Have you ever had a problem and you tell someone about it and they say to you, “Jesus died for you. He is the answer to everything,” and then they buzz off and go somewhere?
In my previous church, it was like that a lot.
When my best friend and I met, it was one of the things we talked about a lot.
We noticed how so many people were in such a hurry. They buzzed by us like the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. “No time to talk, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.”
No one seemed to really have TIME to stay and talk, to invest in others, even for a couple minutes. So many people were buzzing by in a hurry, on their way here or there.
When I first came to the church and had moved from a different state to there, it was the first thing I noticed.
In the house of God, shouldn’t there be a sense of peace, of servitude, of worship? And yet, the majority were running off to wherever. Never taking that moment to really invest in others. To pray with them. To talk with them. To get to know them. To establish relationships.
There were a few who invested. And it struck me how awesome that was. To have someone to ACTUALLY talk to me. ACTUALLY listen to me. ACTUALLY care. It makes me want to cry thinking about how amazing that was to feel like I could connect to another human being on a REAL level.
They took the time to care. They took the time to talk to people. And I was the same way. I wanted to connect with people on a more genuine level. And with everyone flying here and there, we found comfort in each other!!!
However, that doesn’t gloss over the fact that always living your life so busy, never making time for others is not godly.
As a whole, they don’t see it. Church leaders not open to hearing about it. But God doesn’t forget. It doesn’t glorify God when someone new to the church is ignored and they are accountable to God for their lack of LOVE.
I remember years ago, we had someone in the church commit suicide.
So many people were asking themselves, “Was he Christian or not, because he committed suicide”?
That seemed to be the question most were asking.
In my heart, it wasn’t about whether he was saved or not, it was about, why didn’t anyone know what he was struggling with.
Listen, when you go to a church or you share something with a Christian, you expect them to care. It’s Christianity 101. But when they don’t. When they fly by plastering on some fake “Jesus is the answer to everything” mumbo jumbo, it ruins the testimony of Christ.
Now, let me be perfectly clear. Jesus IS the answer to everything. They are not wrong, but it’s the WAY in which it’s said. There’s no love. No concern. No compassion. No heart-felt anything. It’s just something you SAY. A facade.
One time in the church, there was a girl crying and she was fairly new to the church. I was talking to her, ministering to her and it was only around 10 minutes after the preaching was over. An elder came over and started closing the curtains all around us, wanting to lock up. She was crying. Where was the compassion????
I was so mad about it.
I overheard one guy say to another, “Don’t close up yet, they are talking”. The elder replied, “They can go outside to talk, I have to be somewhere.”
My heart sank. It was within earshot of both of us. I cry to this day thinking of that situation. I know she must have heard because I did.
The church lacks love. Everything they do lacks love. They are a perfect example of the Loveless Church. And it’s so sad to me. How can godly Christians behave this way as a community? How can they stop caring? Stop showing love? How can they allow themselves to get so far gone, so busy in their own agendas, that they stop having time for God’s will?
Whenever I would speak about it, people would say, “Well, no church is perfect.”
And they’re right!
100% emphatically RIGHT.
NO church IS perfect. But that’s not to be used as an excuse either.
As a church and as a church body, we have to be constantly taking into account what we do. Going through Revelations and seeing if we fit any of those churches described. Constantly trying to see our flaws in order that we change them so that we can please God, both in our own personal lives and corporately.
Here’s the thing…
This is all brought on by Satan.
Listen, Satan WANTS to keep us all busy!
He WANTS us to be too busy to serve, too busy for our families, too busy to minister to others, too busy to go to church, too busy to get involved in other’s lives, too busy to give money and minister needs to the poor, the widow, the single mom. Too busy.
While that church has some great things going for it (there are some genuine Christians there), there’s many wolves in sheep’s clothing in leadership and they refuse to listen. But the Bible says when we don’t have love, nothing else MATTERS! 1 Corinthians 13:2.
If we are literally perfect in every other way but lack love, we are deemed worthless. Our works are worthless. Rubbish. Trash to put outside on the curb!
Love is what Christ IS. And if we lack love then what are we here for? How can we reach the lost?
In the world, we will get no love. Not many are loving to us in the world and we can see that, but Christians, the church, should be different! We should be different than the world!!
If that girl was seeking Christ (and Idk if she was saved or not) but hypothetically, if she wasn’t saved, and she was seeking Christ, genuinely open to Him, she wouldn’t have found Him there.
How many souls are lost because we are too BUSY to serve? Too busy to notice them?
My main passion is to serve others. To keep my life NOT cluttered. To live a peaceful life. To cut out all the junk, all the stuff that is not worthy to be in it, to keep myself FREE TO SERVE!!!!!
We need to stop sugarcoating things. We need to stop glossing over things and just accepting sinful ways. We need to stop sweeping them under the rug and rather, call them out for what they are so that we CAN change.
Being too busy to minister to others happens to us all, at times.
But it should be our life-long pursuit to keep our lives free of clutter, time-sucks, and busyness in order that we are ABLE to be used by the Lord.
It should be our absolute biggest pursuit in life to be FREE in order that we be used by God. Constantly playing offense in football and not letting the other team (busyness) come past us, getting ahold of our hearts, our minds, and our days.
Keeping our family free of busyness, our children, our spouses. Working as a team to constantly push off and push away life’s so-called urgencies.
I’m not talking about the GENUINE urgencies of life. Obviously, there are those. But so many things APPEAR to be urgent, and when you really stop to think about it, they’re not.
Taking the time to slow down and truly care for others can lead to incredible connections. Building meaningful friendships that stand the test of time happens when you stop and invest in people, even when the world feels busy, rushed, and self-focused.
Let my previous church be an example to you. Let us never be too busy to serve and minister in the lives of others for God’s glory!
Let us orchestrate our lives in such a way that God can call on us at any moment and we are free, in our time, to help those He’s put in our paths to help. Let us reach out and help and serve those around us who are in need. Let us never turn a cold shoulder to anyone because we just don’t have the time to listen.
Let us be a people of love and of community. Let us think of others more than we think of ourselves. And more importantly, let us be used by God for His glory and for His purposes and never be too busy that we can’t be used by Him, at a moment’s notice.