From Quiet to Challenge

   Yesterday I wrote a piece on Sunday Morning. You can read it here:

http://walkinganewpath-pilgrim.blogspot.com/2015/05/sunday-morning.html

   I talked about quiet and reverence and meant it all. Sometimes those are hard to find in the modern church, but they are, I think, a necessary ingredient.

   So, what happens as I sit in the service yesterday after having said all of that?

   The music was pretty loud, there was little quiet, and reverence could have been overlooked in all the commotion.

   But something happened anyway.

   Our pastor preached on James 1, specifically verses 19-25, and the focus was on verse 22.

"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."

   There is a time to be quiet, listen for God and be reverent in any church service, but there is also a time for a challenge to be in the world, doing what Jesus commanded, making our world a better place, filled with God's love and mercy.

   I may want to sit in the sanctuary after all the people have gone home and bask in the quiet reverence of a stilled room, but there is more, much more.

   The definition of the church is not the building, it is the people serving Jesus Christ out there, wherever "there" is.

   Perhaps I missed the quiet yesterday, but I was challenged, and I needed that, too.