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Hebrews
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and
let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set
before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the
right hand of the throne of God.
The
central insight I’m going to be bringing in my Sunday morning sermon
tomorrow at the local Baptist church is an optional reading of Hebrews
12:1. Specifically, I want to suggest this: the “weight”
that holds us back in the “race” is not always a
“sin” as specifically defined by scripture.
Someone
could legitimately say that “weight” and “sin” are
a parallelism, and I would agree, but the parallelism may be because of the
effect of hindering our ongoing life as a follower of Jesus.
There
is no doubt that we are called to lay aside, i.e. repent of, sin. I would
contend that we are admonished, with just as much authority, to lay aside
whatever may hinder us that is not a matter of repenting of sin, but of
giving up what is not necessary, what distracts us and what makes it
difficult to carry out the calling and mission of the church.
It is
interesting that we will give our preachers permission to preach against
sin, but do they have permission to preach about the “weight”
we insist on carrying?
The
traditions? The methodologies? The cultural assumptions? The expected and
accepted calendar? The attitudes toward personal evangelism? The attitudes
towards money, comfort and personal investment?
The
role of family? The expectations of significant others? The pattern of
denominational methodology? The role of the church itself? The role of its
leaders?
It
strikes me as incredibly relevant to the current situation that we not just
ask, if the mission hindered by gossip, but that we ask if the mission is
hindered by exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it.
This
occurred to me at Advance ‘09 when a speaker who shall remain
nameless, but who likes to eat chicken wings, suggested that some churches
needed to cancel Sunday School. The air temporarily vanished from the room.
The speaker looked impishly provocative and I immediately got the point: he
wasn’t suggesting you abandon Bible study or small groups, but what
if the fact that your entire small group program is a dress up affair in a
church building on Sunday morning is ONE of the reasons you aren’t
doing the basics of your church’s mission?
What
if your WAY of doing church is a weight. Not a sin.
What
if your way of living the Christian life is too comfortable, too
predictable, too safe and too “in the niche” of a tradition
that answers all your questions?
What
if your schedule is so full of things that aren’t sinful that you
can’t do anything new this week for the Kingdom? What if your life at
church is so full you already know everything you are ever going to do for
Jesus? What if your life is so full of your current friends you could never
make a new one?
What
if you are investing so much in what is good that you can’t sacrifice
or joyfully give away money for the Kingdom?
What
if your good life, good morals, good witness are the reason you don’t
have a life of discipleship filled with risk, impact and Kingdom
adventures?
What
if your problem isn’t the sin that clings so closely, but the weights
you are so easily and comfortably carrying around in order to be a
“good Christian?”
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