.
If there was one sentence that would personify
my sentiment it would read simply “I am tired”
Before you scroll on expecting another rant…hmmm…I
guess you should scroll on because this is indeed another rant but one worth
reading…I hope.
I shall start with the title of this piece. Wikipedia
refers to The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as “a
monument in dedication to the services of an unidentified soldier” and were first suggested during the First World
War. The tomb normally contains the body of a fallen soldier deemed
unidentifiable and this representative of the many heroes that fought to defend
their nations and freedoms.
The stories of soldiers of yore who even as history considered confined
them to the wrong side of the conflict still fought for the same reasons the
good guys did, and died defending those ideals. To give the ultimate sacrifice
takes courage and humility. Many a soldier will get a medal but even more will
die unknown deaths and therein is my conundrum.
So here lies the start of my rant. I am tired of mega churches and super
star pastors. I am tired of the Hollywood style pulpit sets and the media
tweaked TV spots, programs and promotions combined with the well-oiled social
media machine. I am just simply tired of the self-conscious self centered churches
of my day and age.
Jesus was famous but he never advertised. I highly doubt he would have
built mega synagogues. I am sure of these because Jerusalem probably had some
big ones out there and he could have taken ownership and turned them around. But
he did not. He actually seemed to not care too much about what people said
about him except when it was to push The Gospel.
So why do we do all these things. Being a journalist I understand the
need to get our message out. In fact I think with all this tech is just silly
not to do so. But who is at the center of these publicity spots, is it Jesus or
the “man of God”?
Let’s take those mega budgets and actually turn them to helping the
communities in which we live and in which our churches are located. Build a
school, open a home for vulnerable teens, run a soup kitchen, start an adult
literacy programme, initiate crisis pregnancy centers, start a carpentry
workshop, fix a road, drill a borehole, for goodness sake do something that
actually benefits the community long after your church building will be long
and gone.
When I get to heaven I shall look down in shame because we spent
millions of beautification while at the same time cutting down outreach
budgets, we bought stronger locks for our doors just to keep unwanted people
out and promoted a brand of Christianity that placed the building and the
service men above the heart and mission of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe like that soldier we are called to give of our lives daily for
our family, friends, nations, continents and the world in general and like that
soldier the only fame we should be is that we have been given and not that we
seek.
Here ends my rant.
Thanks be to God.
