A SLAP IN THE FACE

I love my tribe. I love how unique we are. I love the way we deal with things. I love the things we do. I love how crazy we are. I love how fun we are. I love our attitude. 

I think we’re the coolest church I’ve ever been a part of. But I’m also gonna tell you this: I’m not at war with churches that are not as cool as us and I’m not competing against the pastor down the street to see who has the most cars in the parking lot. 

Why not? There’s too much at stake. Lives – real lives – hang in the eternal balance.

In this county, my friends, we have 131 churches to serve 180,000 souls. If every single church was filled to capacity, we can only serve 26,500 of those people because that’s how many chairs are inside the churches. 

Are you doing the math? There’s not enough room for 150,000 people! That number ought to be a big deal to us. It ought to wake us up. This church is not in competition with the steeple down the street. We need those churches and we need the seats in them to be full. Amen!

I love my tribe, but I’m not at war with any of the other tribes because I know this is about Jesus. I can slap Jesus in the face and He’ll turn the other cheek to me, but if I slap His Bride in the face? I’ll bring His wrath down upon me. 

I’m going to be respectful of His Bride – the Church. I’m going to be respectful of the body of Christ. 

The church down the street has its own brand of weirdness and its own tribal traditions. It reaches people we can’t. Pray for the church. Speak life over the pastors and people under those other steeples. Demonstrate unity and build the body.

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith… – Ephesians 4:11-12

FROM MY SERMON SERIES I LOVE MY TRIBE

TODAY’S PROPHETIC THOUGHT

I’m My beloved’s and she is Mine. My beloved is the Church. Build her up with words of affirmation. Pray for her and make sure you – My beloved – are found in her.