Hmm.

Do we think that as long as we have a "relationship" with church, that we can keep God at arm's length? A number of years ago, the Lord told me that "church" for me had become an idol. I was no longer listening to His voice, but rather the voice of the institutional church. I didnt realize that these voices are often conflicting. The church tends to be about "doing" and God tends to emphasize "being". I see this conflict and even animosity between Mary and Martha. Martha is unhappy with Mary's lack of involvement. But Jesus said, Mary chose the better part. How often are we choosing the not- so - better part, and following the voices that go along with people- pleasing, kingdom building (especially our own kingdoms - in Gods name of course), church promoting, formula parroting, conference attending, program making, and the list goes on. Don't get me wrong, some of these things in themselves are not necessarily wrong - its our focus or dependence upon them that is. Our dependency must be on the Holy Spirit, not on our own efforts, good thoughts & intentions, or our giftings or anything else. The church was never meant to run like a business. It's not an organization, but rather an organism. WE are looking for a place whose builder and maker is God. Unless the Lord builds it, we will labour in vain. Jesus once again said it best:

Luke 13:26-28 (The Message)
"You'll protest, 'But we've known you all our lives!' only to be interrupted with his abrupt, 'Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing. You don't know the first thing about me.' "That's when you'll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace. You'll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God's kingdom. You'll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God's kingdom. And all the time you'll be outside looking in—and wondering what happened. This is the Great Reversal: the last in line put at the head of the line, and the so-called first ending up last."

Any thoughts?