My Church Clothes Part 2

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The essential element of living sent and living on the mission God has given me is trusting my value.

You see, Jesus declared our value at the cross. He clearly stated, “You are worth dying for.” Understand something - this is a declared value, not an appraised value. He did not go the cross because we were lovable. He went to the cross because He loves us, and it is His love for us that makes us lovable. It is His activity that makes us valuable. It is His invitation to be involved in His activity that makes our daily lives worth anything.

The most crippling issue hindering us from "being the church" is our insecurity to think we need more than what Jesus did - like good performance or a pastor to do the ministry for us – to spiritually impact the people in our lives.

Aren’t we each valuable and able to speak value into the lives of those around us. Don't we each have the Holy Spirit?

I am afraid that in North America, all we have done is created all over again one of the very things Jesus eliminated. Priesthood.

Christ-followers are not living according to purpose because for too long, they have been made to feel like all the value that exists within the body of Christ was given to the pastors. They have been made to feel that all the value given for living on purpose and all the value that enables us to speak value into the lives of others was given to the modern day priesthood. After all, let’s just get them there on Sunday and the preacher can tell them about this stuff.

Listen, I am a “preacher,” although I don’t commonly call myself that, and I know how much people remember of what I say on Sundays. Not much.

But you, on the other hand! What you say around your family. What you say around your coworkers. What you say around your friends. How you live in the daily. These are sermons much more worthy of being podcasted. These are words much more significant to the people hearing them. Yours are actions that speak so much more loudly than the polished lectures that ring within the walls of church buildings across the country on Sundays.

Why? Because you have the Holy Spirit within you. You have all you need to live this out loud, to be a priceless, life-changing value in the lives of the people you do life with everyday.

There’s this doctrine called “the priesthood of the believers” that makes it clear that each of us can hear from, relate to, and speak of the God we follow. We don’t need anyone else to do it for us or to get us to Him.

Pastors need to lay down their egos and begin to unleash ministers into the daily. Pastors need to be pouring all of their energy into providing whatever people need to bring value into the lives of others everyday. Instead, pastors tend to pour all of their energy into 30 minute monologues that most people don’t remember (not that teaching the Word is not important. It just may not be as important coming from one person on Sundays as it is coming from every follower the other 6 ½ days of the week.).

You can do this! You can trust your value and live giving God’s value away into the lives of others. You can hear God whisper to your mind and heart to say a certain word or do a certain compassionate act to someone and do it, all the while knowing that you just got to be a part of the righteousness of God as His righteousness was lived out purposefully through you!!! You and I both get to be a part of His mission and movement and love and purpose everyday.

So, the next time you are grilling out with your neighbor or eating lunch with a friend at school or on a date with your spouse or throwing a ball with your kid, be ever listening to God. Trust your value and have the courage to share that value when you sense God’s Spirit prompting you to do so. Speak love and value into the lives of the people God has blessed you to be with daily.