Are you "sitting by" or "sitting under"?

I am currently in Beth Moore's study "Jesus the One and Only". We are only into week 3 and it has impacted me in a huge way. I love the way that Beth gets you to really envision Christ. But this week really hit home to me. First, as a follower of Christ, it challenged me and secondly, as the wife of a preacher, it encouraged me.

We started off the week with Jesus, now starting his ministry, going back to his home town. If you have read the Gospels, you know that Jesus was rejected in his hometown. But the passage starts out with the people being "amazed" by his teaching. Beth says "the word could be used by spectators after attending a rock concert and being impressed by a talent. The wording suggests that they were impressed by Christ's delivery--not so much by what He said, but how He said it."

As a pastor's wife, we have had people leave our church because they did not enjoy, relate to, like my husband's delivery. Some even told us they wished he preached more like so-and-so. Instead of focusing on what he said, they were focusing on how he said it.....frustrating (hurtful)! and yet, here I am encouraged in that even Jesus had people focus the same way on him!

How many times have we said or heard someone say "wow that was a great sermon" why? "He was so funny and I just connected with him" but what about his words? what pierced your heart? What did you hear that caused you to leave the room changed?

Beth ends this section with "grab a spiritual stethoscope and perform a quick heart check. When you hear a message, do you tend to grade it or receive any possible insight, no matter how elementary the message or unpolished the messenger?" hmmmm......ouch.

We went on later in the week to study Luke 5 and 6. Here the Pharisees were trying to catch Jesus breaking a "law" on the Sabbath. Luke 5:17-18 says that the Pharisees and doctors of the law were "sitting by" as Jesus was teaching in the synagogue.

She quotes Matthew Henry in "How many are there in the midst of our assemblies, where the gospel is preached, that do not sit under the word, but sit by." She goes on to say that believers can sometimes be as unaffected by a powerful message as any unbeliever....convicting! She tells of a church in New Orleans where "the listeners involve themselves in the message. They are not spectators. They take responsibility for the effectiveness of the message by actively engaging themselves in it"

How often do we come to church and expect the worship leader to lead us to worship......it is MY responsibility to engage my heart and come into the presence of the Lord. The worship team just provides the music. How often do we expect the pastor to have great delivery to keep our minds focused on the message....it is MY responsibility to again engage my heart and mind to listen and hear what God is wanting me to hear! The pastor just provides the words. If I am not engaged and anticipating a Word from God, it doesn't matter how good the delivery is....I won't hear it....at least not in my heart where it changes me and makes me more like Christ!

This week has certainly challenged me to actively engage myself in every message I hear or read!!! I want to sit under the Word of God, I don't want to sit by it.

I would like to challenge each of you to do the same. This Sunday, prepare your hearts before you get to church to sit under the Word of God.

I don't want to miss out on a single nugget God has for me, even it it's uncomfortable, do you?