Monday, October 12, 2009

If we are the body

I haven't blogged in a while. I felt a message in my spirit last week, and wanted to write about it, but it didn't really come together. Then as I listened to my Pastors message on Sunday, it all came together, and I sat down it is just started flowing.

Last week as I was listening to the radio I heard the song, If We Are the Body by Casting Crowns. I have heard this song a ton of times, but I heard it in a different way last week. I have heard people refer to Christians as the body of Christ, but I thought it referred to us as a body of people, like a group of people. With this frame of mind, I heard the song as we are the believers, and why isn't Jesus' arms reaching me, why aren't his hands healing me, why aren't his words teaching me. This is a very selfish way of hearing this, and as I think of this, I wonder if this is how a lot of us think, as a matter of fact, I am positive this is how a lot of us think. Sunday my Pastors sermon really brought all of this together. As "Church People", we feel we are entitled to something, like we are owed something. Like my Pastor said, we deserve Hell, it's because of the blood of Jesus that covers me, that we have his grace and are forgiven.

Last week when I listened to this song, this is what I heard:
If we are the body, (we are his arms, legs, hands and heart),
why aren't his arms reaching (our arms are his arms, so why aren't we reaching the lost),
why aren't his hands healing(instead of passing judgment and hurting others, lets accept them and help them heal),
why aren't his words teaching(our words should always reflect him, why are we quick to point out someone’s faults, and tell them everything they are doing wrong, lets teach them how God wants us to live, lets let our words always reflect his love, lets teach them the word),
why aren't his feet going (our feet are his feet, why do we sit on our couch and in service and take, take, take, but not get out and serve, go the distance, go out and find the lost),
why is his love not showing them there is the way (we need to show the love of Jesus to those who do know him, and those who don't know him. We can't be nice to those at church and hateful to the lost because you feel like they aren't living right. And we can't be nice to the lost to reach them, and then be hateful to "church people", because how you act, even if you think no one is looking, is always on display. We have to show them there is a way).

As a church, as the body (Jesus is apart of us) why aren't our arms reaching the lost? Why aren't our hands healing those who have so much hurt in their lives. Jesus was about love, acceptance and forgiveness, why do I see so much hate, judgment, and unforgiveness in "Church People"! Church is scary for someone who comes broken and hurt. They are afraid of the pointing fingers, just like the song says, "It's crowded in worship today, As she slips in, Trying to fade into the faces, The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know, Farther than they know", "A traveler is far away from home, He sheds his coat, And quietly sinks into the back row, The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances, Are better out on the road" It's sad, but sometimes that is exactly what they find. Pointing fingers, whispered words in there direction. Is this how we reach the lost, is this how Jesus reached the lost, No! We have to get our heart right. People are afraid of being judged by “Church People”, not the world. If we judge them, they will feel safer in the world, something is wrong when that is the case. We have to offer them a safe place. Sometimes a simple, "hi, how are you?" can mean so much to someone.

I believe strongly that our actions influence others; we say we are Christians but do our actions display our beliefs. It's not about how often we come to church, or about the fact that we volunteer our time to the church, or the bumper sticker on the back of our car. It's about how we live our lives, how we treat others, and the relationship we have with God when no one is looking.

“Jesus paid much too high a price for us to pick and choose who should come, and we are the Body of Christ”

Sunday at my church, when the alter call was given and people responded, I just kept hearing “healing” in my spirit. There was healing taken place because we offered love (the love of Jesus), acceptance (no one pointed fingers), and forgiveness (come how you are, we are all sinners who have been saved by the blood of Jesus).


If We Are the Body
By: Casting Crowns

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgmental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

CHORUS
But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

Chorus (2x)
If we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus is the way

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow-Awesome! I think Pastor needs to let you preach sometime :)
Love, Mom

Kelley said...

amen! preach sista preach! Great Blog!

Valerie said...

Wow, this is so wierd! I just blogged about the same stuff, almost exactly the same, a few days ago!!! See, the Spirit is moving us to quit playing church and WAKE UP!!!

Anonymous said...

Girl you are much wiser than you know! Thank you for your insight, wisdom and for sharing your thoughts. Your words make my eyes and ears see and hear things differently. I also love that song!
Laura