What's that smell??

        So what is that smell you ask? Is it someone's old shoes laying around? Is it the smell of someone who hasn't taken a bath in quite awhile? Is it the trash/rubbish can/bin? It could be someone's fine cooking or someones food that requires health code approval to prove sanitary. The title is probably leaving some of you wondering what the heck I am talking about. I've been thinking lately about the type of odor/stinch the church leaves on the world. I know, some of you are probably thinking who cares what the world thinks...it's only what Jesus thinks that matters. Some might say that any negativity that is coming from the world could be considered persecution...so bring it on right?? In this blog I'm going to discuss my reasoning on why the church needs to change it's flavor or plan on being regurgitated.
      
      If you think back to Jesus talking to Peter and the disciples, he asked them one question, "Who do people say that I am?" Today, I'm finding myself asking when people think of Christianity and the followers, what type of picture do they see? So let's ask ourselves this...If people were to base what they know about God off the examples of our lives....what would our lives say about him/Christianity? In Jesus time, most of the religious leaders were conscerned with law. I think today, the first thing people see from christians is the Anti-gay, pro-life, anything republican/conservative movement. I'm starting to think that what people see most now a days has nothing to do with Christ and more about other man made requirements. Think about all the things that we associate with Christianity? How many of them can we actually say have anything to do with being like Christ? If you remember, it was the disciples and the jewish people who wanted to return to the good old days of being a country and having power. Why do we as Christians fight for the same thing?  I'm always hearing about how we need to "turn back to God" and "become a Christian Nation again." Having Christian laws wont make us Christ Followers. I would say that what we need to do is become people who are like Christ..and the being a Christian nation thing...will work it's way out. You can't force people to live by the law. I really think it's time that we consider opening the doors of our churches to people who don't fit our mold of what christianity is. Jesus was a friend of sinners. He hung out with tax collectors and prostitutes.
We are so quick to kick anybody out of the church who is gay, but yet, what about the people who struggle with other sins? I'm not saying that being gay is ok, but what I am saying is...we will seperate ourselves from them, quicker than lightning, but yet..what about people who struggle with say pornography? Smoking? Drinking? Greed? I know I am not perfect and I have my struggles. I hear all the time about God's love, and how he loves us. My question is, when is God's love going to compel us enough to go after those who are lost? We are all broken, we all have sin. Jesus was a friend of sinners....don't you think we should be? Or is that a little beneath our vision of what being Christ is like? Would it make us not clean enough? We all know the story about God leaving the 99 to go after the one. Shouldn't we as well?  My point isn't just about homosexuals. It's just been hitting me that the aroma that comes from the church at times is more of a stinch than a pleasant thing. What does being like Christ look like? The Good News has taken so many forms that I think it's lost it's original message of Love. Sometimes it takes the form of crazy people who are after money such as people on tv. Sometimes it's whacked out charismatic people who do weird things. Sometimes it's rarely seen because of the counterfit stuff posing. I'm feeling called back to the original message, the original purpose, the heartbeat of God..." I came to bring life, and life more abundantly." His yoke isn't hard, it's easy..light. We have the light of the world at our fingertips, we are the city on a hill, we are salt. Where is our light? Is it covered up? What message are we sending? If the statistic is true that says that soon only 4% of youth growing up will be followers of Christ.....in 10 years time...what will things look like? I'm all for signs and wonders, I'm all for the Holy Spirit doing it's thing. However, in the Great Commission, it says that signs and wonders will FOLLOW the good news. What good is signs and wonders without the good news? So I ask again....what's that smell???