A Prayer for the Church

Your eyes are closed when you’re praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There’s blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don’t fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There’s blood on your hands

Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show - Jon Foreman

I think sometimes it's really easy for Christians to say they care about the marginalized, but then they live in a bubble where they don't ever have to interact with such. It's classic: go to church, send your child to Christian school, live in the suburbs where you barely have to interact with your neighbors, listen to to the Christian radio. I think that a lot of times this stems from a spirit of fear, but I think that it is so vastly different than how we are to live. God compares his people to stars shining in the night sky. Stars don't stand out during the day because light is everywhere. Only when the sun sets do stars, small as they may seem to us, light up the sky. The same is to be with Christians. We are to be in places where we can show a difference and therefore point people to Christ.

I pray that the church will learn to live radically and passionately like this:

Isaiah 58:10-12

if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
And the LORD will guide you continually
and satisfy your desire in scorched places
and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters do not fail.
And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in.

*This post was inspired by a conversation had with Kristi, a kindred spirit

Currently listening to: T.I. (feat. Justin Timberlake) Dead and Gone [I love Justin Timberlake just as much as the 5th grade me ever could have.]