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My Hope For The Church In These Turbulent Times--2020

8/23/2020

18 Comments

 
A beginning caveat— this is written to believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. All are welcome to read it, of course, but I am writing this to followers of Jesus, so if you do read it, please do so in this light.

As we have lived through this season, I am almost speechless to describe it. We are walking through a pandemic that is ravaging bodies, economies, and relationships.  At the same time, cultural upheaval of a magnitude I have never seen is rippling through our communities.  Amid this sits the beautiful, often broken, complicated, holy, and redeemed Bride of Christ—the Church.  Oh, how I love her—she is not perfect, but God is holding her, challenging her, rooting out sin, and calling her to show grace in a world that has lost its healing songs of mercy.  

Mercy’s songs, I humbly appeal, are quieting because we often cannot hold difficult realities about ourselves together.  Right now, culturally, we are struggling with our complexities and would rather label one another as “good” or “bad” based on one opinion, one mistake, one difference among us.  We have started putting people into these camps, categorizing one another as “this” or “that,” boxing complex human beings into spaces in which we will not let them escape.  We are even doing this sometimes in the church.

Yet, we who follow the Bible know how convoluted we are, for we bear both His image and a sinful nature simultaneously.  And, that reality gives us nuances that are not easily inserted into a simplistic duality.  Even when we have claimed the blood of Jesus as our righteousness—we have been born again, we still have not been glorified yet and face the challenge of our flesh daily.

Indeed, we are all made up of healthy and unhealthy elements; we are a convoluted jumble of it all.  As a wise counselor shared with me, we are all made up of parts— some functioning well and some not.  We have so much going on all at once. That is why we must resist the labeling of one another in exclusive, binding, and unyielding ways.  

Dividing ourselves into camps and words solely based on experiences and identities is so limiting.  That is not to say that these realities do not matter; they do— God made us specifically, beautifully, and purposefully in these ways.  But, our first identity as Christians must be in the blood of Jesus.  

As Christians, somehow, we have to reach through all this and grab the splintery Cross.  I see our hands there, all different, reaching through the darkness and terror to that Cross, holding there together.  As we do so in the midst of these crises, our compassion towards one another has to be so very strong, our love so very wide— wide enough to feel the stretch of Christ’s arms on the bloody cross.    

We need such humility to find one another.  Let me say that again to you and to myself—we need such humility to find one another.  

In the church, may we be found calling each other sister and brother first.  May we hold one another together.  May we have difficult conversations about our sin individually and corporately, hear one another anew, and walk in each other’s shoes more than we have.  But, but, but, we cannot divide ourselves in the church.  

Please, church, stay at the Cross.  Stay near it.  Let the blood of Christ be our foundation.  Everything must be handled in the shadow of the Cross.  That is where we must begin and eventually end.  And, if we think that anything or anyone other than Jesus can change a heart, we, too, will find ourselves bowing before a godless idol of humanistic ideology that will eventually devour our souls.   

​Instead, let us be found at the Cross, singing songs of mercy to a world that needs to see us finding unity in all our differences because of the blood of Jesus.   And may our songs of humility, redemption, and praise to our Father lead others to Jesus, in Whom streams of Living Water forever flow.
18 Comments
Gordon
8/24/2020 09:29:20 am

Love you, Sister!!! 🎶💕

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 03:57:07 pm

Thanks, Gordon, for reading. Love journeying with you and Joanna!!

Reply
Donna
8/24/2020 09:32:41 am

Beautifully written. Thank you Amy.
"Everything must be handled in the shadow of the cross "

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 03:57:50 pm

Thank you, dear Donna! You live out this so well!!

Reply
Erin
8/24/2020 09:47:03 am

“And, if we think that anything or anyone other than Jesus can change a heart, we, too, will find ourselves bowing before a godless idol of humanistic ideology that will eventually devour our souls.”
Such a beautiful reminder of TRUTH.
Thank you for these words and for sharing them with us.

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 03:59:00 pm

Thank you, dear sister! You are a blessing in my life and in so many!!

Reply
Dianne Hartzell
8/24/2020 11:30:33 am

Mich 6:8 is my memory verse this week,
This is what the lord requires of us." To do what is right,to love mercy and walk humbly with your God". NLT
Praying God's peace for all of us,, God is going before us, He will not fail us,,
Thank you Amy,, well said from your beautiful heart.

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 03:59:34 pm

I love that verse, Dianne!! You are such a living example of it!! Love you!

Reply
Tracy Bechtol
8/24/2020 01:55:34 pm

Thank you Amy. Your light always shines bright. These words were so beautiful and so needed right now in this period we are in.

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 04:00:05 pm

For me, as well. It is so easy to get angry and discouraged; may we stay at the Cross through it all!

Reply
Pamela Medley
8/24/2020 04:37:16 pm

Love you Amy. Thanking God for your heart and willingness to share and bare yourself ♥️🤗🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌 praising Him

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 04:00:34 pm

Thank you, dear friend! You are one of my teachers in this area!! Love you!

Reply
Holly
8/24/2020 06:01:22 pm

Oh I LOVE this. What a mark of maturity for us, for the church, to the good and bad in tension, covered in the Mercy. So thankful for your incredible mind Amy.

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 04:01:28 pm

Yes, may Mercy cover us and go before us as we walk!! So glad to journey with you-- your work in Him is such a light for me. Love you!!

Reply
Casey
8/25/2020 07:08:43 am

Such a beautiful reminder to see people as God does, not as an opinion or viewpoint... Love you, Friend!

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/25/2020 04:02:10 pm

I love this!! May I not see people as opinions. I will take that with me, friend. Love you!!

Reply
Kelli Rogers
8/25/2020 04:01:34 pm

Amy,
Absolutely beautiful❤️ Love holding onto the cross and singing with you and all our brothers and sisters!!

Reply
Amy Gerak
8/26/2020 07:54:25 pm

Amen-- I cherish that we are doing this together!!! I know your time is so precious-- thanks for journeying with me for a few minutes this way. Love you!!

Reply



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    Amy Saylor Gerak-- Idea Wrestler, Mama, Musician, Wife, Friend, Daughter and Sister

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