CHECKING OURSELVES...

Last night I was in a meeting in church and it started off beautifully, our chaplain stood, giving us a wonderful devotion about unity and what we say and how we say it, felt awesome, however in short order it was as though, she hadn't said a word. The WORLD stepped in the room and took over. Suddenly it was about personal agendas, an unwillingness to concede or agreee, the old guard against the new guard, et al. Mostly, I sat quietly, at times wondering why I rush to such meetings, when I know full well, how things are going to go... And then it hit me, because I always hope and pray for better...pray that we have checked ourselves and our agendas at the door before we get there and focus on what our mission is ultimately supposed to be about, serving God and be of service to those at our church. I came to regular worship, later in my life, I had been to church, but had never been enmeshed in church culture, because I had only ever heard that things like this went on, and of course I know that it is life and goes on everywhere. However, as such, I always check myself and my agenda, I have made sure that I don't raise my hand to serve on every committee, or lead this that or the other, because I know for sure that if I do, then it becomes about who sees me doing what and who knows who I am, et al. I have been writing books for over six years and it is only now that people at my church even know it because I vowed to myself that I would not use church as a vehicle to sell books. The ones that do know beyond my close friends are those that were told by others who read my books and recommended them. It is so easy to get caught up in church as a socializing venue and lose sight that the mission of the church is bringing people to Christ, so they might be saved. I may sound a bit self-righteous, but that isn't my intent. We live in a world filled with mess, just turn on the television or walk outside. And with things being as they are, we should be able to find peace in harmony in our church and in our home. I walked out of the meeting last night, thinking, I really don't need all this. But by the time I got home, I was pretty prayed up and I checked myself, realizing that I must soldier on, praying for change and trying in my very limited way to make a bit of a difference, I know for a fact that God places us where he does, so when can do what he guides us to do. BE BLESSED!