The Joy of Writing

For those of you who consider the following to be too much information, I apologize. But, the thought came to me, and I must get it out of my head. Sometimes I wonder if being a visual learner will be my downfall!

Our cats don't know how to use their litter boxes. It's not that they make messes around the house - they are very good about doing their business in the litter. The problem, though, is that there is some disconnect when it comes to a cat's natural tendency to cover its mess. Our cats sniff at their mess and then move to the opposite end of the litter box and start scratching and piling up litter over there. They almost never - except by accident - actually cover their mess. Then they go back and sniff at their mess, wondering why it still isn't covered! So, we regularly have to take our little shovel and go do it for them. It can get rather annoying at times!

Yesterday as I was covering a mess yet again, a thought occurred to me - is this how we deal with church issues? Now, the comparison will break down if you take it too far, because I'm not talking about church messes. The ideas that really came to my mind were the things that Scripture says are the foundational responsibilities of churches. We are to spread the Gospel, love one another, and meet needs we see around us - just to simplify it greatly. So, how do we do it?

Think about this...we see that there are many lost and hurting people around us. The logical action is to go out and minister to the lost and hurting, introducing them to the Savior who can meet every one of their needs. Instead, even though we haven't filled up our churches with saved or lost people, we build bigger buildings to attract the lost people. Then we wonder why they aren't flocking to the church!

We see that marriages in the church are failing right and left. The logical action is to get ahold of our children, teaching them what marriage is about and raising them up with the right attitude. Instead, we let TV and school teach them about what marriage is supposed to be, and then we panic when they get ready to get married. We hammer them with a few premarital counseling sessions and then watch as their marriage establishes itself according to the world's standards, not God's. Even if their marriage lasts, is it really what God intended? Or is it just another typical American marriage?

In these things and many, many, many more, we attack the issues facing us in this world in a round-about way, never truly meeting them head-on. We then wonder why we don't see results. Why aren't our churches growing? Why aren't we seeing people come to know Christ? Why are we seeing our society fall apart? Why don't our children behave? Why is there no respect for others these days?

Usually it takes more focus and attention - and more work and sacrifice - to truly deal with the issues instead of comfortably skirting around them. In the long run, though, we suffer the consequences. In the end, we will be held accountable for how we chose to spend our time and effort on this earth. I, for one, want to be found faithful. I want my effort to truly account for something - to truly bring glory to my Savior and accomplish His purposes!