For starters, I am happy to announce that Lindsay tried out for a play and received a major role. We're looking forward to her playing Audrey in the Little Shop of Horrors. If you want to come and watch, we would love to see you. I'll give more information when it is forthcoming.
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A lot of my conversations lately have centered around the core of why we are more critical of our own groups than those that are less Scriptural or loving than ours.
The answer is that we have no control over changing groups outside of those we are a part of. It does us absolutely no good to criticize churches that we aren't a part of. It does us no good to criticize other people who we don't have relationships with. Our criticisms should be reserved for ourselves, and those that we are in a position to help improve.
On a church level, we should constantly be examining our church and see how we can be more like what Christ intended us to be. Too often we become content just doing church. We think, and many times rightfully so, that we are better than the church down the street. We know all of their flaws and problems, yet we fail to address and correct the problems in our midst that we have some control over. It is easier to complain about something we can't do anything about than it is to address issues that are partly our fault.
On an individual level, we like to point at the messed up people across the aisle in our church or the people down the street who have a depraved lifestyle. However, neither one of those are productive in any way. What we must do is examine ourselves and make the changes that are necessary for us to be like Christ. This can't happen if we spend all of our time critiquing others instead of looking at ourselves.
All of this starts with understanding grace. It is absolutely okay for us to be failures. We aren't saved by not being failures. We're saved by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. But we're not saved just to glory and wallow in our salvation. We've been saved in order to be transformed. We're saved in order to be what Christ wants us to be right here and now. Let us examine ourselves instead of spending our time critiquing others. I think if we did that the world would see the kingdom of God a little more clearly among us.
"For what have I to do with judging those outside? Is it not those who are inside that you are to judge? God will judge those outside. 'Drive out the wicked person from among you'" (1 Corinthians 5:12-13).
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed" (2 Corinthians 13:5-6)
"Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters. Whoever speaks evil against another or judges another, speaks evil against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. So who, then, are you to judge your neighbor? Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.' Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wishes, we will live and do this or that.' As it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, commits sin" (James 4:11-17)
Watch out for the potholes.
