Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Common Ground
Last night at a meeting of the Outreach Ministry Team that I chair, we talked about whether our church functions more as a courtroom or a hospital. The courtroom church is big on rules and judgment and the wrath of God. Legalism prevails. The hospital church focuses on treating the wounded. The emphasis is on God's grace, yet in the name of not offending, God's holiness is often compromised.
It was an interesting discussion, to be sure.
We talked about the spiritual and emotional health of the rehab ladies who attend our church services every week. We talked about their struggles to experience forgiveness and break free from the bondage of guilt. And as we talked, I thought about my own struggles.
We are all empty. We are all in need of God's love. That is our common ground.
Something came over me, like a woman possessed. "Look, either Jesus Christ died for our sins or he didn,t," I said emphatically. "We believe it here," tapping my forehead forcefully with my index finger, "but we have to believe it here," tapping my heart.
I repeated a similar message to the rehab ladies during our Bible study today. "The world will tell you that only good people can approach God," I said. "But just the opposite is true. When we are broken, we find ourselves in a position to receive God's love more fully -- out of our emptiness and spiritual poverty. This is the common ground that all of us share."
God's love is a soothing and enduring power in our lives. I asked the women to journal about a pain or experience in their life that needed God's healing touch. Each time someone shared their answer out loud, we all responded, "Lord you are good and your mercy endures forever."
Nothing can shock me anymore. I've heard it all in the last three years. Nothing they tell me can change the love I feel for them. Why? OUR common ground -- yours, mine, theirs. We all have an intense need for God's love that springs from brokenness.
I asserted to the women, "The world will tell you that some sins are 'worse' than others ... oh whatever! But God tells us, I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more....
That's when it really hit me -- stop looking in the rear view mirror. Unless we have a time machine (and I'm pretty sure none of us do), we absolutely cannot change the past. We seem to be able to accept God's forgiveness, yet we are paralyzed by the inability to forgive ourselves. Our guilt, shame and remorse consume us. We wonder if the thoughts will ever stop pounding in our brains. Is this how God desires for us to live? Absolutely not! That's bondage, not grace. And though I've always known this in my head, today that truth made the long journey from my head ... to my heart.
That's when I knew it. I am forgiven.
Keeping my eyes out of the rear view mirror and pointed toward the road that God has set before me, I feel hopeful; I feel bold; I feel free; I feel humble; I feel grateful. I understand the task at hand -- live a life worthy of God's call.
From the common ground of emptiness, we experience God's love in a powerful way; a love that soothes our weary soul; a love that gives us hope; a love that redeems us.
Behold, the old has gone, the new has come.
It was an interesting discussion, to be sure.
We talked about the spiritual and emotional health of the rehab ladies who attend our church services every week. We talked about their struggles to experience forgiveness and break free from the bondage of guilt. And as we talked, I thought about my own struggles.
We are all empty. We are all in need of God's love. That is our common ground.
Something came over me, like a woman possessed. "Look, either Jesus Christ died for our sins or he didn,t," I said emphatically. "We believe it here," tapping my forehead forcefully with my index finger, "but we have to believe it here," tapping my heart.
I repeated a similar message to the rehab ladies during our Bible study today. "The world will tell you that only good people can approach God," I said. "But just the opposite is true. When we are broken, we find ourselves in a position to receive God's love more fully -- out of our emptiness and spiritual poverty. This is the common ground that all of us share."
God's love is a soothing and enduring power in our lives. I asked the women to journal about a pain or experience in their life that needed God's healing touch. Each time someone shared their answer out loud, we all responded, "Lord you are good and your mercy endures forever."
Nothing can shock me anymore. I've heard it all in the last three years. Nothing they tell me can change the love I feel for them. Why? OUR common ground -- yours, mine, theirs. We all have an intense need for God's love that springs from brokenness.
I asserted to the women, "The world will tell you that some sins are 'worse' than others ... oh whatever! But God tells us, I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more....
That's when it really hit me -- stop looking in the rear view mirror. Unless we have a time machine (and I'm pretty sure none of us do), we absolutely cannot change the past. We seem to be able to accept God's forgiveness, yet we are paralyzed by the inability to forgive ourselves. Our guilt, shame and remorse consume us. We wonder if the thoughts will ever stop pounding in our brains. Is this how God desires for us to live? Absolutely not! That's bondage, not grace. And though I've always known this in my head, today that truth made the long journey from my head ... to my heart.
That's when I knew it. I am forgiven.
Keeping my eyes out of the rear view mirror and pointed toward the road that God has set before me, I feel hopeful; I feel bold; I feel free; I feel humble; I feel grateful. I understand the task at hand -- live a life worthy of God's call.
From the common ground of emptiness, we experience God's love in a powerful way; a love that soothes our weary soul; a love that gives us hope; a love that redeems us.
Behold, the old has gone, the new has come.
