Stay Centered
January 14th 2024 (week 52)
Romans 12
At the risk of repeating myself I do love the humorous analogy about churchgoers (I’m one of course) that says they all go into church looking as though they’re going to the dentist………. …..and come out looking as though they’ve been. I am certain that I have previously fallen into that category.
Sometimes, it could have something to do with not being able to be who we are amongst our church family. I know that having experienced real forgiveness in Christ when I became a Christian I was then able to be “myself”, the real me, warts and all.
That presented a huge change. I had spent the first twenty five years of my working life well dressed, suited and booted, and pretending to be the bee’s knees (I was convinced I was off course). It was only when yet another crisis hit my life and dragged me down to such a low place that I realised I had succeeded in fooling only me. The expensive clothes I wore had become nothing more than a suit of armour that I put on each day to face the world, trying desperately to be something I wasn’t.
Following my Damascus Road conversion I was freed up to be the person I believe God wants me to be, however inadequate I might feel at times. But sadly, I know that didn’t continue and during a period some years ago I wasn’t being the real me. As a result, I was going to church with my “suit” on again. But this time it wasn`t the clothing that was the problem, but my perspectives of what church should be, of what other people thought of me, and most importantly of what I thought of myself.
We need to be real in our church families. If we can’t show our vulnerabilities, how can we be expected to be the real people God wants us to be. It’s only when we are authentic, however miserable and rotten that might be, how big a failure we may feel, and how vulnerable we are allowed to be, that God can begin to work in us and through us. It’s then that we will begin to find our place in the church family and to live out the life demonstrated in Romans 12.
However, before we allow ourselves to dive so deep that we are in danger of running out of air we need to address the reasons behind our emotions. When we do that honestly, we are likely to find, as I did, that our focus has shifted from God to us. To quote Rick Warren writing in The Purpose Driven Life, “When God is at the centre you worship. When he’s not, you worry. Worry is the warning light that God has been shoved to the sideline. The moment you put him back at the centre, you will have peace again”.
Shalom!
Prayer: Lord, some of us struggle with being the real people you want us to be. Some of us are just frightened Lord and we need your help to keep you at the centre of our lives. Fill us with the knowledge of your boundless, transforming love for each one of us.
Neil Bromage, 14/01/2024