Time for a Change
I was talking with my dad earlier today about our bathroom. He's been repainting it and I told him that it looked good.
He responded, "The thing about paint though is that you can put as much plaster, you can put as much paint over it, and there can still be rotten wood underneath."
That really hit me. This last week at camp our speaker, James Darby, emphasized that we need a change of heart.
One of the verses that he referenced was Matthew 15:18-19, "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander."
Our church needs a change of heart. For those of you who don't go to my church there have been some very real problems. No one person is to blame. Yet because of these problems our church is now divided, our church is now without a pastor, our church is now without a Minister of Education, our church is sick and dieing.
I'm afraid that now, as we have a shift in leadership, instead of trying to resolve those problems; we'll just slap a new coat of paint over it and call it done. That's not going to fix it though. If we don't try to fix the rot in our hearts, we'll decay and die as a church.
In Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus is hungry. He approaches a fig tree for food, but it was barren. He cursed the tree and it withered and it died.
Our church is that tree. We are called to bear fruit, to live for Christ. How can we do that if our hearts aren't right? How can we even attempt to imitate Christ in all that we do, if we don't reside in him?
Our tree isn't producing, and it's because we've allowed hate into our hearts. It's because we've become obsessed with power. It's because we've lost sight of God.
It's time for a change. We can't slap any more paint over it. Now is the time for us to change.
My question to you is this, are you willing to change?
He responded, "The thing about paint though is that you can put as much plaster, you can put as much paint over it, and there can still be rotten wood underneath."
That really hit me. This last week at camp our speaker, James Darby, emphasized that we need a change of heart.
One of the verses that he referenced was Matthew 15:18-19, "But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander."
Our church needs a change of heart. For those of you who don't go to my church there have been some very real problems. No one person is to blame. Yet because of these problems our church is now divided, our church is now without a pastor, our church is now without a Minister of Education, our church is sick and dieing.
I'm afraid that now, as we have a shift in leadership, instead of trying to resolve those problems; we'll just slap a new coat of paint over it and call it done. That's not going to fix it though. If we don't try to fix the rot in our hearts, we'll decay and die as a church.
In Matthew 21:18-22 Jesus is hungry. He approaches a fig tree for food, but it was barren. He cursed the tree and it withered and it died.
Our church is that tree. We are called to bear fruit, to live for Christ. How can we do that if our hearts aren't right? How can we even attempt to imitate Christ in all that we do, if we don't reside in him?
Our tree isn't producing, and it's because we've allowed hate into our hearts. It's because we've become obsessed with power. It's because we've lost sight of God.
It's time for a change. We can't slap any more paint over it. Now is the time for us to change.
My question to you is this, are you willing to change?
posted by theboythatis at 1:43 PM
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