The Hamster, the Tiger & My Passive Wrath

His eyes darted to the left, then right.  Terror gripped his body. Then the cat lunged at him with a speed he simply couldn’t match. As if to taunt Hammy of his impending a violent demise, the cat didn’t strike; it only rolled him back and forth between its paws like some kind of a sick game.

Hammy wondered to himself how many wagers had been lost by the citizens of the Capitol who thought better of some other unfortunate tribute who hadn’t made it as far…

Oh.  Wrong story.  Sorry.

Back to the cat… after a few cruel moments of taunting, it seemed like the sweet relief of death was finally nearing when the unthinkable happened!  A large, strong right hand of a human being reached down and delivered him from the jaws of death.

We love to empathize with the guilty and judge God as wicked, don’t we?  We just don’t have the right perspective.  Here’s the back story:

I was in 6th grade.  I had a pet hamster creatively named “Hammy,” and a cat named “Tiger.”  I was holding Hammy one afternoon, when he decided to bite my thumb and draw blood.  In my knee-jerk reaction, Hammy ended up on the floor with Tiger.  So whose fault is it that Hammy is in a precarious situation?

Exactly.  I’m glad you see God’s perspective.

You see, before we were condemned by God, we bit him. (Genesis 3)  It’s not the fact that humanity stands in God’s wrath that should surprise us; it’s His mercy extended by Christ on the cross that should be shocking.  At our point of greatest need, God’s strong right arm reached down and delivered us from the jaws of death.

If I’d had no love for Hammy,  I could have left him to the fate he created for himself.  I’m just saying.

There’s No Such Thing as A Five-Star Church

I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised.

When Googling my local church recently to find out the physical address, a little blurb showed up that requested a rating of my church.  I noticed right away that 14th Ave Baptist Church had not been rated by anyone yet, and from what I’ve learned in some of my business classes, I know that one or two unhappy customers can really hurt your averages for a business.  So I quickly clicked on the farthest star to the right, indicating my vote for five stars.

Then I got to thinking.

What does a five-star church look like?  400 baptisms a week?  Everyone always feels loved? They’re always on the bleeding edge of serving their city in creative and powerful ways?  Epic small groups?  All the members have the Bible memorized?  No one in the church sins anymore? Are halos involved???

I don’t think a five-star congregation exists……yet.  That will happen when Jesus wipes away all sin and injustice.

But here’s what I know of my journey in my late teens and early 20s:  I was good at criticizing things in the local church that were not Biblical; but I wasn’t yet in love with the Church to the point of getting involved to help.  (Can I get a witness!?!?!?  Hallelujah!! I see that hand!!!)

Ever since the Lord has shown me how jacked up the church at Corinth was, I’m thrilled to be part of a three-star church.

Does any of you have a similar story?  Are we showing enough grace to our brothers and sisters and being honest about our own brokenness?