Put Up or Shut Up

I read a lot of blogs, follow a lot of people on twitter and pay attention to the current trends in thought about the church. I have noticed an increase in the “bash the church” rhetoric of late. While I do believe that we still have much to learn about being Christ in our culture, there are also many things about the church that are wonderful.

This post however, is not about the wonderful qualities of the church. It is actually a reaction to all the words being spoken with no action. I am becoming resentful of all the bashing that is being done by those who are doing nothing at all. If you post a blog about reaching lost people, then I want to know what are you doing about it? With whom have you clearly explained the way to enter a right relationship with Christ this week/month? If you twitter about the need for unconditional love and acceptance in the church, I want to know for whom and how have you laid aside your preferences and desires in order to accommodate someone different than yourself? And if you post about Jesus being hungry, thirsty, homeless and naked, and decry the church for not being water, food, housing and clothing for those without, I want to know what specifically are you doing to be Jesus yourself? How are your feeding, watering, clothing or housing the less fortunate?

My humble opinion is that we have become guilty of one of the highest points of hypocrisy. Jesus confronted it like this, “do not try to remove the splinter from your neighbor’s eye when you have a log in your own.” I am begging all of us who post well-intending, soap-box blogs to stop typing and starting reaching in evangelism, providing true acceptance, and meeting the real needs of people around us. My challenge to all of us is this: this month instead of typing our opinions use our energy to learn the name of someone specific and actually take a specific action to be Christ to those who do not know Him.

Here is one thing I am doing for those who do not have food and clothing this next week.