Over the last
few months, I have noticed every time I get on Facebook (which is usually once
a day for just a few minutes to check for any messages), I see entries from
several pastors I know that are sharing in various ways how the Church,
universal and local, has failed. This is provided in order to give pastors,
specifically, formulas by which we can rectify the mistakes that our churches
are making, so that, in the future, with these changes, our churches can
flourish and grow. Some of these insights are seemingly valid while others are
more market driven and, thus, have more of a business, rather than a ministry,
foundation to their analysis. The sense with all of their insights is that the
Church is broken and it desperately needs fixing.
I would agree heartedly with the
last statement, but not with the basis upon which it is made. I remember years
ago having a rather heated discussion with a former member of a church I
pastored who believed that it was wrong that Christians should consider the
perspective of unbelievers when examining ourselves for defects. He was adamant
about this point that unbelievers have no place to judge Christians as to what
is righteous and unrighteous because unbelievers cannot discern biblically
between good and evil (rf. I Cor. 2:14; 6:1-4). I had made the statement to him
at that time that unbelievers could have a clearer perspective of what we
should be as Christians because, without the burden of man-made traditions and
the blindness of our own created Christian subculture and language, unbelievers
often have a better picture of Jesus than we do. Though some of the latter
sentence is still true, I have come to realize that, in fact, my former friend
was actually correct in his spiritual assessment of unbelievers. What unbelievers
may know about Jesus does not even compare to the reality that followers of
Christ experience, if, indeed, salvation in Jesus has been grasped. However,
this still does not get Christians off the hook as to their brokenness and need
for repair within the Church.
This repair work should not come by
virtue of new programs, ideas, and agendas borne out of denominational
headquarters or the latest Christian magazines. The problem is not that we as
believers have run afoul of the most recent trend in the business or marketing
world and need to get “back on track” so that our numbers can regain their
place at the top of the heap. When will we learn that we are not in competition
with the world or with each other! Evangelism is not about who gets the most
converts or who has the biggest church on the block or in town. Do we not
realize that before the advent of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle in London,
there was no such animal as the megachurch? Even the great cathedrals of Europe
don’t qualify because these were built to be the parish church for an entire
small kingdom where that church was literally the “only game in town”. The
answer to our problem has nothing to do with strategies, plans, or adjustments
we make to the everchanging tastes of our culture. No, our problems are
spiritual in nature. Like Israel of old, specifically the Old Testament, we
have gone a’whoring after other gods (rf. Hos. 2:1-7).
This may sound harsh, and, no doubt,
politically incorrect, but it is true. The Church in America has become a
harlot. She is sleeping with the American culture and has no conscience about
doing so. She participates in sin, iniquity and transgression without the
slightest hint of regret. She upholds adultery, premarital sex, sensuality,
immodesty, with the allowance of homosexuality, pornography, sexual, physical
and emotional abuse, along with many other reprehensible acts, all under the
banner of privacy. Then, she encourages her followers of Christ to glorify God
in ways that magnify, not Him, but self, through words and actions that place
the emphasis on the individual’s life as central to all things, rather than on
the Lord, “to Him be glory, both now and forever, Amen” (rf. II Pet. 3:18).
It is because of our unfaithfulness
to the Lord that great enemies have arisen, enemies of unparalleled ferocity.
Their hearts are full of evil and destruction. The Lord has brought them forth
to be our discipline, I believe. They will not be defeated by military might or
prowess. These enemies view our Christianity as a loathsome scourge, a
reprehensible plight, destined to be wiped from the earth because it is a
pollutant in their eyes. The fact that our lives have displayed a very healthy
inconsistency as compared to the teachings of Scripture has not helped to
remove these perceptions. In fact, the American Church has only enhanced their
views by our insipid exhibition of what we have believed Christianity to be,
divided, powerless, and materialistic, if judged primarily by what is seen on
television.
How can we right this ship? As Zech.
4:6 clearly states, ‘“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the
Lord of hosts.” It sounds very simple, but to do so requires total and complete
submission to the power of the Holy Spirit. We must live our lives consistently
in obedience to God’s Word, following the example of Jesus in how we operate
each day. When we do this, we find the strength to overcome the temptations
that would lead us to sin. Our lives would display holiness, instead of
hypocrisy. Our witness would be powerful because it would be set in contrast to
the world around us, not be in constant compliance to it. This is how the
Church should be seen, different from the world because of its purity and the
love of Christ that dwells within it.
If His people would be so committed
personally to live this way, the Lord would rejoice to receive His Church once
again to Himself, cleansing her from her previous sins, even as Hosea was
commanded to receive his wife as such a symbol of forgiveness (rf. Hos. 3:1-5).
This may not mean a cessation of hate in the hearts of the enemies of the
Cross. At least, though, it would mean that God’s people, by being cleansed and
closer to God in faith and prayer, would be a greater force with which to be
reckoned than they are at present, since we are pitifully broken in our sin,
iniquity and separateness from Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment