The fabric of the Church

The tapestry gleams, lights and darks, wide and narrow bands woven together. It is the Church of Christ in all its glory and despair, its shining beauty and deep wounds. Unlike anything else in the universe, the time is coming when it is cleansed and robes the Bridegroom.

This morning I was asking God to make me a strong thread in the fabric of the Church. We may think the wide and magnificent crimsons and purples running through the tapestry are the famous speakers and teachers of Christianity. But I wonder...

Does God stand back to admire:

• the great honor and stability of the unnamed prayer warriors who hold true to scripture?
• the great strength in the unrecognized youths who are passionate about changing the world for Christ?
• the great potential in the students who study hard to show themselves approved in word and deed?
• the great beauty of my African and Asian brothers and sisters, keeping the faith by offering their lives as militant Islamists, Hindus, and other world religions advance?
• the balance between the flash and bedazzlement of the Christian media darlings and the trust and obedience of his faithful, unnoticed servants? 

How our Lord must value those who faithfully serve the Church without struggling or fighting his plans. It pleases him when we remain quiet and pliable under his hand as it moves the shuttle of his will.

How privileged we are to be the weft and warp of the world-wide cloth of the Faith, emerging under the Weaver's hand. There is no need for us who trust Christ to try to stick up above the fabric he is designing as "important" or "deserving." Each one in our place - ah, what a Church of radiant glory and wonder to the world and the watching heavens!

A lovely woman of God, staying in our same flat, looked out the LR window with me, across the mile of apartments and out to the ocean. As ships bob in the Singapore harbor on one side, a tropical forest borders the others side of our flat. The view is spectacular. We've had wonderful times of ministry and blessings (not to mention excellent food and hospitality) these past three weeks in SE Asia.

"We are unworthy of these blessings," we sisters-in-faith agreed. "Who are we to enjoy such abundance when so many have so little (food, shelter, opportunity, gospel...)?" Yet we are grateful for these privileges and our place in the creation of God.

Read more:

*I will sing of the LORD's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations. I will declare that your love stands firm forever, that you established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89:1-2 NIV

*Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12 NIV

*Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world- -the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. 1 John 2:15-17 NEV