It was a really uncomfortable feeling. My wife and I worshipped on Sunday with a new gathering and…. Well… Some of the things we experienced there were really great. I can say that, as a group, the people gathered there love God, each other and strangers (who won’t be strangers for long). What could be uncomfortable about that?
Some of the expressions around us didn’t fit into our box. That is, the box in which we have been cultured to believe things should fit.
Whose problem is that?
My background is in a stream of Christianity that is, well, reserved in its expressions. Personal façades (masks) tend to match church building façades: impressive and impenetrable. One’s soul is a fortress. God might get in, but you wouldn’t tell anybody. (Anybody else see an ENORMOUS problem with that?) Frankly, entire congregations wind up wearing a collective mask.
Wow. The problem might not be with the guy holding his hands up or the girl who seems about to jump into the mosh pit. Maybe…the problem is with me?
Who’s in my box?
Perhaps a better question is, “whom will I permit in my box?”
WHOA!!!!!
I have just demonstrated one of the many foundational cultural problems that infect Christians: judgemental-ism.
We can proclaim “For God so loved the world…” and pronounce judgement because you don’t fit in our box in the very same breath.
If Jesus is the Word made flesh, the Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, and the Way…then we have a problem. At least, those of us who claim Jesus’ name and pass judgement on those whom Jesus claims he came to redeem have a problem.
Breaking my box…
My reflections on a Sunday morning spent with friends and strangers is this: I have to let God break my boxes… All of them. Not just the boxes for people who express joy in different ways than I do. No, I have got to let him crush every last one of those boxes.
How many do I have? I don’t know.
How many do you have? Who do you put in them? Yourself? God? Others?
Box-burning Party?
After you’ve considered your boxes, would you share with the rest of us your conclusions? It’d be nice to know how many of us struggle with this desire to make others fit into our neat little world. If you’re not comfortable commenting here, won’t you send me a message using this site’s contact page?
Peace,
Michael
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- What on Earth is God up to?
- How Worthy Do You Have to Be?
- How You Can Help Solve Christianity’s Image Problem
- Who Does God See Part 2: Redeem (-ed, -able)
- Why My Best Christmas Was a Day at Work
I hope you enjoy your time on the site and that something in these pages encourages your journey along the Way of Jesus. All thoughts here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts of others or of organizations with which I am affiliated. 
