Puritan Perfect

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

In the late 16th and 17th centuries, the Church of England decided to “purify” the church by extinguishing any remaining practices of the old Roman Catholic Church that were not found in the Bible. The church believed that there were too many ideas, ceremonies, and religious practices that were contrary to the Bible.  

They cleaned house, doing away with Roman Catholic principles, and they made the Bible their primary guide for church practices. New, uncorrupted leaders were sought out, and the people integrated Scripture into every area of life, from their homes to their education.

This doesn’t sound so bad.

However, as clean and shiny as the Church of England endeavored to be, it failed in one area: they never considered those on the outside.

These people came to be known as the Puritans. They purified the church, worked hard to clean out corrupt ideas and people, and they set their focus on God and their church, but they left those on the outside behind.

We’ve been observing the three-fold pattern that Jesus modeled for us on how to live, but we often fail to live our lives in all three areas. Some of us might be like the Puritans who spend time with the Father and have no problems investing in our spiritual families, but we fail to extend our hands to those on the outside. We never invite them in, never set them a place at our tables because they aren’t pure.

We don’t think of ourselves like this—we would never say that we are a “holier than thou” group of people, but if we never open the door for those who don’t know Jesus or who are far from Him, then we’ve missed it. We’ve disregarded the last action that Jesus modeled for us.

There is no purpose for us if we stay inside our holy huddle. We can be devoted to all other spiritual practices; we can read our Bibles daily, spend hours in prayer, and throw dinner parties for all our closest Christian friends. We can be bright and shiny and tidy in every aspect of life, but if we fail to extend a hand to those who aren’t in our circles, we’ve missed it.

It’s not enough to purify every part of our lives and then close our doors so that outsiders won’t come in. We get prepared by being the Father and with our families, and then we set out to bring home new sons and daughters.