You have not lied to men but to God.
When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.
This evening I had the privilege of accompanying the children' s minister from my uncle's church on her first-ever Willow Creek experience. I wanted to go because the ever-wonderful Mike Breaux was sharing the message in the Axis service, and because I will not be in regular church tomorrow, in deference to an 11-hour van ride with 6 high school youth-groupers on our way to S.I.T.S. (longest sentence ever.) Anyway, I had a hunch that said children's minister would want to go, as she most recently lived in the great state of Kentucky (Mike's homeland) and would probably know who he was. And he's just an excellent minister. So I invited her, and she accepted. Yay for fun outings.
Willow was as huge as ever, but the evening was beautiful and it was a joy to drive to a relatively "countrified" suburb.
Mike's message was the last in a series called Space Within, all about living life fully engaged with God, and carving a true space in our lives that is only filled by Him. I had seen that this series was going on, and it piqued my curiosity. Mike focused on the need to be REAL - to be honest, genuine, to worship with integrity and an appropriate spirit. His text for the message was one that I don't believe I have ever heard preached before - Acts 5:1-11, the story of Ananias and Sapphira.
As always, the good nearly-southern girl in me immediately connected with Mike's southern affectation and ease; but the spirit deep within was challenged by his message. Am I living authentically? Do I hide from God? Will my fate be that of Ananias and his wife if I do not change?
Even moreso, these questions are ones I have been asking for significant amount of time; my experience as an undergrad pushed me to ask them of my entire worshipping community. But I'm not sure I ever got any answers.
So my challenge to you, and to worshipping communities: read Acts 5:1-11, and ask yourself the same questions. Answer truthfully, as if to God, not to yourself.
3 comments:
Good and challenging thoughts Megan. These are questions we need to ask ourselves every day. Yesterday a prison ministry team from the Ellsworth prison came -- prison ministry as in these guys are prisoners. And they are on fire for God. I think they've had to ask these kinds of questions of themselves, too, and their worship is real and from the heart.
As a side note, did you realize that two (2) of Willow Creek's ministers are LCC graduates? Mike Breaux, who is not only an excellent preacher he has the most amazing voice, and Gene Appel, also another good preacher. I just think that's cool. :)
Have a great week in Kentucky!
Mom
Meg! I'm so jealous you got to watch our bro Breaux preach! GOOD THOUGHT, something I've been wrestling with as a whole, lately. It's very ugly down in the deep caverns of the heart- but deep calls to deep, the ache MUST be filled.
If I try to keep my heartache from Him, if I try to lie to myself & others about the state of things, if I pretend to be fully crucified to Christ when I am not, if the Holy Spirit convicts and I do not respond in full but falsely work my intellect through something (thereby twisting the truth of God's will and achieving my own), I act in the same heart as Ananias & Sapphira. The interesting thing is that I suffer the same fate - my spirit is no longer in accord with the living God, and I am dead in my soul.
It's foolish, how well we think we can hide it, how we think that nobody else around us is too imperceptive to see that we are empty vessels, and that because we can't see Him, God can't see our hearts. It's the mentality of children hiding behind a curtain, "If I can't see you, you can't see me." Soon we are so busy trying to keep hidden certain things that we become unfamiliar with opening our hearts and offering HONESTLY what we have to the Lord.
What we have is so little and unworthy. The worth comes in offering it, offering our unworthy selves to a holy God. That's a painful realization to bring to our Creator & Lover, but His return is love in the form of grace. To NOT offer ALL is to die.
hey, random comment here. but i'm housesitting and i saw that they have the movie "mean girls" totally thought of you!
miss you!
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