Weakness
“The Spirit Himself helps us in our weakness…”
Romans 8:26a
Reading Martin Lloyd Jones’ book on the Person and work of the Holy Spirit, I came across a gem.
Jones was talking about how the early church was characterized by the dynamic working of the Holy Spirit. As he developed this theme he reminded us that that is exactly why early church life was so messy.
The more life there is, the more there will be evidences of God’s power at work in weak human vessels.
He put it like this:
“Take your New Testament as it is. Look at the New Testament Christian, look at the New Testament church, and you see it vibrant with spiritual life, and, of course, it is always life that tends to lead to excesses. There is no problem of discipline in a graveyard; there is no problem very much in a formal church. The problems arise when there is life. A poor sickly child is not difficult to handle, but when that child is well and full of life and vigor, well, then you have your problems. Problems are created by life and vigor, and the problems of the early church were spiritual problems, problems arising because of the danger of going to excess in the spiritual realm.”
Hmm. This paragraph made me muse for a while. Living, breathing, healthy churches can get a little messy.
It’s easy for church leaders like myself to just want to tone down the mess to make life a little bit more manageable. Less messy. Kind of like putting a hyper active boy on Ritalin to keep him manageable.
Makes life easier on a tired mom and dad, but in reality not the answer.
Maybe boogers on the wall, noise in the sanctuary and a ruckus in the hall are signs of good things not just annoyances?
Maybe struggling marriages, addictions and financial woes are all signs that God is doing something in people’s lives? Maybe we should embrace the messiness a little more realizing that God’s Spirit is the One who orchestrates and build’s Christ’s church.
Maybe we shouldn’t focus on just reaching perfect people- the ones who have it all together? Didn’t someone once say: those who are well don’t need a doctor only those who are sick? Maybe He was on to something.
Because of grace,
Tim
Wow, I loved this as our little Church here in Costa Rica is struggling with how to revitalize and how to deal with messy issues, both regarding COVID restrictions and cultural differences between some of our expat/gringo congregation and the local “Tico” population. With language barriers, cultural differences and many different customs it sometimes gets very messy trying to please everyone and what the church is supposed to look like. Church leaders, congregation and the pastoral missionary family have been doing a lot of praying and study trying to find what is the best look for our church. The Holy Spirit has indeed been doing some amazing things pushing us, the church to an area of “service” whereby our church becomes a major outreach center to the community and a true example of Love to all we come in contact. Yes, we have been struggling with how to structure the church but with help from the Holy Spirit and a lot of prayer we are learning to accept some of the messiness and step outside the box (of course not giving up the true doctrinal premises or the true biblical principles) and in the end go with a vibrant living, loving, evangelistic and service oriented church which thrives on relationships and local community. Thanks for the uplifting message that sometimes the messiness in our church lives is God and the Spirit at work. Keeping us from getting lazy and or complacent. God does like a mature church always seeking to be more like Christ, but the road to that end just might be a little messy. Your brother in Christ and always, because of Grace,
Herb Hawkins