About a year and a half ago God spoke to me to build our church with the broken. I studied this thought intently and meditated profusely on God’s imperative command to me. His command was not a suggestion, nor was it the newest, greatest, latest method to do church. I have become more and more appalled at what we do in the name of church, then just for good measure tack the name of Jesus at the end of our self indulgent, pious, preposterous endeavors. I have become increasingly aware of just how much we worship our “worship.” We worship the seat we sit in at church. We worship the song that speaks to us. For some of us that song is a chorus, for some of us that song is a hymn. It may even be a specific instrument that is played, or conspicuously absent from our services. Exactly two years ago I wrote a blog called “The Journey From Passion to Trust.” In that devotional I described how God had used dynamite to blow my entire world apart. I confess that I am a recovering Pharisee. It was easier to stand in judgment than it is to hand out compassion. Judgment cost me nothing, compassion is expensive and messy. And I found that not many people fit into what used to be my preconceived notion of what was necessary to follow God. Broken people are dirty people. Broken people are broke people. Broken people are damaged people. I am not the first leader to be aware of how difficult it is to minister to the broken, bruised, and damaged people of our community. Solomon had this down way before I did. Listen to what Solomon said: “Where no oxen are, the trough is clean; But much increase comes by the strength of an ox” Proverbs 14:4. I am not trying to say that any of you are oxen or cows, I just want you to know what Solomon and I have found out: when you deal with people it gets messy. Maybe a better way to say what I am trying to say is “No mess, no ministry.”
As the past two years have expired I have witnessed, with what feels like light speed, changes in my life, my family and our church that I did not perceive happening. Bottom line is that time changes things. Time changes people. Time changes churches. Time changes countries. Jesus never changes. Jesus never fails. As things become less and less familiar we have a tendency to grasp for the comfortable things of the past. Our past and even our memories become idols, stealing our passion away from the here and now. Sometimes we even allow the bad experiences to become idols. I don’t know about you, but I am tired of giving away my worship to perceptions, memories, successes and failures. About two months ago I made a commitment to Jesus Christ that I am starting over. I am taking His word and I am going to be as true to Him and His word as I possibly can. This time I am going to let Him judge the ones that need to be judged. I have heard about all I want to hear about what works and doesn’t work in church. I am through with people who are experts in religion and have no idea what an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is all about. I have begun to listen to a lot of dead preachers. But ironically their messages are filled with more life and Holy Spirit than many of the people that are littering the airwaves and pulpits of today. These are men who are dead in the flesh and moved on to heaven. Please don’t mistake them with living dead preachers that occupy pulpits for money or fame. I was listening to Vance Havner the other night. He was a spirit filled mountain preacher from North Carolina that knew how to bring it. I chuckled as I heard him say “A person with a PhD that has never been born again is nothing more than a phenomenal dud.”
We have experts in about every area of the church today but how many of us our experts on what it means to be born again, to be securely positioned in Christ? Both by birth and by adoption. I am tired of people telling me how to be the next, best greatest _______. I am going back to what John the Baptist said “He (Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease” John 3:30.
In our broken, broke church we are seeing people’s lives radically changed. And they would not fit in most churches. I am a teetotaler because of generational, Biblical, and health reasons. But we have recently baptized bartenders, bargirls, people living together and many others that would not even be allowed to grace the doors of most churches. And I hang out with them. I play ball with them. But I don’t hold back from preaching the whole counsel of God and I let them know that up front. My job is to preach to them and love them. It is the duty of the Holy Spirit to clean them up. If I try to clean them up I wind up messing them up worse than they were to begin with. It is really cool when we are patient with the Holy Spirit. We don’t get to see all of them transform, but there is always that one…Wow!
Can I invite you on a journey with me? You may already be there. But will you get on your knees and in His Word and follow this simple plan just for a little while? What is the plan? It is not a new one. And it has worked for a long time. Here it is: Jesus, plus nothing. Let me know what happens.
In Christ,
Keith Pierce, Pastor
Cades Cove Fellowship
Cadescovefellowship.org
PO Box 7237
Maryville, TN 37802
Recent Comments