Your Anger won't sustain you |
| Posted by Mike (mike) on May 02 2008 at 4:25 PM |
Two men went up to the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax man. The Pharisee posed and prayed like this: "Oh, God, I thank you that I am not like other people--robbers, crooks, adulterers, or, heaven forbid, like this tax man. I fast twice a week and tithe on all my income.' "Meanwhile the tax man, slumped in the shadows, his face in his hands, not daring to look up, said, "God, give mercy. Forgive me, a sinner.'" Jesus commented, "This tax man, not the other, went home made right with God. If you walk around with your nose in the air, you're going to end up flat on your face, but if you're content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself." Luke 18.
I had opportunity to meet with a friend who is on a similar journey as we are. He had some serious questions about institutional forms of church and felt that for the sake of deeper intimacy with Jesus, he needed to leave the four walls of the church and live simply with friends and those Jesus connected him with. He left the institutional church over a year ago now and he seems stuck and still angry. He seems like he is more interested in tearing the machine down and holding onto his anger than he is with life in Jesus. It seemed to me as we spoke he was sick in a sense and that he had lost sight of the whole point.
If you talk to any of those who have left the traditional forms of church you will hear some very good reasons why institutional faith is not healthy. Yes, some have been hurt by it, and some are burnt out on the hype and the spin of word of faith, prosperity gospel, church growth gurus, etc. but many are sincerely longing for more of Jesus, longing for deeper relationship with Him. Deeper relationship, as they would explain, that the very nature of institution inhibited not necessarily mean, nasty people.
A fella by the name of Wolfgang Simpson explains a process called 'Apostolic Migration'. This is probably very similar to other processes in human life but Simpson explains it from a church perspective. Simpson suggests that folks move through a process starting where they are content with traditional forms of church. As they grow and mature, they become less content with “happy, slappy” church and long for something more. There is a process that many walk through which ranges from disillusionment, to despair, to anger. This process is an important one. Anger can be a good and healthy motivator. When we have reached a point that we can no longer stay in a situation, we are motivated to take action. We then find ourselves in the wilderness and it is uncomfortable. This is a time of religious detoxification. You can take the boy out of religion, it is quite another thing to get the religion out of the boy! We then grow to enjoy the wilderness, choose to leave the past behind and move into the new thing that God is doing.
Sometimes though, it becomes easy to stay trapped in the anger and we can feel justified in doing so. It is often easy for us to fashion our faith around 'what we are not' and 'how bad what we have left is' and literally get stuck in the wilderness and quite honestly, die. Communities and friendships based upon what we are not or bashing something, someone or a group of someones will not bring life to you or anyone else. When our walk is based upon anything else but Jesus and intimately walking with Him and growing in Him, we are destined for a spiritual train wreck. Only faith built upon relationship with Jesus will bear the fruit we are longing for. My dear friends, there is lots out there which is angry, critical and bitter towards institutional church. As valid as they may be there is no life in living there.
Simple stuff I know but I have seen it many times. I have seen it when groups of people gather only to bitch about the machine. There is no life there and with love and respect I suggest to you that your anger will not sustain you. Do not fall into the trap of defining yourself by what you left and are not, rather whose you are – Jesus' and keep walking in that light!
Post Script: I am in no way discouraging healthy dialog, critical thinking or processing of issues, hurts, etc. related to different forms of church. This can be a part of the natural detoxification / healing process. This dialog can also be helpful as we leave the past behind and wrestle with the question of 'how then shall we live?'. While we can 'spin' our bitterness as processing, the fruit is always telling.
Wolfgang Simpsons Apostolic Migration - (www.parousianetwork.org/Archived_Files/Articles/Wolfgang_Simspon_5_Steps.htm)
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