The Feeling of Hopelessness

I was online recently and one of those making comments mentioned how he understood all being said but he was still in a hopeless situation because everyone around him still didn’t get the message. Being only one, he had to live with the reality of doing church like he has always done church.

I have considered myself to be in the same position and after listening to the audio lessons taught by Patrick Mead during this last Tulsa Workshop, I was drawn even deeper into a sense of hopelessness over where I am and how little control I have to be what I want to be for those in my area. If there is anyone wanting to listen to the lessons I heard yesterday (July 7, 2009), I have attached a link to the site where you can listen. I am not sure if I want it to have the same effect on the reader or not.

http://www.wwjdtoday.com/Tulsa2009/index.htm

One thing really giving me a problem is how anyone attending this workshop and hearing him speak could ever go back to their home congregation and simply go back to the shadow of doing church the same way as has been done in the past. The reality of the situation focuses on how we are a compassionate people who do not wish to offend someone.

In my life, this has been Satan’s greatest tool! He has dominion over our Christianity because we allow him to shut our Christian lives down under the premise of not offending someone. Satan wants his dominion over our lives and the last thing he would have us consider is how harshly the apostle Paul and even Christ offended those of their day. So offended were the people by what Jesus did, the people, the religious leaders of the day, took Jesus and killed Him.

The problem with my past is not how I was afraid of offending someone but rather the purpose behind the offense. I was not afraid of offending someone who was praising God in the WRONG way and yet, being controlled by Satan I was afraid of offending someone by what I did to praise God. When I think about it now, I had twisted the passage about making a brother stumble so far in my thinking, I did not even consider how I was being used by Satan in this thinking to place a WALL before those who MIGHT come to a relationship with Christ.

I spoke of the hopeless feeling I got after listening to Patrick Mead and I think many have had this same feeling of hopelessness. The great news is how this sense of hopelessness does not have to be the reality of my situation. I am surrounded by a majority of like-minded people and as the church; it is our choice to represent the church to others. I don’t have to allow Satan control of my choice to be real apposed to artificial in my approach to the Christian life and my worship.

For some time now, I have been afraid to engage the world for Christ because I know, like our teenagers know, if I get an opportunity to bring them to a time of worship with me they will stand a greater chance of being turned away from God than turned on to God. We are told in the bible to be ready to give an answer and for most of my life it has been an answer to condemn. I now have to be ready to give an answer to someone challenging honest praise and worship of another person because it is not what someone is used to doing.

My encouragement to myself and others is to be real and let God be praised in all we do. If God moves me a little different, if I raise my hands, if I clap my hands, and if I make up my own harmony to the song I hope I am simply ready to stand beside and give answer to any who would be like my past and bring challenge because it is not what “they” like.

I recently met and had great discussions of the Christian life with a man who lives in another community and is part of a praise team and he mentioned taking a tambourine up with him one day when they are praising God (yes, it is a church of Christ). Having traveled in countries where the tradition of our heritage is not forced by Satan on all of those who worship behind the sign Church of Christ, he made me believe he felt a greater connection with God in this way. To him, I hope he will have the courage to take his tambourine with him and use it when he next gets an opportunity and I pray there will be one with courage to stand and give answer to anyone who might be offended.

As I see it, Satan only has power over each individual making the choice to be less than God wants them to be. There is really no hopelessness past my own thinking because I can be the church Patrick Mead spoke of in his lesson. The reader can be the same church he speaks of and the power of being real is appealing to others. I am not in a position like the story of the man I began with but rather I am in a position like Elijah in hiding. I am surrounded by a host of others desiring a true and real relationship with God. I am surrounded by others who can choose to be the church God wants and be Christ to the world. I don’t have to be the Pharisee of the past ready to condemn those who do not meet my concept of traditionally proclaimed worship in “spirit and truth.”