian to go through in order to reach the true meaning of why you go to worship. First, we must recognize there is not one church that is perfect. Everyone one has traditions and rituals that are not that beneficial. Even the early church had traditions that they followed. Does that mean that church is meaningless or wrong, in my opinion "no". Scripture is full of reasons why we should enjoy corporate worship and fellowship. Acts 2:37-47 is one example of the early church and what the believers devoted themselves to. There is something special about being together in worship with other believers. Now, do we have the opportunity to be with every believer every week, no, therfore we have local churches.
Second, the Sabbath is really considered a day of rest and a day to worship God and praise him, which I admit we don't usually hold very well too in our culture. The purpose of the Sabbath is that God created the world in six days and then on the seventh he rested. And then one of the ten commandments is that we are to keep the Sabbath holy. Now the Sabbath in our culture is on Sunday, that was not true and is still not true for Jewish people, theirs begins on Friday night and ends Saturday night. (This is probably what the early church honored) The Sabbath is day that is set aside that we come together to give God all the honor and praise for all he has done. Now, each individual believer is responsible for coming prepared to worship. To me, this is were the church looks at fault because a lot of people come to worship in a half-hearted way. Should that fault the church, no, because it is our job as Christians to build each other up. Now, did Jesus honor the Sabbath. I believe he did, there were times that he stepped out and healed people, but I believe that he also honored the Sabbath. To me the church has two functions to worship and grow together as believers and to minister to those who are hurting.
Third, denominations are much a tougher issue. Yes, believers are all suppose to serve Jesus Christ. And many denominations were started over silly arguments. However, there is validity to many denominations. To me denominations are much more complex than worship style. There are many theological ideas that seperate many denominations. I believe that is something that you need to study more in depth. I think that the church we are involved in we should allow the Spirit to lead us too. It is not something we choose over worship style.
Lastly, every believer must be careful of being involved in to many activities. Romans 12:3-8 tells us that God gives us all certain spiritual gifts and that we are to work together for the greater good of the Kingdom of God. I think each believer should be using there gifts to help their church reach their mission statement. But, at the same time you don't have to do everything! I believe it is more dangerous to be in a place that your gifts are not beneficial than to say no. However, every believer should be using their gifts for something, and not sitting on the bench expecting others to do the job!!! God gifted us with gifts for a reason.
I believe that we would see Jesus in the church, as a church staff member, I know that at our church that is what we are doing every time we bring people together...ministering to the broken, healing relationships, loving the unloved, helping people grow in their walk!! It may look different that when Jesus was on earth, but we are trying to accomplish the same goal. Just remember there is much more going on in the church than what your eyes can see!!
I hope my insights in what God has taught me over the years is helpful! And I hope and pray that God will continue to help you answer this question in your life.
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