Last Sunday was my first Sunday being back at church in MONTHS. Normally, I don’t take a hiatus from church, at all. However, with school, a full time internship, a part-time job, and studying (with multiple papers mingled in), I could only catch the live-stream services.
This being my first Sunday back, I wanted to make sure I looked so fresh, so clean. You know… put on my Sunday best: Got my hair right, picked out my outfit, pampered myself at home, did my nails, color coordinated my makeup, everything!
In the midst of me hyping myself up over my Sunday glo up, Holy Spirit asked me this: “Are you getting ready for the people, or, are you getting ready for Me?”.
That literally stopped me in my tracks.
I stepped back from skin care routine, put down my make-up, and turned away from my ego, only to question myself: Am I showing off for people, or, am I showing up for God? Who am I doing this for? And why?
Somewhere along the lines of constantly going to church, the lines of worship became blurred and I became more focused on looking good than feeling the Goodness of God. Somehow, staying up late at night to do my hair became more important than being excited to about hearing the Word and being in fellowship.
God reminded me that I don’t go to church for the culture, but I go to maintain relationship with Him. It’s not about the people, the fashion, the hairstyles, the perfume or cologne.It’s about having God with you and experiencing that with others; that love, joy, and refreshing peace.
God helped me to see that we have become so caught up in culture, that we have made our own religion within relationship. It’s like we have made these rules composed of ritualistic properties that shows how pristine we are in the House of the Lord.
How did we become so focused on what doesn’t matter and lost focus of what does matter?
Now, this message isn’t for all of us, but those who go to church know some people like this. Even I became one of them. But, somewhere along the line, we have to refocus our attention and realize that even though we are a part of the church culture, we are not to become so stitched into it that we lose focus on the value on what hearts were once after: God.
When Holy Spirit led me to write about this, I gotta admit, I was hesitant. I thought it meant that I could no longer dress up and put on my Sunday best. But, He reminded me that it was not that at all.
He wants us to look like our best and He definitely does not want us to look like the hardships we have been through, however, He wants us to remain steadfast, steadily waiting and preparing for Him. He does not want us to get caught up in the culture of church that we forget that we are the church.
The scripture He lead me to for this post is interesting one. He lead me to Joshua 5:2-6 which talks about how God dried up Jordan River so the Israelites could cross to fight against the Amorites. Joshua 5:2-6 goes on to say (VOC),
“2 At that time, the Eternal One commanded Joshua to make flint knives and reinstate the rite of circumcision for male Israelites. 3 So Joshua made flint knives as he was told to do, and the Israelite males were circumcised at Gibeath-haaraloth.[a] 4-5 This is because all of the male Israelites who had fled from Egypt and all their soldiers who had fought so bravely had been circumcised, but they had died on the long journey. And those who had been born during the journey had not yet been circumcised.
6 The Israelites had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, and because they would not listen to the voice of the Eternal, God promised that none of the original community would live to enter the land He promised to their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey.”
God has set us up in such a way that we are set apart, even from each other. Yes, we may attend the same church, hear the same word, and even wear similar Sunday clothes, but even among each other, we are set apart.
We are not only set apart from the enemy, but we are set apart from our brothers and sisters in Christ. We all have a function within the body of Christ that works differently. Each of us are composed of a different genetic makeup, to which it all comes together and works smoothly, together. There is no need to be caught up in dressing to impress, we are already dressed and clothed in His Glory.
He reminded me that we should not become so caught up in what we wear and how we look at church so much so that we forget what we are really there for and who we are setting an example for.
Be reminded that our light is enough.
With love,
-T.
Enjoying the sweetness of god 