The Coming Year

It’s not too early to begin thinking about 2013. I expect we will see a significant number of changes in our life and in our Society. I don’t have a lot of hope for the future outside of the Truth of God’s Word. If we are depending on “men” to lead us to a brighter day, we will most likely be disappointed.

As the Church of Jesus Christ, which Believers are, we need to constantly remind ourselves, and those around us, that we have a responsibility to one another as the family of God. It is at that very point that the Church often fails. If we are not involved in the life of others who we are commanded to llove, to support, for whom we are to care and be an encouragement, it is certainly unlikely that we will be effective and efficient in reaching those outside the Body of Christ with the Good News.

I visited a Church yesterday, not far from the one I attend. I had a piece of “business” there. I saw an old friend from another Church in the parking lot and we talked a bit on the way in. He wanted to sit “down front” and I chose a seat a little further back. Near the end of the service I went to the front to speak a word to and about my friend who was being ordained, then returned to my seat. After the closing prayer, I dutifully walked through the auditorium (and the crowd) to the Fellowship Hall. There I quickly found my friend and congratulated him on his ordination. Needing to return to my own Church for evening services, I left the same way I had come, back through the crowd to the exit and into my car. In that just over an hour and a half, not one person, other than the two friends, one in the parking lot and the other who was being ordained, spoke a single word to me. Not one “hello,” “welcome,” “thanks for coming,” not one single word came my way.

If we can’t (don’t or will not) care for our family, how will we ever reach those others to whom we also have a responsibility – the ambivalent, the uninterested, and the hostile.

2013 needs to be our year for fulfilling responsibilities.