On your knees or on your feet?

There seem to me to be two camps. The camp that conferences & prays a great deal, but never really invests themselves in a  l-i-f-e-s-t-y-l-e which includes living missional, making disciples, serving the marginalized, & practically working for justice. 

The other camp serves & labors in the missional fields zealously, but rarely invests themselves in a l-i-f-e-s-t-y-l-e which includes spiritual disciplines, an intimate prayer life, & vibrant interior communion with God.

It is my hope & goal & labor to see the two sides partnered under the Spirit's leadership. Then Christ's body will be strong both in the prayer closet a-n-d on the gritty streets. 

Strong in God-intimacy & world-impact .

On 'both' fronts bearing fruit that remains.

I sense God calling His 'servants' into the closet more & his 'brides' onto the streets more. Instead, what is presently taking place is that His brides are going further into the closet & further away from the streets. And His servants are going deeper into the streets & further away from the closet. 

In the narrative of Martha & Mary, I believe it was never an issue of 'either' 'or' regarding sitting & listening verses standing & serving. Rather it was a matter of which should come first.

Some make the first thing the only thing. And while they are sitting & soaking, & self perfecting, people outside are hungry & hurting are stumbling & falling & dying for want of someone to reach out & help them.  

Others make the second thing the first thing. And it soon becomes the only thing. And while they are standing & serving to the exemption of sitting & soaking, they become more deaf to God's voice, more numb to His guidance.  And worse... estranged from intimacy with the One who gave the word to serve the needy.  They reproduce, but the fruit does not bear the unmistakable image of the Father.

Worker bees tend to reproduce worker bees. Closet-mongers ted to reproduce closet-mongers.

The generation who will experience the epic kind of Isaiah 58 promises, will be those who grow strong in a lifestyle that as a rule has on outworking of both the 1st command & the great commission. Each in its right place of priority. 

Comments

[maryann]

was thinking this SAME thing yesterday!!

unfortunately...it was a very convicting poke in my spirit as to where i needed to step up to the plate, so to speak.

where Lord?

[jeff]

now that is where I live.
constantly moving and removing the walls and fences that represent both

[bek]

you are so right on

[melissa]

I want to have something really eloquint to say as a response to your post but I am just going to say my heart's words...amen, amen, amen, amen!!!