I am amazed that God entrusted His kingdom in the hands of humans -- us. How risky is that? How adventurous, too.
If you somehow think that God will guide His people in such a way that keeps them from making mistakes ... I'd ask you to look at history to see that this is not exactly the case. I am not hopeless in this belief. On the contrary, I am full of hope and confidence -- confidence and hope that His people will listen to His voice and follow. I believe that one of the purposes of Jesus' life on earth was to live as an example. To show us how living by the Spirit could be done.
Irregardless of how capable or un-capable we are to spread God's kingdom, it is nonetheless in our hands to do so.
When I think of how easy it is for me to judge the actions of Christians around me -- church leadership, evangelists, etc -- I see how easy it is to judge others and not myself. The problem with that kind of thinking is it tries to disconnect from the rest of the body. I have a responsibility to be the church. I cannot just sit by and criticize others. I must be the church.
As much as I know there is the potential for God to use me and do amazing things through us; I know that we also hold the ability to blow it. We can make a big mess of things. Let's not do that.
Posted by Doug Van Pelt at November 17, 2008 10:13 AM