Church Folk

My manager so dislikes it when I refer to people as 'Christians' while speaking of some foolishness that has happened in a church (disclaimer: This is not exclusive to my Church); he always says 'those are not Christians, those are church-folk'.  

 

He's right ... Christians don't waste time on foolishness, they do everything possible to avoid or deflect those situations ... church-folk ... live for that moment.  I have stopped being amazed at the depths some church-folk will sink to justify their cause.  Some days all I can do is walk away laughing, shaking my head, at the antics we church-folk perform under the guise of being Christians.  This is not saying I'm so holy and above judgment, simply making an observation from which to learn how NOT to act on my journey.

 

Every day is a struggle for me ... to live right, do right, hold my tongue and think good thoughts when I know I want to slap the taste out of someone ... but every day ... I keep pressing toward the mark (smh).  I'm definitely not one of those persons who can quote scripture word-for-word, but I can tell you how He has changed my life, how He has covered me ... even when I didn't deserve it and how He has (as the old folks say) always been there right-on-time.

 

I L-O-V-E to laugh and have fun, sometimes some 'church-folk' think I have too much fun.  I know this by the holier-than-thou looks I get from those who don't approve of 'too much fun' in the church.  I'm so glad God gave me a sense of humor, because without it ... I could have never laughed my way through all of the foolishness.

 

Life is too short.  Since being diagnosed, going through treatments and learning to live with the after-effects I have noticed I laugh more, love harder and tend to dismiss the bull (it is what it is) quicker.  Am I thankful God has (once again) brought me through?  Y-E-S!!  Does this mean I have to walk around with my head in the clouds, stepping on folk, rating folk's level of Christianity, questioning folk's religious commitment because they're enjoying life too much or heaven forbid ... they are even practicing the religion "I" approve of ... ? NO!  Church-folk are so busy working on everybody else's foundation they can't see the cracks in theirs.  How about this ... I tend to my mess, you tend to yours and I guarantee you neither of us will have time to criticize the other.

 

A wise friend shared an old thought ... 'don't be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good'.
Here are the lyrics to Johnny Cash's song, No Earthly Good -
Come heed me, my brothers, come heed, one and all
Don't brag about standing or you'll surely fall
You're shining your light and shine it you should
But you're so heavenly minded, you're no earthly good

If you're holding heaven, then... spread it around
There's hungry hands reaching up here from the ground
Move over and share the high ground where you stood
So heavenly minded, you're no earthly good

The gospel ain't gospel until it is spread
But how can you share it where you've got your head
There's hands that reach out for a hand if you would
So heavenly minded, you're no earthly good

If you're holding heaven, then spread it around
There's hungry hands reaching up here from the ground
Move over and share the high ground where you stood
So heavenly minded, you're no earthly good