Monday, March 12, 2012

The Meaning of Coming Together (On One Accord)


Many of you are familiar with a song entitled Come Together (from the Beatles). The song itself will not be the focus of this blog. However, I will talk about the body of Christ and the need for the body to come together on one accord.

It’s been said that I take issues that I see in the body of Christ as being cynical, I see it more as a call to accountability (yes, I admit that I go overboard at times). Consider this: when I got deep into church in 1996/1997, most of the churches were focusing on this topic Race, Religion & Racism. One thing the pastor said that was critical was that the church is the most racist organization and that somebody has to talk about it and deal with it. The problem is that we have been sitting around not doing anything about it. That's his quote, which I agree. When I left my former church in 2000 due to control issues (the lesson I gained was that a clean-up job needs to be done and more accountability is needed especially to the leader). Another lesson is that in order to minister the world, we have to keep striving for a life that pleases God (I'm not exempt from this either). For a leader to have that much control (saying that if you miss a Thursday/Sunday service, you're taking a vacation from God), can devastate lives. I didn't get upset about leaving, if anything, I gained a lesson which is another one of my passions (which I probably do get carried away with), in order to change the world, we need to be accountable to each other, our lifestyles must be subject to the Bible and leaders are not without reproach. I don't say this out of anger, but out of a heartfelt love for the church. I understand that we're living in the last days, and people will be lovers of self, gathering teachers that say what they want to hear. I don't want you to think that I go around looking for church issues, that's not my personality. I am very open with people, in the hopes that we can be honest with each other and that we can meet each other where we are without damaging a soul. I will confess to you all that I have anger issues (especially when it's a cause that I believe in strongly). Granted, when I came to college (and some of you might remember this), my attitude was simply this: either you will live by this Bible or you will die to it. It's just that simple! That approach was a little too extreme, I'll admit that.

One thing that's a concern is when some people say that the church is perfect and never question a leader. One of the problems within the church is when it's time to speak up, we don't and then we turn around and point fingers when prayers are removed out of the school. I believe that we all can be free and not let the devil have access to our lives, if we come together on one accord (again, this is one of the lessons I learned early in my Christian walk) - the scripture base is the book of Acts. Acts was one of my favorite books when I in college. I was always convicted when I would think of seeing the disciples being beaten and still praising God. I'll admit I've slipped recently from having the attitude like the disciples due to my own sin and fear. I'll openly admit that.

In summary: if we don’t come together, the world is going to die. I hope that we can cease from pointing fingers at the world saying “oh well, they’re going to hell.

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