The Sun is Setting....

...on old ways
...on things done the way it's always been done
...on bickering and division
...on competition and arrogance
...on labeling and naming others
...on selfishness and pettiness
...on demanding our own way

in the church, the Bride, as she is being prepared for her Groom.

The sun is setting on falseness, and platitude, "Christianese" and religiousity, and complacency and striving.  Those who prefer the old ways and lament the way things used to be had better get ready for a vibrant and very unexpected,  Bride.

I had a dream that I have been pondering for several weeks.  In the dream, I was invited to be a bridesmaid in a relative's wedding, but told her that I could not because of a brokenness.  The night before the wedding however, the brokenness was healed and I was able to attend as a bridesmaid afterall.  I found the same bridesmaid dress that the other bridesmaids were wearing.  I put it on, deciding to surprise my relative the morning of her wedding.  When she saw me, she was so excited and happy that I could stand up with her that she put me in the front of the procession.  She showed me her groom - he was tall, dark, with long black flowing hair and beard.  "He is magnificent" I said to my relative, and she smiled with tears her eyes and said "We have been waiting a very long time for this day". 

As I stood at the front of the procession waiting to go into the wedding ceremony, I heard grumbling behind me; I turned and saw and heard the other bridesmaids and groomsmen complaining that I was there.  They commented that I was new, not part of the wedding party, and had not been in any of the rehearsals or wedding parties, so it was not fair that I was at the front.  I tried to explain that I'd been invited to be a part of the wedding party but had declined because I was broken, but now I was healed and my brokenness did not matter anymore.  I told them it pleased the bride and groom that I was there but they did not care.  So I told them their complaints were not fair, that this was not about them and me, that this was about the Bride and Groom. I told them that because of our love for the Bride and Groom we needed to get along and that they needed to let go of their animosity and offenses or the wedding could not take place.  They all got quiet and I thought they remembered their love and why they were there,  however, as we went into the wedding hall, I did not know where to go because, indeed, I had not been to the rehearsals. The others in the wedding party would not help me. 

When I woke up, several thoughts came to me - this dream was a reference to the vineyard workers (Matt. 20: 1-16) or a warning that seasoned leaders in the church need to make room for new leaders  or mature believers need to help young believers (and all these have applicability)  - but as I've prayed and pondered the dream (and received an interpretation from my very wise mentor)  I believe that the dream has a two fold message, one for me personally, and one for the "church".  

The message for me personally is a confirmation relating to my role as a reconciler, restorative mediator and conflict transformer in the church, but the message to the church is that bickering, grumbling, complaining, gossiping, snickering, meddling, and all other behaviors that pit "you" against "me" or "us" against "them" is putrid to God, and it must stop.  There is to be no "othering" in the Body of Christ - there is only "one anothering" and right now, the Body of Christ is falling far too short.  The Bride is ugly and ignoring the mirror while the Groom is patiently - though grievingly - waiting for her. 

When the bridesmaids - those whose job it is to prepare the Bride for the wedding feast (that makes all of us!) - stop the competitive, defensive and self protective behaviors that leave us broken - we will all become the beautiful,  vibrant and very unexpected Bride that the world and our Lord have been breathlessly waiting for.  His final prayer on earth was for us!....."that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You, may they also be in Us, so that the world will know that You have sent me" (John 17:20-21)  Only when we are one will the world know that God sent His Son - our "oneness" is the light that will attract  the world to Christ.  

The old ways concentrate on new and improved seeker friendly programs to attract - mostly because that's the way it's always done - when all along, all we needed was to genuinely love God,  love and serve one another, quit our bickering and backstabbing, our animosity, our competitiveness, our need to be right and have our rights, and our need for petty revenge, and rather, put the interests of others in front of our own, and get back to prayer.   I am reminded of 1 John 4:20..."if anyone says "I love God" yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen"  It really is that simple.

When the sun sets, will our light, ignited by our oneness,  be bright enough?

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