The Message of the Church?

What is the message of the church? It seemed very clear to first century Christians. They scattered across the known world, and a little bit beyond, to tell people that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ had removed the curse of the Garden of Eden and made it possible for humanity to be restored to its Creator.

When we look around our part of the world it seems that there are churches everywhere. Everyone we know belongs somewhere, even if the seldom attend. So, is the mission of Christ to the Western world complete? Can we say as Christ said on the cross, “It is finished!”? I hardly think so.

Unfortunately, we live in a society that is so overrun with religious language and messages that we become oblivious to them. People wear crosses as jewelry without any thought of the message of the cross and little effort to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. What if cross wearing was a punishable offense? Would most of us still hold onto our jewelry? Or, would we abandon it as easily as we do our faith for convenience?

I say “We” because it would be easy to point to celebrities and famous people who pray before performances or point heavenward after the performance of some athletic feat but don’t back up talk with walk! In reality, “they” are “we.” If our lives were put on screen for some reality TV show, how would our witness stand up in our local community?

James 3:9-10 says, With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. It may be that something as simple as our language, I don’t necessarily mean language free from curse words, shows what is really in our heart. When we do nothing but condemn, what does it say about our heart? Even Jesus, when confronted by the worst of sinners, saved his strongest condemnation for the religious hypocrites of his day.

The Gospel, from the first Church all the way to our church, is this. Jesus heals broken people. You and I are broken ourselves. We are surrounded by broken people. There are people caught in addictions of all kinds, a behavior that controls them and will not let them live free. Those closest to us may live amid a tattered landscape of broken relationships, families living in the same house that are separated as far as the East is from the West. There are people who can see nothing good in themselves because they have been told that they are worthless for their entire life.

We carry the good news to those people. We offer the love and compassion of Jesus Christ to them. Our message is not a simple repent and believe, but one of come and be made whole. Yes, that wholeness may involve a large portion of repentance, but wholeness comes as one broken person reaches out in forgiveness and love to another broken person and calls them family!

Pastor Craig