I believe God has been preparing us for “Unclean” Church. I think sometimes we get into the trap of
looking at the clean and unclean in the Bible and trying to make a perfect
Church with the things that are deemed clean by God. I am of the opinion that God is very much
into making the things that are unclean clean and then using them for His
glory. I think He is more into the
business of recycling of the unclean trash for the purpose of use than
manufacturing clean things that aren’t meant to be touched. Seven times in the gospels, Jesus performed a
miracle on the Sabbath (which was against the Law and made you a sinner
according to the godly people of Jesus’ day).
At least once, he touched a leper to heal him. This would have made Jesus ceremonially
“unclean” according to the Law. Jesus
himself did many things the “unclean” way.
He was even baptized in the Jordan River which was the dirtiest river
around. It seems that Jesus chose to do
things that seemed to go completely against the mainstream religion and yet
still in keeping with the Law and the Prophets.
I think sometimes we lose sight of Jesus’ teachings to try to make
something perfect and acceptable to God, but even Moses recognized that what
God wanted had nothing to do with our physical cleanliness but a “circumcision
of the heart.” It seems that over the
years we have pursued excellence and cleanliness in the church and we have many
mega churches to model ourselves after.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I think it is with a good heart that we strive
for excellence and the “proper” and socially acceptable way of doing
things. For instance, the spirit of
excellence I believe comes from a heart of wanting to give God the best. The one time in the Bible that a spirit of
excellence is mentioned is in the book of the prophet Daniel which says that
Daniel had an excellent spirit. God used
Daniel and his excellent spirit within the leadership of a pagan kingdom to
bring about the salvation of the Jews.
The excellent spirit that Daniel had was something that God used. In Philippians 4:8, Paul says to think on
things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and
worthy of praise. David also had the
desire to give God the best when he made the plans for the temple in
Jerusalem. In this case however, God
rebuked him saying, “Heaven is my throne and the Earth is my footstool. What kind of dwelling place do you intend to
make for me?” I think sometimes we try
to set up God’s model of leadership in our world’s kingdom when what God is
trying to do is completely invade, take over, and set up His kingdom in our
world.
If Jesus were on the earth in our
generation, He would be just as radical as He was two thousand years ago and He
would have just as extreme calls for His disciples. I think right now He would still tell rich
people to give everything they have to the poor and he would still say that no
one that puts his hands to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom. I think he would still rebuke the religious leaders
and go have supper with thieves, addicts, adulterers, and other riff-raff that
we have a hard time inviting into our homes much less going to eat with them in
theirs. What if whenever we saw beggars
on the street and fed them and healed them and invited them to come and walk
with us rather than ignoring them and saying they need to get a job before we
can help them with a clear conscience?
Jesus never told the lepers to go make themselves clean or heal themselves
before he touched them, he didn’t tell tax collectors to stop robbing before he
would enter their houses, and he didn’t tell adulterers to go fix their lives
before he saved them. When I see the
example of Jesus, it is impossible for me to say that I can follow Him without
giving everything I have away and giving my life to become the servant of the
least of the world. Do we find ourselves
caught up in the next blessing that God is going to give us? Or the next person we can give to? I just recently discovered that the city
council where I lived denied an organization’s request to start a homeless
shelter because it would hurt the city’s image.
Who decided that helping the poor gives you a bad name and image? In Jesus’ day, it was the religious
leaders.
It is time for Christians to decide
to stay clean and stay home or get dirty and forcefully advance the Kingdom of
God. I believe God is calling us to
start having “Unclean” Church where we serve the poor, the homeless, the
orphans, and the widows without fear of losing face in the community. I believe that God is challenging us to give
up everything to follow Him. My question
to you is this: What do you not want to give to God? Is it your money? Family? Security? Material
things? Or what about your heart? Or your time?
Now think about that thing…and give it to Him. Whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in
Heaven…not the other way around. We have
to give everything to Him here, where we are, right now. Are you willing to take up the cross and
follow Him? Are you willing to give up
an excellent, clean life for dirty persecution?
This isn’t a call to a perfect life.
It’s a call to an abundant one.
And there’s only one way to have it…accepting the life that Jesus
offered. If you want to gain your life,
you must lose it.
Chris