“The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ’s body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.” (Eph 1:23, The MSG)

In a related turn of phrase that I read recently from a pastor in NYC,
“The world is not a distraction from our cause, it is our cause.” 

Do I, you, we really believe it? We inherit everything on Heaven and earth because we are the family of the only kingdom there truly is. The church is not its own conservative, daggy subculture, peripheral to mainstream, glorified standards of living and ways of generating success. 

Subvert your thinking. Subvert everything you’re seeing and see that God’s plans are like this massive iceberg, and right now we’re here on the water’s surface, believing in the mass and greatness of what’s just underneath.

Yes it’s true, most people haven’t tapped into God’s order and will look to the tip and believe it to be the highest attainment. But we are told, taught and given surmounting, ancient and everyday evidence to know better. We are taught not to climb up but to go deeper. 

This is why we, the church, “turn the world upside down”. Because in actuality, it is currently being displayed upside down. And we live, breathe and continue to believe in the right way up until all anyone can see is the right way up. 

Oh and by the way, it’s kind of like this too… (just sayin’)

When You Open Your Mouth

A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!

It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.

This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can’t tame a tongue—it’s never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!

My friends, this can’t go on. A spring doesn’t gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don’t bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don’t bear apples, do they? You’re not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?

Live Well, Live Wisely

Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

James 3 (MSG)