Today was the first day that has truly felt like fall. Not just the cool 75 degrees, but the smell in the air, the wind in the leaves, and the hope in my heart. While Justin worked, I took the boys to a small fall festival, followed by the park. Immediately opening the park gate, River took off towards the tennis courts. As Ahmi and Israel played their little hearts out, River entered the courts, and closed the chain link gate behind him. Swinging, I looked up and saw his little face pressed against the fence, staring up at me.
'MOM!' he yelled as if I wasn't already directing my gaze towards him. 'MOM! Yah in a tage!' And I snickered because he had no clue that he was really the one that was confined. And it hit me that the church does this very thing. Where it stands in the dungeon, yelling faults at every passerby, thinking it will be a light of revelation and truth to people, some weird conduit of change, when really all it does is reveal its own cages. Nobody needs to hear what they already are....they need to hear what they can become.
The Bible says all of this a different way. It cautions us to remove the plank from our own eyes before we should attempt to get the speck out of someone else's. The key to life without hypocrisy is to be more concerned about your own faults and perceptions than that of others. If you do this, you tend to feel less obligated to expose and warn everyone else of theirs. Not to mention that it leaves a lot more room for love, relationship, and cultivation of a healthier and interdependent community of people. Because that's what it's all about...the love.
No comments:
Post a Comment