This Life – 2 July 2010

A thief comes only to rob, kill, and destroy. I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.  John 10:10 [CEV]

The church in the is often seen in a negative light.  Someone asked the question “What does church mean to you?” on Yahoo Answers 2 years ago, looking for people to give 3 words to describe what the church means to them.  The good news is that many positive answers were given, however one answer which I found very interesting was:

“1. Sanctimonious, 2. Intolerance, 3. Bigotry
That is how I feel about organized religion. About God though, He or She is a cool dude in my opinion.”

I think it is increasingly common in this country that people are pro-God and anti-religion.  What is also interesting is that Jesus found that the organised religion had many of the same problems 2000 years ago. 

The message that Jesus gave in his ministry was that following him would give people life “in its fullest”.  This week we have looked at love, hope, faith and peace.  These are the things that give us the fullness and richness of life.  What the church needs is to take hold of this message and put it into practice.  The life of a Christ-follower is not dull, negative, sanctimonious, intolerant or bigoted. 

Am I living life to its fullest? (probably not!).  Perhaps it is time for me to wake up and remember what this life is all about.  What change can we make today to live our lives with more love, hope, faith and peace?