“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate?Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.” Philippians 2:1-2
A break down: Didn’t Christ do anything for you? Where are all the good hearts? Make me proud, guys. Work together. As Christians we’re all here to be the same standard and seek the same purpose.
Forgive me. I have written this small group three times. Three drafts, and it all sounds very un-gentle if we can just pretend that’s a word. So I know it’s later than usual but I always wait on God’s voice and not my own before I publish. If this strikes you wrong, I apologize. The abrasiveness is not my own. 
I read once that if calling Jesus Lord was an empty statement if it never makes a difference in your life.
We are all a broken people. We all fall short. James says we all stumble. But y’all, we use forgiveness as a crutch.
 I sat in my bedroom one night with a girl so dear to my heart, mentoring her about what it means to be like-minded with Christ and my heart just broke because with every small tweek in her life I suggested she give up, she refuted me with “but Jesus forgives us right?” We’re all going to get it wrong, but the difference with Christ is the heart that wants to get it right, not the one that acts whichever kind of way because there is a get out of jail free card.
People make excuses for their sin, but are so eager to point at the fall of their neighbor. I’m not just talking about “regular” Christians even the “leader” ones. 
What does it say for the change God has had in your life if you’re fresh from an over-seas mission, had this huge heart change, and are back in the break room at work catching up on the gossip you missed. Gossip is not the only thing you missed, baby. You’ve missed the point entirely.
I, personally, have felt unwelcomeness of the church. Not just one but several, trying to find the perfect fit for my family. I spent six months running a baby ministry before I was welcomed by a pastor. SIX MONTHS, and half a bible read later, I was so hungry for this community the Bible speaks of, desperate for a mentor, and it still took half a year! It took me that long to decide that people are not what other people say and that the church is as broken as we are and y’all that brings tears to my eyes. 
Jesus did not put a steeple at the top of a church building, to stand taller than the rest, for it to be thrown around by the wind. The church is a place for the broken, not a place of brokenness.
Paul says is there any comfort, is there any love, is there any fellowship. Y’all we are His people. Or maybe you’re not saved? You want to be or you wouldn’t be reading here. It’s on US. His work was finished on the cross. We have to stop pointing the finger and start pointing the light, guys. 
How do we expect someone to run towards something they are constantly being criticized by? A compassionate heart is one that empathizes with everyone. Jesus understands, y’all, and we’re supposed to too. Be like minded with Christ. 
People will never remove themselves from where they are in sin if the place they are trying to get is even more critical than the life they are in the middle of. No one, y’all no one, wants a life worse than the one they are sitting in the middle of.
 People already feel less than. Real repentance is sorry for the things I am and compassion for the things I’m not yet, not conviction of both. 
Hasn’t Christ taught you anything? Then why has your heart changed nothing? 
Christ will leave the entire flock to look for one lost sheep. Even when we lose sight of Jesus, He never loses claim to us. He leaves to search for less than, and for whatever reason we’d rather sit at a table and fellowship while we talk about them. 
This is not the mind of God. 
We’re all on the same team. We are called to fellowship. To whole-heartedly believe we are not better or worse but all equal regardless of race, gender, or social status. We are the same because none of us got a drop of blood more or less than the one who goes before us or behind us; it’s an even amount. An amount great enough to cover it all.
Reorient yourselves to the characteristics of Jesus, yall. If you couldn’t do those things sitting at His feet, you shouldn’t do them at all.
Call Him Lord and let that lead your life. Be the Christian, Be the church. 

Love y’all,
Katie.