Come Together

So I was listening to a pod cast from the pastor of Hillsong Sydney, Bryan Houston. He has a series of sermons about being in a “place of agreement”. Something that he said really spoke to me. He pointed out that as Christians, we may disagree with homosexuality, abortion, over consumption of alcohol, or whatever else. Yet when we go to sporting events we can all sit on a row full of people who are dealing with these kinds of sins or a variety of others, or people who don’t believe in Jesus in any shape, form, or fashion. We can stand and cheer with a Muslim or someone who practices Judaism or Buddhism. He even says, “If our team is really playing well, we may even hug or kiss, the man next to us.”

He says the reason we can do this at sporting events is because we are all focused on the same thing. We are focused on cheering for our team and trying to help encourage them to a victory. We are focused on a goal, we are focused on the victory.

If you are curious as to why the church is truly struggling in America right now, I have one of the answers. We aren’t focused on the goal, on the victory, on the prize, on Jesus.

I sing in our church choir, and honestly I get so sad when I look out in the congregation during worship songs. So many people are just coming to church because that’s what they are supposed to do. They come, they stand, they sit, they “listen” to a sermon, they stand, they sit, we pray, they leave. For so many “Christians”, that is just how it is for them, that is what they consider a relationship with Jesus to be. I will admit, there are weeks when I am like that. I’m tired, I’ve had a long week at work, and basically just feel dead, and don’t feel like coming to church. But the difference is, when I get there, I feel such peace and joy. I come to church and I become focused on Jesus, and what my goal in life is suppose to be, which is brining glory to Him.

Like I said, we come and stand, and act like we are singing, and have no expression of joy on our face and it is so sad. We will sing, “How Great is Our God”, and our faces will look like God just killed our favorite dog or cat.

Not only do we come to church and act dead, but then we come and just start these huge battles and arguments with people, that have no bearing on eternity. It is so sad, to see us be able to cheer for a football team with a Muslim, but cannot rejoice in the Lord, at church, with another Christian, because they said that they like hymns better than contemporary worship, or that they carpet in the sanctuary would have been better brown than red. We argue between “denominations”, which I think is one of dumbest things that our “religious system” ever came up with. I’m going to use sarcasm here, “OH, YOU HAD WATER SPRINKLED ON YOUR HEAD?! THEN YOU AREN’T A REAL CHRISTIAN BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T DUNKED!”… “WHAT YOU USE THE NIV, WELL THE KING JAMES IS THE ONLY “REAL” BIBLE, YOU AND YOUR CHURCH MUST REALLY NEED JESUS.”

What we need as a church is to come to a “place of agreement” with God and with each other. And not just in our home churches, but, dare I say it, other denominations. The church was supposed to be a body of believers focused on other thing, one prize, one God, one Jesus. As Christians, we have the greatest prize, the greatest victory, the greatest thing that we could ever receive in Jesus. If we want to see a difference in this world we need to come together.

One of my favorite Beatles songs is “Come Together”. That is exactly what we need to do, we need to come together, united as one body, one thought, one mind, one God, united as one, pouring our hearts out in Jesus’ name.

Be an example.