"Man isolates because he does not want to realize/face his brokenness."

I really like this statement because I think there's a lot of truth in it.  I know from my own experience that I've pulled myself away from the crowd because I was being convicted and it was too uncomfortable to be honest about it.  I think we've all had moments where we realize we're wrong and we don't want to face it... so we hide.  As Adam's blog entry illustrates, it's a response that's been around almost since the beginning of time and it's not healthy because of what it does to our relationship with God.

But I also have another experience and it's that experience that came to my mind the night I heard this message in church:

God gave us the church as a means of maintaining community and keeping us connected to Himself.  As is illustrated in 1 Corinthians 12, the church is compared to a body and it's vital that we realize that each piece is important... but what do we do when the body doesn't like what one of it's parts is doing?

Too often, the church has found people within and without that don't match the predetermined ideal... and the result is to isolate that part until they either come into agreement or disappear altogether.  While I can see the wisdom in this where health is concerned (after all, you don't want the body to be harmed by the working of one component), I question how often what's seen as harm is actually growing pains... a natural part of becoming mature.

I'm reminded again of Peter and his rooftop experience when God told him that all people are clean and that the gospel isn't just for Jews.  This was a concept contrary to what the church believed up to that point and it would've been easy to find fault with Peter and take him out of the picture... if he weren't Peter...  The church was mistaken - it was broken - and it needed to be fixed so that God's plan for humanity could be realized.

"Sometimes, the church isolates because it does not want to realize/face it's brokenness."

A common experience that I've seen many times is a church that doesn't agree with what's happening with a group/individual and the response is to isolate the problem... until it hopefully disappears.  Too often I've had others share their convictions with me as though I'm supposed to be convicted in the same way.

But where does that leave relationship with God?

If we're too busy following the convictions of others we miss hearing what God is trying to tell us... we miss hearing how He wants to convict us - and I've learned time and again that we're all convicted differently.  Instead of a body made up of and celebrating it's unique components, I've witnessed a body that wants everything to be the same... and we can't function if we're all hands, or eyes, or ears.

The solution I see is that we all need to put our focus on God and allow Him to determine how each of us fits into the body... and then we have to trust that His is a better plan - even if it doesn't match what we want to see.  The way for the church to be most effective is to recognize it's own brokenness and how it's responding... and who it's isolating.