Love in Action

Here are some thoughts from Pastor Brent Ingersoll of Kings Valley Wesleyan Church...

"Do you ever stop and ask yourself if the Church in North America is affecting lives the way it should be? Do you ever wonder if we are reaching the world around us in the same kind of way we read about in the New Testament? There is no question that the church is a strong (or maybe a better term would be loud) presence in North America, but I often ask myself, is the noise we are making the type of noise Jesus would be making?

When you step back and look at the areas in which Christians are making the most noise, it tends to be in the areas of waving our Christian/moral flags at the world around us. It seems as though we (the evangelical church) are spending more time and energy on fighting homosexuality and abortion, than we are on feeding the hungry, healing the sick, giving love to the unlovable, hope to the hopeless, money to the poor, being strong for those who are weak, befriending homosexuals instead of condemning them, adopting babies instead of picketing the young, confused mothers who abort…. getting the picture? There is no question the church is making some noise in our culture, but is it the same noise Jesus made?

When you look at the noise made by Christ, and the apostles, it was out of action. It was their lives that spoke for them. I sometimes wonder if somewhere along the line, we stopped realizing that loving God and Others is the greatest command, and we replaced it with moral rules and regulations. God never intended for you or me to be able to live up to His moral standards without Him (true morality comes after we know Jesus). So why is it that we are teaching the world (who doesn’t know God) to live to what we know to be God’s moral standard, instead of pointing them to Jesus out of love. Are we getting things out of order here? If the only noise that we the church are making is out of waving our moral flags, I dare say that we are missing the point. A lot of us wonder why the church is starting to lose its voice in America (Canada)…. I can’t help but wonder if it’s not from years of yelling.

Ponder this: What would the world be like if the church stopped focusing what everyone else isn’t, and just started living as who WE ARE. I wonder if through our loving actions, we would be creating the most undeniable, contagious, noise to the world we live in. I wonder if THAT noise would make more people WANT to be like us?

Actions always speak louder than words, and the noise that unconditional love makes….. is… undeniable!"

Well said Brent. For a young guy just out of Bible College, this is an incredibly thoughtful article. I like what you have said my friend.