Interesting statement right? I think Philip Yancey is on to something in his book, "Disappointment with God." Almost troubling... why would God spend so many words in the OT recounting failure (and personal failure at that)?
As I was listening to Pastor Tim use the life-story of J.K. Rowling (the gospel according to Harry Potter) today to share God's message of hope and redemption in our broken lives, my mind wandered to this concept. Abraham, the Israelites, David, Saul... the OT failure list reads long and yet, so often, we church peeps create environments where failure is not an option.
If the repetitive failure highlighted in the Old Testament was left out, what happens to the redemptive hope strewn through the New Testament? I feel like the Black-eyed Peas might have been singing about us church folks in the recently popular "Boom Boom Pow" song... they sing, "you're so 2000 and late."
Get it? In the New Testament God's grace is the fad. The in-thing. The new standard. But many times we, meaning the church, are WAY out of style...
What if the church was a place where failure wasn't shamed? What if church was a place where raising your hand for help was seen as a sign of strength, not weakness?
So let me start first. I "preach" family, but work too much. I "teach" priorities, but mine are out of whack. I check my email before I check on my kids. I check my voice mail before I check in with my wife. I pray about my next meeting before I pray for my family...
Accepted? Yes. Acceptable? No. Let's allow God to create in each of us (and our church) a culture of strength born out of weakness. II Corinthians 12:9 ""My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
God, help us be a church that lives like we believe that - pastor mikey
This is so true, my husband just finished reading a book called "Leading with a Limp" and it talks much about this. Being aware of our weakness to the point of making changes and growing out of them is very important. It is important though to not let our weaknesses overtake us into a place of hopelessness. If our weakness leads to being humble, that's God. If our weakness leads to condemnation that's not so good as there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Of course I shouldn't even comment on this as I have not watched the message yet via internet campus this week as we could not be in N.B. this Sunday because of work. Speaking of work, we used to work 24/7 and now the rule is my husband leaves his cell phone in the car when he gets home. If it is a real emergency, someone will contact us on our home land line. This helps a ton with disconnecting with ministry/work and connecting with the fam. Speaking of fam. Please pray for our daughter River as she is on a missions trip to Mexico this week. Thanks! Say hi to Danielle, Gerry and Yens for me - Love your Blogs! Your friend, Tracy:) www.myspace.com/tracygalloway
Posted by: Tracy | July 13, 2009 at 07:36 PM