Where Is God in His Church?

I think, as for most, the questions that continually pop up for me are ones that start with me. Am I effective in my witness for Jesus? Is my life Christ-centered and Christ-focused? As a part of the Body of Christ, am I following His example or have I created my own paradigm? Like many men my age and in situations similar to mine, if I had just recently bought a sports car or a big boat, I would think I was having a mid-life crisis. But in fact, I have sold both of these things in the last few years (although the boat wasn’t big).
At this moment, I feel that if there is a crisis in my life, it is one of self awareness and it is a self awareness that is focusing in on the spiritual aspects of my life, not on the physical or material and for this I am eternally grateful. This must be the Lord, because I am all too aware of my own abilities to be self-absorbed and self-focused and I am all too sure of my own self- importance in my life.
As I move forward from here I sincerely hope to explore and hopefully address some of these issues that are creating many of the questions that I have and I can safely say that many others I know and have spoken with have about their relationship with Jesus and where He is in His Church.
By that, I mean where I have or where we have placed Him? Because, if He is not the focus of our attention, then as an individual and as a “Body” we are sick and quite possibly, may be in danger of dying. I am sure that this sounds harsh to many, but this is a reality that we face in our culture today. The evidence that supports my contention can be seen most clearly in the decline of the Church in America and the decline or stagnation of most of our churches.
As importantly, as I consider writing these thoughts down, I am certain that it is equally as important that I ask myself my reasons for doing so. The question that I am asking of myself at this point is one that I have asked others when I have been involved in counseling sessions or meetings requested by someone to express a view or an opinion about something they see or perceive as a problem.
Whether it is in their personal lives, in someone else’s life or in the Church itself, the question always cuts to the heart of the matter for me. Is my reason for bringing this up an effort to be constructive or am I just being critical? This is a question we all should be asking ourselves whenever we are trying to communicate a differing view or an observation of a situation or circumstance that we have experienced or are experiencing.
Although we may believe we are being constructive, we need and in this case I need to be sure that it is not out of a desire to cast stones or a need to vindicate ourselves (myself) for past hurts or perceived offenses. Rather, that it is out of a genuine desire to bring to the forefront an area of concern that needs to be addressed. If we can honestly say that we believe that this is true and that our focus is Jesus and His “Mission” when we ask these types of questions, then we should go ahead and as Paul, stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, we should “Test everything and hold on to what is good”.
In this case, I can honestly say I truly believe it is in an effort to be and it is my intention to be constructive as I continue here. I am certain you and I could in our own experiences both in the church and in everyday life find a lot of reasons to be critical. I am also sure many people could find many reasons to be critical of each of us. But, if we can begin again to “Test everything”, perhaps we will be able to see the need for constructive criticism, both in our personal lives and in the Church.
There truly is need, although it is rarely the case we should desire the pursuit and the application of such criticism. So, as I begin, I would like to give you some personal background which may help anyone reading this to understand or perhaps if one should so choose to come up with a conclusion of their own regarding my perceptions or to at least and hopefully they should be able to develop a basic understanding of them.
As I go forward from here, I will attempt to share my view in a way that I hope is both truthful and thoughtful but hopefully, devoid of representing the same attitudes and bias’ that I believe are present in the Church today and of which I am about to speak against. My hope and my prayer as I begin to write this down on paper for others to see and read, is that the Lord will use this time as a time of personal introspection for me and that anyone who may take the time to read it would consider their own views and perspectives and give thought to the question, ” Where is God in His Church”.
My sincere hope is that personal spiritual growth will be the end result. Hopefully, writing this will help me to better understand myself and my relationship with the Lord as I consider His Church. My heartfelt desire is that at the very least, this will give me and each of us food for thought as we travel along this journey that He has so graciously allowed us to travel. He, who is the source of all, is in all, above all and over all.