Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Do we offend...


“May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the Lord Almighty;
may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.”
- Psalm 69:6



I’m struck in this verse by the thought of how easy is it offend. We don’t mean to, but sometimes we do. A joke here or there at the expense of someone else. A comment, perhaps taken out of context, that causes others to be offended. A deed, unbecoming of a follower of Jesus Christ, witnessed by someone we didn’t know was there.

It speaks to how careful we need to be as we live our faith. We need to realize the statement we’ve all heard: we are the only Bible some people will ever read. How will they read us? Will they find a life consistent with the faith we proclaim? Or will they find hypocrisy?

As I reflect on ways that we might reach more youth in our church, I have been speaking to a number of families, and found some very distressing news. Many of the people I have talked to told me that they used to attend this church. In most cases someone did something or said something, and they realized the faith of the leaders at that time might not have been as genuine as they thought, and they stopped coming. Some joined other churches, others fell away altogether. And though in many cases it’s been twenty years, they have no desire to return.

It’s so easy to offend. We must be on our guard, as the Apostle Paul wrote, to avoid even the appearance of evil. Because someone seeing or hearing something out of context may even walk away from the faith.

Perhaps our prayer should be that of the Psalmist: “May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me…”

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am considering leaving also.
This church is a very closed, cliquey community, pretty much a singles club. The talk is all about money, not Jesus.

Pastor Steve said...

How do we bring this around?

I never think that leaving is the answer... Trying to promote change is the answer. We are called together to be the Body of Christ, and to worship Him in a community of beleivers.

If the community, the sense of family is missing, help us restore it. Talk to me about it...

What is the Church?

The Apostle Paul would whole-heartedly answer that question as the Body of Christ.   And I think that all of us would agree with him But ...