Focus On What’s Important
But avoid foolish controversies,
genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable
and worthless. – Titus 3:9
I wasn’t raised in the church. I have few memories of
the days when we attended a little country church. By the time I was in school,
we’d stopped going to church at all. I was in college before I found my way
back.
It happens. I’m grateful that while I lost God for a
while, He never lost me. But here’s the thing: I never learned all those little
songs that teach children the books of the Bible – in order. I learned the Ten
Commandments, Psalm 100 and Psalm 23 in school.
It placed me at a disadvantage, though I didn’t know
that until I attended a church not too far from where I grew up. I found other
women looking down at me because I didn’t “know” all they knew. I learned to
keep my mouth shut. Not that it mattered. Because nothing I said would be taken
seriously. After all, I was surrounded by people who had attended church all
their lives. They had all the answers. Or so they thought.
God had a different lesson for me. As I grew stronger
in my life, as I read and studied, both in Bible studies and alone, I came to
know more and more. I will never know all I seek to know. My heart is hungry
for Him. I hope it always will be.
But what I found is that while I moved forward in
faith, the other ladies were simply content to rest in the knowledge they’d
gained as children. There were a few who sometimes attended Bible studies. Most
had the attitude that they were “retired” and had no need for such things.
I began noticing how they lived. God pointed out that
sometimes “prayer requests” were just a sanctioned way to gossip. Did we really
need to know all the details? No. The joke was that if you wanted to know what
was going on in the community, just go to church. Except that truth was so sad.
I also noticed the upturned noses when someone showed
up that wasn’t “appropriately” dressed. They frowned on jeans, for example.
There seemed to be no gratitude that two long rows were filled with teenagers.
Weren’t they happy about that?
They were always quick to complain. The politics of
the church were almost comical. They’ve been through a lot of pastors because
not one of them was ever perfect enough to suit their needs. They can be mean
to outsiders, refusing to help anyone in the community who isn’t one of their
own.
I don’t mean to pick on this church. There are way too
many just like them. Some of the members lament society and how far our
standards have fallen. They’d never consider themselves to be part of the
problem.
We get so caught up with things that aren’t important
that we miss what’s right in front of us. Do you love Jesus? Do you accept Him
as Lord and Savior? Are you trying to live right and do good to others, whether
you like them or not? Do you extend a helping hand, a kind word, maybe a meal, along
with a dose of grace and mercy?
The world has way too many judges and not enough
workers in the kingdom of God. Cleanse your own heart and trust God to take
care of the rest.
