I find myself being blessed in the fact that I have several places of worship that feed my hunger for the Word. There was a time when church hopping was my modus operandi only because I was not yet settled in my spirit. Nowadays, I just know so many churches and ministers, pastors and associate pastors where the Word is served by gifted men and women called to preach.
Yes, I do have a church home (two in different cities, as a matter of fact) and know whenever I choose to go, a powerful message will be received in a multiplicity of places. Each is unique and each has a loyal following.
This is important to me because I used to believe the pulpit was a place for hypocrites to shine and generate false praise from members more interested in looking good than actually working for the Lord. I had intellectualized myself out of the kingdom and for the most part, had convinced myself that I could stay connected without being connected. I must admit that this was the single biggest reason I stayed out of church.
Once I got past the pulpit and into the Word, my life changed and continues to evolve. If you’re open to it, the Word of God shows up in all kinds of places through all kinds of people and circumstances.
I am often amazed at how confused I was to believe that the message was going to be given by a perfect person, heard by a perfect people, in a perfect congregation. Underneath it all, my own arrogance and pride had somehow allowed me to believe just maybe I was better than some, a cut above others and smarter than most. When I think about it now, it can disgust me.
My good news is I’m saved today in the knowledge that I am better than no one and more flawed than many. I am not more worthy of Jesus’ sacrifice than I am of the love of the Almighty. I’m just thankful to be in the family.
As such, I’ve enjoyed having my eyes opened to see great things happening in the name of church after church, from prison ministries, to backpacks for children who need them for school, from programs feeding the hungry to helping folk pay their rent. When you investigate and seek God’s Word, you find whole communities of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brother, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring God. For,’…all men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall…but the Word of God stands forever.’” 1 Peter 22-25.
The simplicity of this amazes me. God’s goodness and grace are everywhere. Remember, we are His creation and He knows what He put in all of us.
