Monday, September 16, 2019
670 - Issues Management
Spirituality Column #670
September 17, 2019
Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary
Issues Management
By Bob Walters
“This is the verdict:
Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because
their deeds were evil.” – Jesus, in John 3:19
I go to church to join fellow
believers in worship and fellowship and to learn about Jesus, not, primarily,
to forget, identify, or dwell on my own problems.
Over the years I’ve noticed that a
good day at church lessens the worldly loads of issues and insecurities I might
carry the other six days of the week. If
I do have a problem – whether I created it in my sin or the world created it in
its fallenness – church is a great place to regain the hopeful and happier
perspective one finds in Jesus, faith, eternity … and a loving congregation of
fellow Christian believers.
This isn’t to say we escape
problems by entering a church door. It
is to say issues abate when we gain, nurture, and grow the truth, courage,
perseverance, wisdom, and obedience of Christ.
Church and prayer are the central switchboards.
Obviously, the “A” game is to have
that perspective and confidence in Jesus all week long. And the Pro Tip most Sundays is to head to
church with the attitude of helping ease someone else’s burden of discomfort,
fear, guilt, or shame; not dumping your load on them. Share burdens? Yes!
But we always feel more “Christian” when we help to make somebody’s day,
not ruin it. Sowing love and reassurance
– such as we find in Christ – is great for buoying not just other souls but for
lifting our own.
“Yeah? But I’ve got REAL problems!” Maybe so, but the biggest problem all of us
have is sin. Second to that is not
seeing the grace, peace, comfort, and endurance we have in Christ; the eternal clean-up
crew has already arrived! The mere fact
we show up at church in the storm means we’ve taken a step in the right
direction of shelter and recovery. We’ve
endeavored to find divine light rather than dwell in evil darkness.
Still, a church service as a “personal
issues help session” seems like the wrong locus of focus. If we’re going to great lengths to discover our
personal problems, then the focus is on “me,” not on Jesus Christ. Who is going to find comfort in my problems?
Well, maybe some. But that “me” focus is the world – it is Satan –who wants us to focus on “me” and not
on the glory and love of God, not on the faith, truth, obedience, and
forgiveness of Jesus, and not on the abiding comfort and fortitude of the Holy
Spirit.
Perhaps the greatest contemporary
criticism of “church” – any church, and rightly so – is that it is too much
like the “world” … production entertainment, convenient scheduling, physical
comfort, washed-over truth to fit cultural sensitivities and idols, and let’s
keep the lights low so we can’t see all the other sinners (with issues) in the
room.
Worship becomes a concert, the
congregation becomes an audience, the sanctuary goes dark, the message becomes
“relevant,” and the verdict never comes in.
Where o’ where, I wonder, is this “Light of the World” we are here to
worship?
Similarly unhelpful is the “fear and
loathing” motif: “You’re a sinner!” I
know. “You’ve got problems!” I know. “God will judge you!” So I’ve heard. “Repent!” Oy.
Instead, how’s this for a
“verdict”? “Our ultimate purpose in life
is to obey God and glorify Him. We do
that with faith and obedience in the light of Jesus Christ, and we do that by loving God and loving others. Everything else works itself out in God’s
will.”
Oh yeah. I didn’t think of that. I was thinking about my issues.
Walters
(rlwcom@aol.com) realizes some people do in fact find
comfort in your problems. Stay away from
those people! And remember, Jesus isn’t
one of them.
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