…live together, die alone…
“You are the church of tomorrow.” What does that even mean? My brothers
and I heard it all the time growing up- people trying to instill in us the need to
be serious because soon our parents won‟t be with us and we will have to
become the church.
In High School I wasn‟t really part of a clique. I didn‟t really fit any of the
molds… well, that or maybe I just didn‟t want to fit into one of the molds. This
created problems for me with having friends. I had no core group to go back
to, or to back me up if needed help or encouragement. I wanted to fit in with
everybody, but because of that I didn‟t fit in with anybody. Seems backwards,
doesn‟t it? Backwards is one thing I have always done well.
I understand the point of a core group or a clique; some psychologists say that
we can really only have about 8-14 close friends, depending on which one you
ask, that is. It must be true: the Greatest Friend of all time only had 12. So, I
understand people not confiding in and having close relationships with
everyone. However, that does not give us an excuse to stick with just those
few people with whom we feel comfortable. For example, how many Sundays
have we gone to church, shook someone‟s hand and said „good morning‟ and
yet have never asked them what they need prayer for? If someone were in
need in your church, would you be willing to downsize your life to help take
care of them? It‟s been done before. (Read the end of Acts 2.)
I hated being told as a teenager, “you are the church of tomorrow.” It drove
me nuts. I had been put in a box by those who were older than me, thinking
that I wasn‟t ready yet. “We are the church of today,” my brothers and I
would say. I feel that some of our youth may be feeling the same way right
now. Not all of them have the experience, or the Bible knowledge, but many
of them are making big decisions on their own: to come to church of their own
volition and no parental motivation, in dealing with things in their life that I
would never have dreamed of at their age. They want to be a part of
something universal, not just a sub-category, separated out in the caste of
“youth”.
But something tells me it‟s not just the youth. We all have a longing for
community. It‟s how God created us. Yet we still continue to stay in our
comfort zones and not be as effective as we could. I think that‟s one of the
best tools of the devil: keeping us separated from each other because he knows
that when we work together there is nothing he can do. Instead, we fight
about stupid stuff, complain about others without talking to them first, and
fight battles that we could have already won if we had only worked together in
the first place. When you come to church next time, find someone you don‟t
know and make the effort to learn something about them. Invite someone over
that you have known for a long time, but have never had a deeper relationship
with. Let‟s fight the battle together rather than apart.
- Michael Murphy, written for the April 2008 newsletter