Been asked to write something short for my church's newsletter. I busted the word limit. But this is more or less what I hope to dwell on:
UNITY – THE BY-PRODUCT OF FLESH-KILLING
Recently I have just finished reading “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the 1961 Pulitzer Prize winner written by Harper Lee. Set in the fictional racially-divided Southern town of Maycomb, one particular episode makes for very sad reading. One of the characters in the story, a black woman named Calpurnia was chastised for bringing white children to her black church.
“You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here – they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”
Racial tensions aside, why does this happen? One of the best sermons I have ever heard on the topic of unity in the church, preached by Greg Gilbert, affords this answer – “Unity exists when Self-Regard dies, and Self-Regard dies at the foot of the Cross”. It makes it very clear to me that each of us carry within us this deadly thing called “flesh” (racially-driven or otherwise) that has the potential to wreck whatever unity we hope to achieve in the church. And if we do not slay that flesh unity will remain elusive. Gilbert goes further to suggest that the only way flesh can be slain is to stand before the Cross and remember who we are. In my own life, self-regard has definitely sought to have its way, and moments like this require the difficult process or forgiveness and reconciliation.
When the Grace News team approached me to write on this topic, they wanted to learn more about my experiences in a Care Group (CG) that is somewhat different from my usual demographic – one that constitutes mostly of young parents, with burdens and cares very different from my own. I offer a few things that I hope may be beneficial in which, I think (one must never presume), I have tried to slain self-regard in some ways. Perhaps some form of cross-demographic unity has been achieved. These are the things:
1) I have found that through my participation in this CG, I have been praying for things that I would otherwise never pray for. This is largely the result of observing our young parents “parent” which is a joy to watch. In line with the mission of our church, I pray for them to be faithful disciple-makers in their household, and I pray for that Christ will reveal Himself to these young kids even at a tender age.
2) I have found God working in me to be more patient. It was a culture shock to arrive in a CG with eight kids screaming and doing a study at the same time. For this I admire our young parents! I think one year on, I now find this a non-issue and am able to do the study (still with kids with screaming)
3) I am now more aware of the challenges facing young parents when it comes to CG participation. It is difficult to come to CG if kids fall ill. It does give me some things to think about especially as CG is such a staple of our church in ministering God’s word to our members.
There are probably more than this space can afford! But I hope these perspectives have been useful in some way. :)
Notes:
1) To Kill a Mockingbird - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird
2) Greg Gilbert's Sermon, "Unity at the Cross" is available at St Helen's website over here:
http://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/media-library/src/talk/53224/title/unity-at-the-cross
UNITY – THE BY-PRODUCT OF FLESH-KILLING
Recently I have just finished reading “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the 1961 Pulitzer Prize winner written by Harper Lee. Set in the fictional racially-divided Southern town of Maycomb, one particular episode makes for very sad reading. One of the characters in the story, a black woman named Calpurnia was chastised for bringing white children to her black church.
“You ain’t got no business bringin’ white chillun here – they got their church, we got our’n. It is our church, ain’t it, Miss Cal?”
Racial tensions aside, why does this happen? One of the best sermons I have ever heard on the topic of unity in the church, preached by Greg Gilbert, affords this answer – “Unity exists when Self-Regard dies, and Self-Regard dies at the foot of the Cross”. It makes it very clear to me that each of us carry within us this deadly thing called “flesh” (racially-driven or otherwise) that has the potential to wreck whatever unity we hope to achieve in the church. And if we do not slay that flesh unity will remain elusive. Gilbert goes further to suggest that the only way flesh can be slain is to stand before the Cross and remember who we are. In my own life, self-regard has definitely sought to have its way, and moments like this require the difficult process or forgiveness and reconciliation.
When the Grace News team approached me to write on this topic, they wanted to learn more about my experiences in a Care Group (CG) that is somewhat different from my usual demographic – one that constitutes mostly of young parents, with burdens and cares very different from my own. I offer a few things that I hope may be beneficial in which, I think (one must never presume), I have tried to slain self-regard in some ways. Perhaps some form of cross-demographic unity has been achieved. These are the things:
1) I have found that through my participation in this CG, I have been praying for things that I would otherwise never pray for. This is largely the result of observing our young parents “parent” which is a joy to watch. In line with the mission of our church, I pray for them to be faithful disciple-makers in their household, and I pray for that Christ will reveal Himself to these young kids even at a tender age.
2) I have found God working in me to be more patient. It was a culture shock to arrive in a CG with eight kids screaming and doing a study at the same time. For this I admire our young parents! I think one year on, I now find this a non-issue and am able to do the study (still with kids with screaming)
3) I am now more aware of the challenges facing young parents when it comes to CG participation. It is difficult to come to CG if kids fall ill. It does give me some things to think about especially as CG is such a staple of our church in ministering God’s word to our members.
There are probably more than this space can afford! But I hope these perspectives have been useful in some way. :)
Notes:
1) To Kill a Mockingbird - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Kill_a_Mockingbird
2) Greg Gilbert's Sermon, "Unity at the Cross" is available at St Helen's website over here:
http://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/media-library/src/talk/53224/title/unity-at-the-cross
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