A Post for my church people

I realize that many of you aren't church-goers. I get that. I realize that you mainly read the stuff I put up here because you are a friend of me, not a friend of any church, and that is fine. But this is a post for those of us who ARE engrossed in the beautiful dance that we call church.

I posted a few months ago some honest facts about being in the ministry (if you didn't see it, search in the left hand corner "ministry in our western world) and got a large response from tons of e-mails, facebook, text and calls from people having AH-HA moments like "YES, THAT IS ME!!" And the truth is, I said nothing new, I only said it. This post isn't just for those in the ministry, it is for their families, close friends, volunteers, servants, consumers (those who come to be entertained and just leave), and everyone else.

I am going through a book titled "Mad Church Disease" right now, and it is eye-opening. It is written by an author (Anne Jackson) who grew up in a minister's family and now is in the ministry herself (don't worry, not preaching, with the young one's mostly) and how crazy you become if certain problems aren't dealt with.

Volunteers:

We all tend to think the more we do FOR God, the closer we will be TO God. Which is, a lie. The reality is, if you do one thing amazing, you should concentrate on it. If we are great teachers, we tend to try to staff volunteers, be greeters, van drivers, servers, sound people, etc. But what if you were a good teacher and then you took the time to become a GREAT teacher? Is God more glorified by you doing 12 things mediocre or one thing AMAZING? I am asking, really which is better? I realize we should sacrifice time to God, so what if that time was spent making the good, Great?

Families of pastors:

Your husband or wife's emotion becomes your emotion. If he/she hates his/her job, you do too. If he/she loves it, you do too. You let the treatment of them by the church, because your opinion by the church, and that, while accurate, is sad. What if you just saw the church as Jesus' imperfect bride, and attempted to love her and nurture her, no matter how they treat your loved one, they need building up.

I could give a million categories to whom I am talking about, but here is the point, our church involvement or lack thereof, can kill our faith and this is what Satan wants. Look at John 10:10a (1st half of verse):

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy"

Jesus is saying that Satan ONLY wants to kill and destroy. He wants you busy DOING church, so you can be distracted from BEING the church. But Jesus doesn't want it this way.

Look at John 10:10b(second half of verse):

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

He is saying that he wants us to have a full life. A guilt free and happy life. This means serving Jesus unconditionally, and not doing it to be busy, but doing it to actually SERVE him.

Read this book, its amazing and helping me wrong through a million issues I am personally going through, but also, admit your shortcoming and struggles in relation to the church, she is an adulterous bride, but she has a PERFECT husband.