“…as Christ loved the Church…” Ephesians 5:25
I was educated and trained in the decade of the 1960’s. There was lots of turmoil and dissension. A negative and pessimistic outlook permeated so much of what I heard and read. There was the murder of important people, a war in Vietnam that so many did not care about, and I recall riots and threats to all organizations of influence.
As I went to seminary, I noted that the study of theology and the church was not spared. Some authors mocked the church and predicted its demise. I was in the Midwest at the time and it did seem that the “church” was stuck in the past. Anything new and different was shunned. There was difficulty of keeping the old message alive and unchanged versus new ways of doing ministry in the church. I continually heard negative stories, negative evaluations, and sarcastic comments. I noticed that I was beginning to use the same negative phrases in the assignments I was writing. I even noticed that I was being rewarded with better grades if I was critical and negative.
God raised up some parachurch ministries to bring a fresh look and feel to the old truth of the gospel. As a potential new pastor in Christianity, I confess that I wanted to run away from my commitment to Christ and His people. I was going to begin serving the Church and the experts said it was going down. It was not destined to be around in the next century. It was then that the phrase in Ephesians 5:25 hit me. “Christ loved the Church…”, and I had to confess that I did not love the Church. I was critical of it, ashamed of it, sarcastic with it… I did everything but love and be proud of it. So, what to do? I made a conscious decision to follow in Christ’s footsteps. If He could love the Church, then so could I.
That decision changed the course of my life in a very positive way. It was so much better to love the Church rather than criticize it. Now, after 50 years of serving Christ through His Church, I thank Him for bringing me up short and getting me to change my attitude. As a young theologian it seemed exciting to criticize and be negative. It was so much easier to shoot at and tear down what I saw. Building up and renewing and investing in people was a lot harder and it took longer. But it was worth it. Yes, it has been worth it.
So, how about you? Do you love the Church of Jesus Christ? How is it with your attitude and words and priorities? A little soul searching could be very profitable as we follow in Christ’s footsteps.
