What Ties Bind You?

Christian Perspectives Article for the New Castle Courier Times 07-26-08

There’s an old church hymn with these lyrics: Blest be the tie that binds / Our hearts in Christian love / The fellowship of kindred minds / Is like to that above. What are the ties that bind you to your local fellowship of Christ-followers?

For many church-goers, the only connecting point is that we meet in the same building once a week. The advent of the automobile and the increasing desire for personal preference in worship styles has effectively eliminated the “neighborhood church”. We rarely worship with our next-door neighbors. Instead, we drive some distance to find “just-the-right” church.

But what happens when we don’t see our fellow worshipers during the week? What do we miss when we only see each other on Sunday mornings?

Those weekly meetings are staged, sitting shoulder-to-shoulder, facing forward and listening. When do we sit across the table, and share face-to-face about our struggles and joys? What are the ties, or connection points, that bind us to each other as brothers and sisters in Christ through the week?

When someone is hurting because of a broken relationship, do we find out because of direct interaction with that person? Or do we find out through that particularly Christian form of “sharing” called the prayer chain? Prayer chains are fine, but when do we have the opportunity to personally minister the grace and peace of Christ to someone who is hurting? Those opportunities usually happen within the context of a meaningful ongoing relationship.

The only way we can be in the right place at the right time is to be in the right place to begin with. This might sound redundant but explore the idea with me. How can we minister to people with whom we have little or no contact? How can we connect with people we only see for ninety minutes, one day a week? When the right time comes along, will be in the right place?

What will it require, in rescheduling our lives, to create new ties that bind? How can we “live life together” more effectively? The early Christians were known for gathering daily to talk and eat and share and minister. When someone had a need, the rest of them sold personal belongings and addressed the need together, as a community. But they couldn’t have addressed the need together if they were never drawn together.

Togetherness deepens our understanding of each other, our trust for each other, our accountability to each other, and our compassion for each other. Separateness breeds misunderstanding, mistrust, and cynicism, and opens the door for all kinds of behavior that dishonors God. We fail in our mission, when we fail to interact with other believers and the rest of the world.

What are the ties that bind you to other believers? If it’s just a car and a spot on a bench for an hour-and-a-half, that tie is very fragile: handle with care. What can you do today to improve those ties? What will you have to give up in order to spend more time with brothers and sisters in Christ, not to mention those who have no relationship with him?

Should I Stay Or Should I Go?

New Castle Courier-Times Christian Perspectives Article for July 19, 2008

Should I stay or should I go? The old Clash song could be sung by many Christians today. Should I stay in my comfortable, cozy church, or should I go into the world and share the good news out there. The answer appears to be, “Yes!”

Should I stay? Jesus told his disciples to stay in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. For the most part, we do the staying part pretty good. But WHY do we stay?

Do we stay because it’s comfortable? Do we stay because it’s familiar? Do we stay because it means we can rest? Or do we stay with a purpose?

Do we pray while we stay? Do we seek the power of the Holy Spirit? Do we work at growing as disciples of Christ? Why do we stay?

Should I go? Jesus told his disciples to go into all the world and share the good news with sinners. ‘Sinners’ is an uncomfortable word in a politically correct culture. But Jesus was called a friend of sinners. Are we friends of sinners?

We do the going part pretty good. We go to camp, go to concerts, go to hear good preachers, and go to revivals. But do we go to sinners?

Occasionally we go on mission trips: Honduras, the Dominican Republic, Africa, Mexico, the Appalachians. I’ll be going to Indonesia the end of August for two weeks. These aren’t vacation trips. We pay our own way, and work hard while we’re there.

But what about the in between times? Where are we going on Monday morning? What purpose do we have on Tuesday afternoon? Is there any intentionality in our Thursday evening? Do we ‘go’ on a daily basis? If so, WHY do we go?

Should we stay, or should we go? Yes. We should stay, with the purpose of growing as disciples, until we receive the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, we should go, daily, with the purpose of sharing the good news of Christ with a broken world. Then we should stay, and grow in the love and grace and truth or Jesus. Then we should go, with the intention of being a friend to sinners. And the cycle continues.

When I go to Indonesia, I will be going with the prayers and support of friends and family. I’ll also be going in the power of the Holy Spirit. Until then, I’ll be staying and going, and staying and going, and staying and going – with purpose.