J'ai besoin de ton Avis

I finally found out what that means....it was a phrase that has been kicking around in my soul for months...on the wisp of the wind in French no less..... I have a very simple functionality in the French language, and so sometimes I will think in French. And so it was this phrase that has been circling my mind for the past few months....


"J'ai besoin de ton Avis".


And now today I finally realized what it means:


 "I need your opinion".


One of my pastors  ( yes...I need more than one...) has a wonderful habit of bringing the "Christian" life down to our earthly level so that we mere plain vanilla church attenders can actually fathom what it means to try to be a Christian in our real daily dusty lives.


He has a habit of not painting things in black and white, but rather a million different splendiferous colors, not assuming anything about people's basic goodness or the lack thereof, never show boating the success of his ministry and doing what he can to enable our ability to serve God here and now in our community. To say his ministry is refreshing would be an epic understatement.


And so, in some mystical fashion, I hear the cry of my own heart and those of other Christians around me crying out to God ...and the plea is simply this....this simple quiet prayer in the dark sent up to heaven..... "I need your opinion".


God, I need your opinion....desperately....urgently, kindly and persistently. Please listen to me God, I need to know that you are hearing me, hearing my heart, hearing my life...
thank you God for listening. Phewph! I feel that you are listening now. I feel that you can hear me now. Thank you for loving me. For loving us, this 'thing' they call the Body of Christ, with all it's
frenetic and occasionally peaceful motion. You love us. You hear us. Amen.




C.








Tweet

Nobody Cares What You Think?

I was once told "Nobody Cares What You Think!" by an elder in my former church....yes
.... I kid you not.

And no, I never got an apology....but hey there's still eternity....perhaps i'll hear it in the beautiful blue beyond.

 And yes, for the record....I did "get over it".....and when/if I see that gent again, I will greet him politely with a smile...just in case you're worried that I will make a scene...again.

Which brings me to the reason for my post today. I want to remind every church going christian today to realize that the future and present state of the modern church is in their own hands. The doctrines that will be taught to our children's children and on and on will depend on what we,
 that means YOU AND ME... choose to preserve and protect and what we dispose of today in our modern churches.

I recall, in my childhood, growing up in a quite religious home, that the doctrinal books that supported my parent's church denomination were held very high....so high in fact, that few of my peers even dared to open them. It seemed to be that the doctrinal books that had been published by that particular denomination were regarded as being " on the same level" as the Holy Bible itself.

In my childhood, I never met anyone, not even once, who acknowledged that these doctrinal books were written by mere men/women.  It was inferred that said books were therefore infallible and beyond requiring "editing", beyond needing improvement, and beyond and far above us
mere laymen, mere church goers. It was many many years later that I came into a sense of my own voice and the desperate need that there was for my wee voice to be heard along with the voices of all of my generation. There was a keen sense that our voices were ready to be heard....but there was an uncertainty as to whether they would be respected and valued. The jury is still out on that question.

You see....it is certain that religious "Traditions" just do not carry the weight that they once did.
I am in my late 40's and I feel how important it is for Christians to acknowledge that "how we do the "thing" called "Church"" over the next decade, is up to us.....and it isn't written in stone. It is malleable. It is vulnerable. It will change. We will decide how scriptures are interpreted and how they are taught and applied to our modern living situations. Our decisions will have a lasting effect on several generations to come.

It is a very scary thing indeed to become awake to the power and incredible responsibility that we  hold. It is not something to be touted as a puffed up arrogant person might, but rather as an awesome opportunity to take what we know and love about God and His Word and incorporate "that" into our daily living. It is a creative and dynamic process to decide how we do "church".

Doctrinal books have to taken from their dusty shelves and "updated" even if we still feel very under qualified. We need, as a generation of christian believers, to continue to educate ourselves in the foundations of our faith.....the history of the bible and why we believe what we believe. Theology is not a scary or "untouchable" realm. Doctrine matters... It is important and vital and current.

....Doctrinal books are constant "works in progress" and they need to be "updated and upgraded" often enough to reflect our current thoughts on worship and christian living. To neglect doctrinal books because we are afraid of offending other christians is not a good enough excuse. We are called to fill the earth and subdue it. We are called to make these books "ours" ....to claim them for our generation. so that we our faiths become truly "ours". Our children must feel empowered in today's churches, so that their faiths become truly theirs.

And so in closing.....so I don't belabor the point.....I want to state for the record...... just in case someone in authority ever said "Nobody Cares What You Think" to you in a church setting, permit me to set you straight:

   I do solemnly declare that "God Himself cares deeply about what you think. Lovers of Jesus all around the world care deeply what you think......and lastly....little ole me cares what you think."
You are important. Your voice is important.  It is Your thoughts and Your actions that will shape the modern church that goes beyond us into the future.

Now what are you going to do with your powerful voice?

In peaceful productivity,

C.

Tweet