It's just a flesh wound

Have you ever had one of those experiences in which you're having a conversation with someone and you see yourself, five years ago, in them. That happened to me the other night...and I must admit, it freaked me out a little bit.

You see, I used to be part of a big church, the biggest in the city I lived in actually. It was the "it" church, and in many ways it still is. The pastor was and is an awesome man of God and is absolutely one of the best Bible teachers I've ever heard. By all accounts, it was and still is an awesome church. The problem I had was that I was supremely arrogant about how good my church was and even though it's difficult to admit...I secretly looked down upon other churches and pastors that were "less significant" or "smaller". That attitude was a cancer in my heart that took God about 9 months to remove. This attitude was not the pastor's fault, I want that to be clear...and if he would have known I had that attitude he would have corrected me for it, and rightly so.

Never the less, I had a run-in with that cancer again the other night. I was having dinner with a person from a newer "it" church in the city I live in now. Again, the church that this person attends is a great church that is doing awesome things for the kingdom of God, and from what I know...the senior pastor is an amazing man of God. But again, the prevailing attitude coming out of this church member was that of condescending toward "other" churches and pastors. I was given plenty of advice about books I should read and sermons I should listen to and "tips" about what the Spirit of God was doing. Now don't get me wrong, I'm always up for some good advice, but as a pastor...I'm probably going to take it from other pastors who have been doing this thing longer than I have as opposed to a church member who is on a "my church is the greatest" trip.

I was so taken back, not at the attitude itself, but at the realization that I looked and sounded like that just a few shorts years ago, that I didn't even try to correct the attitude or bring my perspective into the discussion. I should have offered it, and hopefully next time I will, but the shock was a little more than I could bear. I think my heart might have broke just a little bit...

I say all this because I believe that unity in the body of Christ is HUGE in God's heart right now. As long as we continue to look down at "others" who aren't part of our "denomination" or who aren't part of a church at all...we'll always be just like the "Black Knight". We'll walk around with our arms cut off telling everyone how much better we are than them and ignoring the fact that our pride is the very thing that took our arms in the first place. We're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ. That's a difficult thing to do when you don't have any arms or legs.

If you're reading this and you've ever experienced a condescending attitude from a Christian...please let me apologize to you for them. They didn't know. I know this because I didn't know it when I had that attitude, and the young man I encountered the other night was completely clueless as well. God is not condescending and He has nothing but love and grace for you. Heck, He loved me when I was a condescending jerk, if He can love me through that He can definitely love you to.

After all...It's just a flesh wound.

peace,
glo