Wednesday, February 25, 2009

If you glance at the title of this devotional, it would seem that I have misquoted a very popular passage of scripture found in Prov. 4:7, but in all sincerity, I may have said exactly what needs to be said.

Especially for today.

It is time for the church, His Bride, You and I, to finally...get together.
Not for our sakes, but for the sake of the Kingdom.

Can "we" possibly move beyond our unhealed wounds, neglected symptoms of falsehoods and denial? Can the body of Christ ever lead in this charge?

Every Sunday morning, our families gather together in their Sunday's best, place their Sunday smiles on and head out to their "local" church. We belong to a local body of Christ that looks just like us. The diversity in our churches often consist of the one or two members that for no other reason than being lost, ended up at your church, and stayed.

So why is that so bad?
Is there anything wrong with this picture?
Who's complaining?

It is amazing to me that we can listen to one another's music, attend one another's concerts, play sports with one another, go to games with one another, work with one another, but we cannot seem to sit and Worship the one true God collectively.

So, yes something is wrong! Matthew 5:23-24 calls us to be 'reconciled to one another' before bringing an offering of any kind before the altar.

The word reconcile means: to win over to friendliness; cause to become amicable; to compose or settle; to bring into agreement or harmony; to reconsecrate; and to cause (a person) to accept or be resigned to something not desired.

The church has been commanded to love, not tolerate! We must begin to look past our differences, our past, our faults and unhealed scabs to seek His face as one body, with one heart.

We must bring into agreement and harmony before we will be able to offer our gifts at the alter.

If we are to heal as a nation, the church must lead the charge, and not be the poster child for the most segregated time of the week. We must first see this as a problem, as an issue the affects our services, our children,and our future.

We must cast vision larger than our comfort zone. We must challenge ourselves to ask the questions, create the debate, and dig deep into the well to create solutions.

We must be the example if we are to live outside of racial boundaries, stereotypes and exclusion.

Lloyd Owens is a devoted husband and father, and the Lead Pastor of The Peculiar Place, a new church plant soon to be located in Atlanta, Georgia. You can find Lloyd blogging at www.therstblog.com.

© Lloyd Owens all rights reserved