I grew up in a church that had all the traditional church programs: Sunday School, Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. We had 2 revivals a year for the
adults, vacation bible school for the kids, and summer camp for the teens. Oh, and
we did Homecoming: complete with a campmeeting style speaker, potluck dinner on
the grounds, and a 2 o’clock Southern Gospel Singing!
We had
everything a church was SUPPOSED to have…
BUT we didn’t like each other.
We didn’t go on vacation together.
We didn't attend each other's sporting events.
We didn’t even eat meals together. (Except Homecoming!)
We attended
church together but we didn't DO LIFE together!
Maybe you’ve experienced surface relationships like that in
church. You
spoke on Sundays but really didn’t know much about their lives, their kids, or their hobbies. And you SURELY didn’t know anything about their struggles, their
doubts, and their fears. Because faith was a private issue, you didn’t
know where they were in their relationship with Jesus.
Jesus never intended for us to live life that way. Actually, when Adam was in the garden of Eden, God said "It is not good that man should be alone..." (Genesis 2:18) God created us to live life in close relationship with other people. He even went so far as to say that people would recognize that we are His followers by how we display our love for each other. (John 13:35)
We at Forefront wanted to start this blog off with a series discussing what we think are the top five ways to make Him known. What better way to start than by recognizing the need for real relationships in our lives so that others may see and know that we are HIS by how we relate to each other.
You need relationships. You need REAL relationships. It will not only help you grow in your faith, it will help others see Christ in you.
What would it it look like if you and I were to put down our Christian facades and started being real with one another? What impact would it have on our communities if we stopped pushing the latest fad or program and pushed past the surface friendships that have been fostered in our churches? How would it make a difference in your life if you invested in just a few other people and then allowed those same people to see beyond the mask that you tend to wear?
Would you be willing to give it a try? Let's get real.
Welcome to the Forefront.
No comments:
Post a Comment