This has been a reoccurring theme in and around the organizations that I work with. Why do we seem to always find a way to fight and bicker about minutia. Oh, some things may have some value to them, but most often we find ourselves deep in a struggle that has very little to do with what matters at all. This I think is one of the great curses of the institutional church. The churches in China and the Middle East have low incidences of feudal arguments because they are in a fight for their very lives and existence as a community that follows Jesus. When I hear churches in my community fuss over small things, it makes all of those who follow Jesus appear small. I am not just talking about the classic paint and carpet color issues. Church leadership meeting to discuss the worthiness of a teacher because he is dating outside his denomination (as if that matters to God) is ridiculous. When we allow ourselves to be angered or sucked into a conflict about control issues in a church (it is God's church after all) we diminish the body of Christ. It is worse still when we to it to ourselves. When we allow past relationships or things people say influence our joy, we lose sight of what matters. We in the worst way become slaves, slaves to others and to our past.
I want to do what matters to God. That is why I like mission trips. It is not always about what you are doing as much as it is the fact that you are doing something that matters. When we get into a third world situation and we see that 1 child dies every 15 seconds due to a water born disease, the pettiness of our institutional church seems to dissipate if only for a moment. It is not that issues don't come up and it is not that small issues shouldn't be addressed, but didn't Jesus say somewhere to do everything in love?
All I am saying is that if you are going to follow Jesus, follow Him. That is what matters.
