I have been pretty heartbroken lately. And it’s not what you may think. All of my relationships couldn’t be better. My family is well and I myself have great health. But I still have been a little heartbroken. You see, I belong to this group of people called the church. And we have this amazing calling. We are called to go into all the world and make disciples. We are called to baptize these same people in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are even called to show these people what is looks like to follow after Christ. And what is more amazing is that this calling goes back even further. Several thousand years ago God spoke to this old man in the middle of Mesopotamia and said to him that he was going to be a great nation. All peoples on earth would be blessed through him. And this is where the heartbreak begins…

Genesis 12:2-3 says, “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” This is an incredible promise given to our Father Abraham so long ago. And we, as children of the promise through the new covenant of Christ blood must realize that this promise is ours as well. God is going to perform this amazing action on our behalf and all we are called to do is be obedient. The problem (and thus the heartbreak) is that sometimes we usurp God’s position in the promise. God doesn’t say, “I am going to make you a blessing so you can decide who to bless and who to curse.” No….emphatically no! God says that He will take care of the blessing and the cursing. He will take care of the stamp of approval or the label of judgment. It is His action to take.

So why do we as the people of God so often find ourselves in the judgment seat for blessing or cursing? It is so easy for us as Christians to label this person as righteous and this other person as unrighteous. It is so easy for us to exclude from fellowship this person who behaves this way and allow in someone else whose behavior matches ours. I am reminded of a quote from the concierge in “That Thing You Do” (a great movie by the way) when he looks at a valet out of place and exclaims, “That’s not yo job”. Church wake up! All people of the earth are to be blessed through us….all this other stuff, that’s not yo job! Let’s trust God with the blessing and the cursing. Let’s get to loving on people and making disciples. Let’s get to living out our lives as Christ lived out His. Maybe then my heart might be a little less broken.