It maybe a little lengthy bit its worth it. John MacArthur really nails the struggles of churches who say they are loving but still have a long ways to go. You see what were saying? God made us to be utterly fulfilled in the loving environment of the church. You say, Well now wait a minute. We have our little group. Im sure you do. We have our little web of friends. Let me talk about that for a minute. Again you know what goes into action, the law of entropy and start...things start to disintegrate. You start out with this wonderful loving fellowship and you think its agape love and youre enjoying it and as you get into a little more, your little webbed in group begins to develop standards. And with those standards you web in some and you web out others. And if they dont fit the standard, they dont get in. And so youve got your little group. The worst of it is nepotism, where the little group is all in the same family. But there are other forms of it such as cronyism where you have your pals and your buddies. Its a little small work...network of people that you associate with all the time. You deeply care for them. They deeply care for you. Theyre like extended family. Theres the little web that you fit in. You get strokes there. You feel secure there. You even feel flattered there. You are accepted with no risk. Everything is absolutely predictable. In fact, the conversation is usually the same every time you get together. You never involve yourself with unpredictable people, you never get into any risky deal. You never allow low status outsiders into your little web and you say thats love. And may I suggest to you that the higher the comfort level of your web, the higher the walls that keep other people out. Thats right. The higher the comfort level of your web, the higher the walls that keep other people out. And usually theres a part of your little web that talks about the people on the other side of the wall and how they would never fit into your group. But you feel good about your little web and you call it love and you totally ignore maybe real love. -John MacArthur
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 03:06:47 +0000
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