the church may be a whore but she is still my mother.
this line had me thinking all weekend because it's something i've been struggling over for quite sometime especially as i see people come and go in our churches. recently a student asked me about when it's ok to leave a church and it's a much more complicated answer the more i think about it.
we can't escape family. it doesn't matter how scarcely we see each other or how much pain and damage we have experienced from being in one. it don't matter if you are disappointed with the way your brother has acted or how they can embarass you at times. we're family and we gots to show love. the moment we decided to want the life that God desires to give us we became blood-tied. btw, i'm not talking about rccc here specifically. 'the church' is bigger than rccc or the church that you attend. there are no perfect churches out there but we all want one just like we want a perfect family. ah that's good. but at the core our disunity, our dysfunctionalism, is a matter of unbelief.
it's strange now how much i need to care for my own mom. it actually hurts. it hurts to see how frail she is and how alone she can be at night because my dad is no longer around. even i have left her to make it on her own miles away because she should be able to take care of herself. yes, she could. but. it's not just about doing things for her. it's about loving her. in youth group i often get the most sad when i see and hear students disrespecting their moms. it riles me up.
we think we can autonomous christians. we don't realize how infantile we can be at churches we attend, sucking the life right out of her like a parasite. we may have been there for years warming the seats for two hours a week with our brains and stomachs becoming more oversized for the rest of our body.get off yo mama's boob! that's the anthem.
i'm there too. i'm by no means a perfect example or loving brother. i pursue after many loves, storing up treasures on earth. and it's all too easy for me to be a pharisee than most. we live in this difficult frustrating tension though on this side of heaven. the church, this enterprise that we're on together, that we are all in together if we profess Jesus Christ, is only a forestaste. it's an already but not yet. it's ok to long for more but just don't expect perfection to happen right now in your church or any other church that you think may have it all together. we need to help each other and others get 'there' in one piece. faith is seeing what Jesus will do with all of us, and even incredibly more so. believe and join him --- i love the church and i'm here to serve her.
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i like you flash ::. anybody need to feel better after that and be assured of my love? well...here's an, i really really really like you flash.
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. : : .
a friend of mine has worked together with josh harris on his new book, stop dating the church. i've finally come around to checking it out. hit up the site. good stuff. it's about time.
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worthwhile lissenance for the angst filled soul ::.
from U2's new album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb --- listen to the whole album stream here ... whoah. i'm in a state of blissful loss of breath.
i'm totally bummed that i missed the concert in nyc today...sigh...first thing tues morning i will go out and buy the new album.
right now drooling over :: Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own
Tough, you think you've got the stuff / You're telling me and anyone / You're hard enough
You don't have to put up a fight / You don't have to always be right / Let me take some of the punches / For you tonight
Listen to me now / I need to let you know / You don't have to go it alone
And it's you when I look in the mirror / And it's you when I don't pick up the phone /Sometimes you can't make it on your own
We fight all the time/ You and I...that's alright / We're the same soul / I don't need...I don't need to hear you say / That if we weren't so alike / You'd like me a whole lot more
Listen to me now / I need to let you know / You don't have to go it alone
And it's you when I look in the mirror / And it's you when I don't pick up the phone / Sometimes you can't make it on your own
I know that we don't talk / I'm sick of it all / Can - you - hear - me - when - I - / Sing, you're the reason I sing / You're the reason why the opera is in me...
Where are we now? / I've got to let you know / A house still doesn't make a home / Don't leave me here alone...
And it's you when I look in the mirror / And it's you that makes it hard to let go / Sometimes you can't make it on your own / Sometimes you can't make it / The best you can do is to fake it / Sometimes you can't make it on your own
+++ and they played it on SNL over this past weekend. dang they put on a good closing show that only they can do. bono knows how to make love to the camera.
posted by affectionate @ 11/23/2004 02:30:00 AM
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