Yesterday, I went on a rant about a situation that really pressed me. Actually, it’s still grinds my gears but, besides that, it also reminded me of who I am in the body of Christ. I addressed the Church as “Christians”, rather than addressing them as the Bride, the beautiful body of Christ, my brothers and sisters, and so on.
I realized, that although I was trying to give perspective and fight for someone, I could have been fighting for the whole Church. The funny thing is, I was upset about how the “Christian“ community treats Lauren Daigle. There’s been a wrench thrown in thousands of peoples personal lives, I’m being dramatic of course, because she doesn’t say the name of Jesus Christ often enough in her music. She performed on the show of an openly gay woman, who is in an openly gay relationship and she doesn‘t showcase her faith enough on interviews that she has.
Now, I’m not going to go on another rant about this. I’m not going to ask you, again, how many time a day or week that you openly say the name of Jesus Christ. No, actually, I am going to do the opposite and be the change that I want to see in the Church.
In this blog, I am writing a letter to the Church of America and if I’m lucky, it will reach, maybe, 500 people. I’m a huge believer in chain reactions, so if it reaches that many, then maybe those people will be inspired to reach their friends and encourage their communities as well. If it only reaches the 80 subscribers that I have to my Blog, then it only reaches them and I still believe in the same results. At the end of the day, I just want people to be reminded of who they are, how much they’re loved and how important, no, crucial it is to uplift our family of believers.
without further ado, i‘ll begin.
Bride of America,
You are a beautiful and glorious sight. You have a radiance and glow about you, that I believe you’ve forgotten. The radiance that you exude is one of craftsmanship, creativity and intentionality. The glory that people see, is one of truth, peace, righteousness, compassion and love. As individual people who make up the body, each of you carry a specific mantle of influence on the people who are around you. Whether you know them or not, they’re always watching and picking up on how you exemplify the heart of Jesus. As a body, the World is watching how you treat other parts of the body in different areas of the city, state, coast and country. Therefore, it is vital that we take our identity and commission very seriously. The Bible is clear, “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35
Our job, our partnership with the Lord, has been to given to us by the grace and love of Jesus Christ.
Often times I hear people say that God doesn’t need us to do His work, but He invites us in to working with Him to accomplish His will. This is true, but I think that, that very statement sets us up for complacency and entitlement. The mindset being that whatever we don’t do, God will, so we can get away with doing the bare minimum. Absolutely not. We are to do everything we can to meet the world around us where it’s at and make it a more relationship oriented place.
It’s one thing to be asked to help with something, but it’s another thing to be called to do something. For example, when you need your plumbing fixed, do you call the fire department or a police officer? No, you call a plumber to come and use his or her, specific set of skills to do the job with excellence and joy. We call the plumber because we are confident that they will complete the job because it’s what’s they’ve been trained to do.
Like the plumber that we confidently call, the Father calls you and I to be people who use their skills and gifts to bring more people to Jesus.
I firmly believe that God has confidence in us, I firmly believe that, although He doesn’t need us, He knows that we can get the job done and trusts us.
But what happens when the job doesn’t get done properly? What happens when we fall short or miss a step? Well, because we are imperfect, this is where we exercise humility and respect. We exercise humility by going to the Father and we tell Him where we’ve messed up, then we ask Him for help cleaning it up. After that, we go to whoever our fault affected, we taken ownership for what we did wrong, ask for forgiveness and then work through the mess together. We demonstrate respect by being honest about our shortcomings and we remind each other that we are all on equal playing ground, that there is room for grace and for error.
Church, too many times, I’ve seen us forget who we are as the Bride. I’ve seen us act catty, judgmental, selfish and ruthless. Y’all, that is NOT who we are!! As the a beautiful and radiant Bride, we are supposed to “Clothe ourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience”. We are supposed to “forgive each other and forgive whatever grievances we may have against one another. Forgive as the Jesus has forgiven us.” Colossians 3:12,13
Earthly perspective, brides aren’t raunchy, rude, trashy, hateful, spiteful or malicious on their wedding day. At least, they’re not supposed to be. They’re ravishing, expectant, excited, joyful and most of all, so in love with their groom.
Heavenly perspective, that’s who we are, that’s who are are supposed to be. Because of the blood of Jesus, we are pure, righteous, loving people. Nothing less, only more, because of Him.
When we see or think we see faults in the people around us, or when faults are admitted by the people around us, our job is to pick them up under the arms and remind them of who. they. are.
When the world comes at us sideways with slander, mockery and hate, we don’t stoop to their level. We stand up, walk into their space, shake their hand and invite them to sit at our table so that we can get to know them, they can get to know us and Jesus better. We don’t shove them away because they don’t agree or understand.
We are called to “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear – hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” Jude 1:22,23.
Fam, if you caught that last part of Jude 1:23, it says, “hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh”. This doesn’t say, “hating even then person stained by corrupted flesh.” It says CLOTHING. This makes me think of Matthew 25:36, Jesus said “I needed clothes and you clothed me…” Physically, people may not need clothes, but spiritually, they need a new set of clothes. I know you know someone who can wash anyone clean and give them a new robe. Don’t rob people of what they have access to!!! We are called to want more for the people around us. We are called to hate the tattered, ragged and filthy clothing that this world gives us to wear. Once we know Jesus, we are royal and righteous and the best part is, there’s more than enough to go around for everyone to reap from the same harvest as you!
For this New Year and until our Groom comes for His Bride, let’s invite in the neighbor that may not understand the destruction that awaits him/her because they don’t know their Savior. SNATCH THOSE HOMIES OUT DUDE, HAVE FREAKIN’ MERCY! Jesus has it for you, He has it for me, He has it for everyone.
When we see someone in the family fall short or when they do something that we don’t understand, let’s remind each other of who we are and Who made us into a new creation. Let’s seek to understand each other instead of assuming the worst.
As a Church, let’s be better. That’s my goal for this year. I hope you could make it yours too.
I love you all,
Mariss
