Suffering from Slight Exhaustion

Well, night 2 with Michael and Matt is all well -- except for the wallet I lost. Don't worry Mom, it's undercontrol. I need some money for gas, so I'm going panhandeling Sunday afternoon! People are especially generous after a church service (or so I hope).

Other than that, Michael and I had some awesome adventures at the Old Mill, which is by far more dangerous than the Blanco River Tree. Running at break neck speed, I launched my body off of a precarious cliff about three times. It is somewhat important to note that I'm landing in a deep area of water that is only a few feet from some very beautiful, but very shallow rocks. I only hit bottom once, but it wasn't too bad. Only my left hand had to be bandaged (thanks for the insurance card mom).

We then took an adventurous hike with Sandy and Matt on Satan's Spine. A thoroughly sweaty ordeal with out too much excitement. We only had to outrun one State Trooper and an army of pyro-proned Boy Scouts.

What's on the agenda tomorrow? More cliff jumping hopefully. Apparently there is no max limit on the insurance card like there is on credit cards.

On a more serious note, while looking for my wallet, Matt and I had an enlightening discussion in regards to the condition of the Church. It seems that there are many flaws and shortcomings in the body of Christ, and I'm not talking about the trivial differences in worship or preaching style. But a bigger problem than this are the Christians who witness and experience these shortcomings and decide to leave the church. We must consider the implications of such things.

Where will you go when you leave the body? The Book of Acts testifies to the power of a Christ-centered and Christ-loving church. We are called to be His hands and feet to this world. Billions do not Christ. All suffer to some extent or another. How can one individual minister to such a big world? Furthermore, Paul writes in 1 Timothy 6 that while we are fleeing from that which is evil, we must pursue that which is good. What is a Christian pursuing when he leaves the church? He may be able to say Jesus, but Christ, in his unsurpassing glory and goodness and truth is too much for one person to comprehend. We need to engage others and learn from them what they themselves learned from God. That type of interaction can only occur in community.

We must also examine who composes the Church: people. We all have our baggage; we all have our failures and the Church will reflect the people that comprise it. But all is not lost. Christ is with us. We are told that the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead resides in us. Christ chose us to represent Him until he returns. Why? I do not know. Maybe to demonstrate His grace. A man lost in the deception of drugs may look at the life of Dan Reiter and think, "If God can save that guy, then maybe my case isn't so hopeless after all."

It's a late night, so I may not be completely coherent, but we must realize that we can't abandon the church -- technically we are the church. If we are dissatisfied we should not run away, but realize that the Church will always be flawed until the return of Christ. Till then we must rise up and help her minister to the lost.