My way, your way, their way, our way ... but all that matters is His way

In Shrek, the ogre, having had his swamp disturbed by Donkey, Pinocchio, the three pigs, the wolf and many other Fairy Tale creatures, decides to address their eviction with Lord Farquaad. On leaving, he shouts, “Fairy tale creatures, don’t get too comfortable”.

It is in the nature of all creatures to settle. No matter what kind of circumstances we find ourselves in, we will soon tame it and make it as comfortable as possible.

The problem with settling, is that it can be at odds with God’s agenda. There are times when His spirit stands still, but such seasons of settlement are never an end. The Kingdom is always advancing.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul discusses Moses' descent from Mount Sinai, with the tablets of the law. His face was so aglow with the glory of God, that the people asked him to cover his face with a veil. That same glory symbolized the ultimate outworking of the law. In Galatians he adds that the law was a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It was not meant to be an end in and of itself, but the means to a far greater end.

Paul concludes that the Hebrews were happy to settle for the law. As such they tamed the law, until the resulting institution, not their God, became their identifier. The upshot of the process was that the objective of the law, Christ, was rejected as an inconvenient truth. He came unto His own and His own received Him not.

Now, the church is at a stage where it has also significantly tamed divine revelation and institutionalized its models of church governance. We are at a point where leaders feel they have got it and that it is working fine thank you – but don’t get too comfortable, this is not the end.

The wood, hay and stubble that will be tried in the fires of tribulation (1 Corinthians 3:12), will reveal the underlying gold, silver and precious stones of our faith. Ephesians 1 alludes to the glory of the church when it says, “now unto principalities and powers is known, through the church, the unsearchable mysteries of God”.

We are entering an unsettling time that will strip away our comfort zones until we exchange our proud differences for the common cause of our faith: the Lord Jesus Christ. He, alone, is our separation: which may prove to be a very inconvenient truth to many.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ http://www.4u2live.net/

Image source: www.flickriver.com/places/germany/thuringia/jena