30 Day Challenge: Day 2 (Something You Feel Strongly About)

I feel strongly about a lot of things but couldn't focus on what I should take the time to concentrate my writing on for the day. I just finished my scripture reading for today and a passage I read roused an issue I've been battling with more recently. I'll share the text and then share this rumination...

Romans 9:30-33 (NLT)

³⁰ What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. ³¹ But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. ³² Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. ³³ God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,

   “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,
      a rock that makes them fall.
   But anyone who trusts in him
      will never be disgraced.” 

^{In reading the passage above, I was reminded of the Church -- what it's called to be and what it is. I thought to myself 'has the Church (or parts of it) become like the depiction of Israel?'. Not in the sense that we are trying to keep God's law and are failing but rather we are subjecting ourselves to a system of rules of our own making which have become a law of sorts and have become a people devoid of faith.} 

^{What is faith? In looking up definitions, the following stood out to me:}

• strong or unshakeable belief in something
• trust in God and in his actions and promises
• complete confidence or trust in a person 

(via World English Dictionary)

Another definition mentioned allegiance and loyalty. I hear people talking about allegiance to their local church or denomination but less so about this incredible belief in a Messiah that is so far reaching that they desire to spend their time on this side of eternity working to see the Kingdom He spoke of established here on earth. Like with Israel, God's glory has been revealed to us but I think that we need to be reminded of the fullness of relationship with Him and what that looks like. 

I suppose I feel so strongly about this because I think that operating as a body divorced from faith serves as a stumbling bock in people desiring to know the Christ we profess. If we slap folks in the face with a list of do's and don'ts and throw a heaping of fire and brimstone on that, why should anyone care to want to claim the same God as us? 

I wonder what would happen if the Love of God was imparted more than condemnation, if the grace that saves us was articulated and shared. 

What would happen if we truly exercised our faith?