The God-Size Box in Your Heart
Why you need real challenging Christian relationships in a local church
I know you’ve heard a sappy Christian radio host tell you about the God-sized hole in your heart that only Jesus can fill…
But I want to tell you about the God-Size Box in my heart that Jesus wants to break!
Every Christian has a God-Size Box. Yes, that includes you.
A God-Size Box is a set of expectations and rules for what God looks like, what His people look like, etc.
Good Christians do …
Good Christians don’t…
Healthy Churches have…
Healthy Churches won’t…
Alarm bells ring when I hear, “I don’t even know how that person could be a Christian!”
That might as well be the name of the God-Size Box manufacturer!
The Lord loves to break that God-Size Box out of love for you!
The Lord does not live in temples made with hands and He definitely isn’t settling for the boundaries of your God-Size Box.
Many Christians have deceived themselves because they’ve never labeled their commitment to love other people. They’ve never committed to love another Christian specifically who wasn’t already a physical family.
They’ve never committed to a local church and the real people that make up her membership.
Sadly, they’ve never yet had someone break their God-Size Box.
God places real people in your life to break your box and expand your vision of Him!
20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 John 4:20–21
God knows you will be tempted to think He fits in your box.
When God fits in your box, it's amazing how high and mighty that makes you!
People are much harder to cram into your box than an imaginary god.
God mercifully puts real brothers and sisters in your life to knock the wind out of these lies and protect you from self-deception.
Our dependence on God grows deeper when we have to be patient with people who are a profound pain.
Our perspective of mercy magnifies when we face real consequences because of the sins of others.
Do you have real names under the “brother and sister” heading? Who are the people you’ve committed to love with real enduring, painful commitment to their eternal best interest?
If you don’t have real names, I’d like to challenge you that your love for God might be a mirage.
John says you can’t love the God you haven’t seen if you don’t love His people you have seen!
If John opened the lid on your God-Size Box, he might find it empty! You need to make a love commitment to real Christians!
If you’re committed to loving a real group of Christians with names, faces, failures, and flaws then they are probably breaking your God-Size Box in some way right now.
The pain of loving them is part of the process God is using to expand your vision of Him!
Don’t pull back from love– Keep putting real people in your God-Size Box and watch Him grow!