Why Are We Angry Over The Wrong Issue?

This past week we have heard the results of several court cases and as predicted the response has been varied, passionate, sometimes interesting, and often missed the point.

I can't resist a blog post on these issues, but my burden isn't for the Supreme Court to honor marriage, or for the government to spend wisely, or for a flag to fly or be put away, but for the church to be reminded for why we are here.

First, let me say that I am a for guns, freedom, biblical marriage, etc. The problem is that the church today seems focused on the wrong issue.

Instead of being angry at the future of "Christian America" we need to be weeping for the souls of people. The issue we need to be focused on is that there are people who need to hear the Gospel and we are focused on arguing which flag we should fly or if we should obey / honor the court.

We often speak of how much Jesus loves us, but we have been horribly inefficient in presenting that love to a lost and dying world. The world hears us argue, defend our rights, even point people to history, but we often forget that we aren't here to be right, honored and loved. We are here to point people to Jesus. If we spent as much time telling people about Jesus as we spend debating all those issues I can't help but we think we would make a much bigger difference for eternity.

The American church needs to get its focus off the Supreme Court and get it back on what God has called us to do. As we come up to July 4th, celebrate America, but make sure that you remember God didn't ask you to be great American, he called you to make disciples.

Am I a better Christian than I am a __________?

Several years ago Tim Tebow was playing quarterback for the Broncos (ok, it was probably more than several). During that time I was having a conversation with some friends and one mentioned that they prayed that he would succeed as a QB. Honestly, I don't care if Tim is ever a starting QB again, but I it got me thinking. Maybe as Christians we are praying for the wrong things.

Tuesday I drove about 3 hours to a funeral of a pastor friend. Pastor Loren had been a pastor for over 39 years (11 years at his current church). He always pastored in a bi-vocational role. Whether working construction, farming or driving a school bus, he took various jobs so that he could afford to pastor in small country churches. He was a pastor that at 69 years old, finished well.

In the 4 years that I knew Loren, I learned something, he was a better Christian than he was a pastor. This is by no means a slight to his pastoral abilities, but he wasn't defined by his Sunday occupation.

Several years ago, after my Tebow conversation,  I started a list of names of various people that I know who are in ministry. Some are previous pastors of mine and some are friends, but the list is all people that I know personally. Usually about once a month I open this list and pray for these people. The prayer I pray is simple. "Lord, help them to be a better Christian then they are a (fill in their occupation)."

I don't pray for Tim Tebow to be a great QB, I pray that he would be a great Christian. As I search my own heart I see this area as a need for myself as well. One of the dangers of ministry is to identify spiritual success with ministerial success. We take group success as personal growth, when the two aren't necessarily connected. With all of the effort we put in to being good at our occupational field are we missing out on investing in the one area that really matters?

No matter what your occupation, no matter what your pay grade or seniority status,  strive to be a better Christian than you are a ___________!