Search and Rescue

Every faith has its up and downs. Every faith is challenged by the extremities. We are each a microcosm of the different influences that have impacted our faith. Many that are reading this have been turned off by faith and religion. Oh, many say they are spiritual but not religious – yet when challenged to show the spiritual disciplines that they follow there are none – they are just deluding themselves of their self-righteousness and holding onto something else.

For too long people have worried about their reputation when redemption is the real goal of faith. While there are obvious abuses from various faiths, we abuse ourselves when we state that we need none of the community involved in different faiths and congregations. Whether we are in a congregation that is worried more about the way it looks, or we are being personally hedonistic and spiritually self-absorbed we are in fact living the same basic principle. So what then does it take to be authentically spiritual in our lives – in both person and corporate community settings?

I think that we first need to realize is that at some level we are all lost. Oh, maybe not in all areas, but we all have situations where we honestly HAVE NO CLUE what to do or how to be. We often put on a brave – (actually denying) – face because we want the illusion of control and the reputation that it brings. A reputation for being the one that has it all together – rather than the one that is lost and needs help finding their way out of the woods. Countless people have died lost because of they were to prideful to accept that they needed to be found and redeemed

I know of friends that did not like the feedback that they were getting from other friends and so they labeled them as fakes and frauds instead of friends. My question(s) was and is to these people – was it Monopoly Money that they gave you when you could not pay your bills? Was it a Barbie doll that sat with you in the Emergency Room? Was it a ghost that said that they disagreed but would be supportive of you as a person? So many times we are more focused on something that does not matter than on the redemptive and building qualities that we should be gaining from our relationship with God and others. If you push away redemption you will never be found – and eventually they will quit looking for you.

Look into your life and REALLY see the way that it is being lived. Look at the incompleteness that is there when others are not found and how we need to be involved in the search for them as we wait to be found ourselves. May you be patient and persistent in your search and rescue efforts.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg