There is a turkey outside my gate and a pig over the fence.
Literally.
I am not making a vague inference to the intelligence of my neighbors or to their level of sanitation. I am talking about real turkeys and real pigs, squealing and gobbling daily. In addition to those two species, I could also add babbling ducks, a stubborn old goat, and the occasional donkey I’ve heard braying somewhere in our village.
In English, it is not the nicest to call someone a turkey. It is probably less pretty to label them a pig. And you never want to call someone a “donkey.” But like it or not, we are all a part of the huge animal farm.
In the animal farm called Church, we often find ourselves stuck with a lot of critters.
- The man who brays and brags about how much he knows.
- The crowd that clucks and gossips about all the goings-on, in the name of prayer, of course!
- Kids that leave the classroom or bathroom as messy as a pig sty.
- The one who yowls against change, or barks about the music level or length of sermon.
- I’ve even known a few who have roared, “This is my church and no one is going to tell me what to do!”
Welcome of the zoo…..I mean, the Church.
Yet I realize that God has His way of working. His means of bringing His Kingdom is through His Church. Jesus wants to work through these earthen vessels so that we may show His glory, His mercy, and His grace.
The Bible is full of God working through rough and difficult people. He called out the fearful (Moses), doubters (Sara and Thomas), and adulterers (David). He ministered through murderers (Paul), loudmouths (Peter), and power mongers (John & James). Why did God choose Gideon, Samson, and John Mark, with their glaring blemishes?
The Lord somehow saw past their flaws and glimpsed their potential. He loved them anyway.
Can I see others the same? Can I see the former prostitute as God’s daughter and the questioning agnostic as the prodigal son, still searched for by the Father. Call I truly love this flawed Church?
Lord, help me see Your Church in a different light. Guard me from a criticalness of its weaknesses, for I know the Church is full of a lot of imperfect individuals, of whom I am one. Help us to be united in love, with one heart and purpose, too busy encouraging that we have no time to be critical.
And somehow help us to have one voice that glorifies you.
Still clucking in Moldova,
Andy Raatz