The Image of God is Fleeing

If we are made in the image of God why do we spend so much time trying to look like everything else but Him. Why do we spend our time money chasing the image of the world. Why do we look at the world and say I want that. I need to look like that. Dress like that. Spend my money like that. Have that. Eat like that. Act like that. Our days and hours are filled with trying to conform to the world. But Romans says not conform to the world. Maybe the problem in our world and in our Church is that we are spending to  much time trying to look like the world. Trying to fit in so much that we are not even noticed as a Christian. And this is not just for us as individuals but I think for us as families. We have lost the balance in our culture to be in the world but not of the world. I think we have embraced both of those concepts. Yet our image is to reflect the Lord. Who we are is supposed to reflect who Jesus was. What if we spent our time forming our lives in Him. What if we wanted to look,  and act like Him. What if we wanted to give like He did, love like He did. What if we spent our money as He wanted us too. Ate and took care of our bodies like he would want us too. What if we spent more time tending to our soul than tending to all the needs of the world and who they want us to be and do. What if the Church embraced this mentality? Would there be less activity and more sol care int he Church and in our families? What if the church stopped looking like the world in its activity and started to act more like Christ by tending to people's souls. What if the church was not a place where we just continued the activity of life when I came. But it was a place of refuge for tired and weary souls where the activity was limited and effective and soul care was abundant and overflowing. What if our lives were like this as well? I think if it was we would see the image of God more and it would not be fleeing in our lives and in our Churches. 

The Preacher

I believe the Church has many pastors or shall I say preachers that love the sound of their own voice so much that they cannot hear the voices of others. Let's face it many preachers call themselves pastors but are they really pastors? A pastor is someone who listens, and takes care of the body through thick and thin, through good times and hard times. One who listens with an earnest heart and an open mind. One who is willing to love his people out of the pulpit. One who is willing to guide, and lead in the best interest of his people not himself. When their people are hurt, upset, angry, and discontent he does not just get up and preach about it but goes and spends time with those people, agonizing with them, allowing himself to become the so called "punching bag" for their anger, learning why they are discontent. Then in humility guiding, leading and praying and striving for the body to be healed and feel loved and cared for. But I think that we have come to a place in the the Church where we have lost the role of pastor and we now just have preachers. A preacher who gets up on sunday and pontificates their thoughts on the Bible. But what is the Bible if it does not relate to the people? Is it just another book? Did the author's write the Bible so that we could preach it? Yes, but preach it first into our lives before we ever dare to preach it to people. But I think preachers are not preaching it into their lives but the have begun to force it onto their people with arrogance that they are preaching it into their lives when in reality their people are a broken mess... and they do not care for the souls of people but only about themselves in the pulpit. They do not care that people leave their church upset or broken or hurt because all they want to do is preach. But the preaching my friends is obviously not enough because if it was many of our Church's would be healthy. Many of our people would stay put where they are at. And the Church would be alive not sick. The problem is the preacher's voice tends to get so loud in his own ears that all he can hear is himself and he begins to think he is actually doing what he is preaching but more often than not he is not and the people in the church don't lie when they say there is a problem we just can't get our own voice out of our head for a few moments to listen and maybe realize that the problem could be us and even if it is not, it should always be the first place we look  as a leader. Preachers create not just an unhealthy pulpit but an unhealthy church. I do not believe that health will come into the church from men who ONLY preach but will come from men who can preach and pastor. Because as you pastor you begin to to be broken for your people, your hurt with your people, you rejoice with your people, you love your people. You hate when their is unrest and you do everything you can to bring health into their lives and the Church. I believe when you go and love your people your preaching no longer becomes just your voice to them but becomes a voice filled with Jesus, filled with compassion, joy, love, and grace. But when you neglect the hearts of your people for the sake of hearing your own voice in the pulpit you have neglected the very thing God has entrusted to you. There have been times in my life where this has been true, but I pray that today my heart is with the people God has entrusted to me. To not preach to them but to pastor them. To get out of the pulpit and get into the messiness of their lives. Preachers, get out of your pulpit! Preachers stop hiding behind your pulpit because your a to much of a wuss to go and engage in the lives of your people. Preachers stop talking and and start to listen. Preachers stop trying to control your future in the pulpit and give up control to the Lord while you do the messiness of pouring into the lives of your people. Preachers get out of your books and get into some lives. Preachers ask yourself not how much time you spent studying this week but how much time you spent with your people. Preachers stop yelling, pointing the finger, and putting guilt on people you have spent no time with. Stop doing these things and saying you are just preaching the Bible. Stop being a "strong man" in the pulpit on sunday and a coward during the week. Put your people before your pulpit.  Preachers go and be a pastor for awhile and your preaching will fall on open hearts and souls not on deaf ears. I realize we must preach the word but let our preaching be a result of our pastoring. Let our love of preaching come from a love of Jesus and a love for our people as we strive to bring people's souls health through the power of the Holy Spirit so that our preaching becomes real to life because we have pastored. Let those of us who preach, preach out of a heart that know Jesus and the people he has given us. Let our voices not just be a preacher's voice but a pastor's voice. I pray that this is who I am striving to be a pastor and a preacher and I pray that those of us who have been entrusted with this responsibility are pastor/preachers so that we can bring health back into the church.