In Canada there is this interesting sculpture of an upside down church. It's pretty well known, and though I do not necessarily know the artists intent with this piece of art...I know it brings several thoughts to my mind...how about yours? It first brought me back to the time just after Jesus walked the earth...when a group of ragtag fishermen & farmers (for the most part), along with a few hundred fellow followers of Jesus...turned the world upside down! When you think about it, it really is quite amazing. Here we are 2,000 years later, and the message this bunch spread of God's Kingdom, has reached close to 90% of the world's population...now that's amazing! Even within a few hundred years after Jesus, the world's most powerful Empire was dramatically changed for all of history to see...The Roman Empire! History, archeology, and science shows us that the most powerful Empire in the world, was radically altered by this rag tag bunch sharing the message of God's Kingdom as taught by Jesus. They say, it literally turned the world upside down! That's not just amazing...it's downright miraculous! It would seem to have God's fingerprints all over it...because nothing else seems to be a reasonable explanation for this phenomena. Now here we are 2,000 years later, and I wonder... "What if...?" What if our churches got back to the simplicity and passion of those early years? Obviously God was doing something there, why have we strayed so far from it? What if the love we expressed through our churches was so overwhelming evident & real, that people were drawn to it? What if churches used their resources like the early churches did? Would more people see Jesus in that? Would more people see "grace with skin on" in how we live and function with each other...and with them? Maybe, this time, we need our churches to be turned upside! 2,000 years ago the followers of Jesus flipped the world on its head. Perhaps now its time for God to stir us, to flip ourselves on our own heads? Perhaps we have focused so much on marketing, programs & fancy buildings...not realizing that our appearances do not transform lives. In fact, some of those things appear very "unattractive" to the very people we hope to reach. But "what if" we cared more about people than buildings & programs. What if authentic relationships (as messy as they often are) were more important than our "image" and "appearances"? What if we used our resources much like the early followers of Jesus did? The New Testament shows us 3 main areas that financial resources & possessions were used by the early followers of Jesus: to support those who taught the scriptures (i.e. pastors); meet the needs of those within the church family; and also meet the needs of the community around them (i.e. orphans, widows, the poor, the fatherless, the sick, the imprisoned, the downtrodden etc...) Today we do seem to support our pastors (to a degree, depending on the church); yet rarely are we known to take care of the needs within our church families, and the greater community we live in. If we do, it is a very small percentage of our budgets...far less than say our "marketing" or "building funds" would suggest...and there is something seriously wrong with that picture isn't it? Perhaps this is why the early followers of Jesus caught the attention of those around them..."see how much they love each other" the bible says. When is the last time you heard that type of comment about a church or Christian? At FRIENDS, we believe it's time to turn the "church" upside down, and shake out some of the crap that has been weighing us down...even hampering our ability to become the people God has designed us to be. We are called to "re-present Jesus" to our world...we are the "body", the picture of Jesus that people see. It is a huge responsibility, that needs to be free from personal agendas, wrong motives, distorted concepts and self serving methods...it's time to re-examine what God has originally called His followers to be... individually...and collectively as church families. We need to allow Him to flip us upside down, and shake it out of us, if necessary. What if we allowed that to happen? What if we became more like those crazy, passionate, Jesus loving freaks of the early church? What if we radically dared to loved people...no matter who or what... the way Jesus does? What if we actually became the kind of people that oozed Jesus likeness to the point...that people were actually drawn into the Kingdom? What if it "is" now...as it "was" then? How it is supposed to be...be God's!
Brian O
ECHO
Lead pastor dude
Friends Community Church
Tyler, Texas
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