Heaps

Pastor Brian Smith spoke at chapel on Tuesday. As usual, I found his message to be very profound and meaningful. Also, as is usual, we got a small lesson in ancient Hebrew. He showed us the word for congregation, which was also the same word for heap. Which, in the first churches, the worshipers probably were in more of a heap, than what our churches are like now. The word was made up of three letters, which he took apart. The first letter, was also the same first letter that the word for "the righteous ones" is spelled with. The second letter, is also the first letter for "those in the middle". The last letter, is the same letter for "sinner". All three of those parts are absolutely necessary for a congregation. You need the righteous ones to lead, the sinners for them to preach to, and since there is no black and white in this world, you also need those in the middle. No one stays in one position all their lives either. Someone may be a righteous one at the peak of the heap, until they face a crisis, and slide down to the sinners. Hopefully though, they manage to climb their way up again. It was also pointed out that nobody knows their exact standing with God either. You may consider yourself a righteous one, but God may see you as a sinner. The opposite is also true.

I really wish I could get my hands on a recording of that sermon, it was just so great. A lot of Christians I know, fall into the trad of getting it into their heads that they are "righteous" and become arrogant about it. In my mind, that arrogance puts you on the bottom of the heap with the sinners. I also know several "righteous" Christians who refuse to associate with anyone they don't consider to be up at their level. They don't find the rest of our world to be worth saving, and seem to have little compassion for their fellow man. I do not view this world to just be a quick stopping point before heading on to the after life. Something we just have to endure before moving on. Why would God put us here if there is no reason for it? I like to think that we are here as more of a test. We should attempt to make this world a better place when we leave it, then what it was when we came. It doesn't matter how small the change is. And that task involves mixing with the sinners, trying to understand them, and trying to help them. Sometimes all they need is a good loving influence to enter their lives, and actually care about them.

Anyhow, that's just some food for thought.