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05 19th, 2008| 
So, I pick up my trusty Tilt Phone this morning and pull up my bible program for my morning coffee/quiet time devotional. I have been in the Old Testament last week, so I figured I would hit up the New this week for a while. I have been thinking and praying alot about the current state of the church and my role in this whole “churchiosity” thingy. So, I am in chapter 15 of Matthew. Why did I start there? No idea. I don’t try to rationalize nor do I try to understand alot of things I do, I just try to go with the flow. So, chapter 15 starts off . . . SLAM! Christ nails the pharisees. Then I get to verse 8 . . . hmmm. Then verse 9 . . . (insert repeated hmmm here). STOP. Go no further. Heaping coals of condemnation are on their way. Verse 8 says this, “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”, then He goes to 9 which says, “Their worship of me is empty, because they teach human rules as doctrines.’” OUCH! Man, the implications of those two phrase far out reach any conceivable message that we could possibly comprehend. Let’s do this . . . let’s replace “these people” with the word “Jason”. Let’s look at that - Jason honors me with his lips, but his heart is far from me. His worship of me is empty, because he teaches human rules a doctrines. Ok, now I dare you to do the same! Man, what a pointed calling out. Basically, Christ has drawn the line in the sand and said . . . “So, what are you going to do about it?!” I want so badly to have my actions reflect my heart. I try to make it a conscious effort to put forth Christ in what and how I say what I say. Then in verse 11 He says, “It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean.” It is the verbal form of fleshing out my faith. The reason I see that as pointed to me, is that I as a member of the bride want to honor Christ in all I do. I do not want to have empty worship to God, and do not want the human rule to guide my relationship with God. Can one man make a difference in the church? I hate to quote an old youth group worship song but here it goes . . . “It only takes a spark to get a fire going.” Can I make a difference? Will my efforts make a difference? I don’t know, but I do know that it is my responsibility to present Christ, Him crucified, Risen, and coming again in my daily walk. The church is not the brick and mortar. The church is flesh and blood. I may be nothing more than a single solitary 2×4 in the wall, or maybe even a fiber in the carpet, but I am significant to the Kingdom of Christ. He does not need me, but He chooses to use me. He is the potter, and I am just the clay vessel. He is constantly spinning me around the wheel, repairing all the little holes I poke in my sides, and the cracks I make. So then, I make myself a broken vessel that pours out, and He is the Creator Who repairs the cracks. Once again . . . we see our reliance on Him. I guess that means that He really is God . . . and we’re not.
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