. He raises the same question that I wanted to raise as a teen: "Do the words addressed to the church in Laodicea in Revelation 3:14-23 apply to us today? Are we lukewarm Christians?" Or to use the parable of the sower, "Are we the soil choked out by weeds, by the distractions and complications of daily life?" I always wanted to read the message to the Laodiceans to my home congregation when I was a teen, now I find that the text applies to me. Unpleasant irony.While its right to read those passages and ask if they apply to me individually, we must also read them and ask if they apply to our congregation or even to the worldwide body of Christ. There is a book that I own that I've never gotten very far in, but the major premise can be found in its title: The 2nd Incarnation
(Rubel Shelly, Randall Harris). The basic thesis is that the Church is Christ's second incarnation on Earth. We are Immanuel (God With Us) to the world today.This brings me to an uncomfortable dilemma. The greatest attraction to Christianity for many people is Jesus, his life, his teachings, and yes, his death and resurrection (even if the latter creates its own stumbling blocks). But the greatest turn off to Christianity is Christians. If we are the second incarnation, why is our impact so often diametrically opposed to the first incarnation?
In our lesson today, it came home to me. The body of Christ, the church is unhealthy. Its flabby, out of shape, and bedridden. Its in adult day care - not able to fully function in the real world. Here's a few metaphors that came to mind (after the jump):
