The Body of Christ:

Pessimism, Repentance, and Gratitude

By: Benjamin Leonard

I must confess I have in the past been quite pessimistic about people, especially church people.  I have to constantly fight the desire to think less of people than I should and rarely give the benefit of the doubt.  Jeremy has told me how great of a church Heartland has been and how well they have cared for him and his family.  I have to say I was a little cautious about this.  I indeed wanted to believe everything he had to say, but I was still very cautious.  As I was reading this morning the author began to discuss 1 Corinthians 13:7, “Love believes all things.”  The author writes, ‘“To believe all things” means we are to believe the best about others.”  It was at this point that I realized I was in the wrong.  Church your love for me and my family has refreshed for us a picture of the love found in the body of Christ.  Your love for us has not been an empty gesture.  Your love for us has been selfless and sacrificial.  Many of you I do not even know your names yet you have loved on us more than we could have ever fathomed. We would like to express our humble gratitude to you the church for all that you have done for us.  You made the moving in quick.  You solved problems with our apartment without us even asking.  You have helped my wife with the children while she tries to unpack.  You have showered us with food. You have spent your evenings fixing our dryer.  You have prayed for me and my wreck.  You have done more than I could have ever asked for or thought about.  But most of all thank you for showing us once again what the body of Christ is supposed to look like in a real way. 

Sincerely,

Benjamin Leonard and Family

In keeping with the “all you need is lots more stuff” theme, I saw a commercial today for a television that was the newest, clearest, thinnest thing on the market. I have to admit, the thing looked really cool. The problem I had was at the end of the ad when the tag line appeared. “Change your T.V., change your life. I thought, “Really? That’s all it takes?” There are people so devoid of purpose that a flat screen image projector mounted on their wall will change their life? How boring is that? Where is the church in this? Why aren’t we answering the guy who thinks a T.V. is a life-changing thing with the gospel reality that things aren’t life-changing. Things aren’t eternal. Things burn. Things rust. Thieves break in and steal things. Children wipe greasy fingerprints on life-changing flat-screens every day and if we find ourselves talking about non-eternal, material possessions in terms of how they change our lives, we treasure the wrong things. This Christmas, run from this nonsense to the true treasure (Matthew 6:19-21).

So I’m watching Veggie Tales with my daughter yesterday and providentially she chose Madame Blueberry which talks about greed. The line in the video that stood out to me was the line, “Happiness waits at the Stuff Mart, all you need is lots more stuff.” This became even more glaring when I got my paper this morning and the ads were so thick I could barely get the paper out of that little plastic sleeve. With each ad, it was easier and easier to hear the song, “…all you need is lots more stuff.” It is difficult to hear anything else this time of year but the siren song of marketing and media promising happiness and joy, but delivering nothing. Our lives should be centered on something greater than this, right?

“And he said to them, ‘Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.’” Luke 12:15