Is the Institutionalized “churches” Ministry the Ministry of Jesus?
When it comes to ministering on earth Jesus sets, and is the example for conducting ministry. Is there a difference between His ministry and the institutionalized ministry that post-cross religious organizations developed and participate in?
Was the ministry of Christ a sanitized ministry of clean carpets, padded pews, corporate suited professionals, Sunday-best-cladded pew-warmers, event-driven-programs, following man-made agendas in Sunday-go-meetings, held in stained-glass, denominational tagged buildings? Does not this perverted view of the Church cause us to miss the messiness of what it means to partake with Christ in His ministry?
Jesus set the pace for all of us with His own brand of hands-on earthly outreach. He got up close and personal with sinners so that He could transform them into saints. As a result, He got dirtier than a farmer in the crop field during His three and a half year earthly ministry. If touching contagious lepers, casting out pesky demons, and scrubbing the crud encased feet of the sweaty disciples don’t count as dirty, I don’t know what does.
To be a follower of Christ means that we follow Him anywhere and everywhere to reach anyone and everyone. It means we follow Him into the highways and byways to demonstrate His life gospel to the poor, the sick and the downtrodden. It means we wash feet, cast out demons, love the homosexuals, prostitutes and the adulterating straights, to advance the kingdom of God in the trenches and stenches of humanity.
But it’s hard to pick up your cross if you’re busy developing programs for Sunday-event-driven meetings all while manicuring a soul patch so they can feel satisfied that they have performed their religious duty by coming and listening to the professionally trained PA-STAR. In far too many churches, the demands of the professional ministry world have replaced the call of Christ to get down to where the rubber meets the road with trying to make our ministries more pretty and acceptable to socialized of our communities.
But the ministry of Jesus was far from being pretty pretty. As a matter of fact, it was pretty ugly. He ministered primarily to the poor and needy of society while reprimanding the religious zealots. Why? Because He knew they were a more receptive and therefore, a more effective people for the advancement of His gospel!
Was the ministry of Christ a sanitized ministry of clean carpets, padded pews, corporate suited professionals, Sunday-best-cladded pew-warmers, event-driven-programs, following man-made agendas in Sunday-go-meetings, held in stained-glass, denominational tagged buildings? Does not this perverted view of the Church cause us to miss the messiness of what it means to partake with Christ in His ministry?
Jesus set the pace for all of us with His own brand of hands-on earthly outreach. He got up close and personal with sinners so that He could transform them into saints. As a result, He got dirtier than a farmer in the crop field during His three and a half year earthly ministry. If touching contagious lepers, casting out pesky demons, and scrubbing the crud encased feet of the sweaty disciples don’t count as dirty, I don’t know what does.
To be a follower of Christ means that we follow Him anywhere and everywhere to reach anyone and everyone. It means we follow Him into the highways and byways to demonstrate His life gospel to the poor, the sick and the downtrodden. It means we wash feet, cast out demons, love the homosexuals, prostitutes and the adulterating straights, to advance the kingdom of God in the trenches and stenches of humanity.
But it’s hard to pick up your cross if you’re busy developing programs for Sunday-event-driven meetings all while manicuring a soul patch so they can feel satisfied that they have performed their religious duty by coming and listening to the professionally trained PA-STAR. In far too many churches, the demands of the professional ministry world have replaced the call of Christ to get down to where the rubber meets the road with trying to make our ministries more pretty and acceptable to socialized of our communities.
But the ministry of Jesus was far from being pretty pretty. As a matter of fact, it was pretty ugly. He ministered primarily to the poor and needy of society while reprimanding the religious zealots. Why? Because He knew they were a more receptive and therefore, a more effective people for the advancement of His gospel!
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