Centering Ourselves on Christ

“And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will ^draw all men to Myself.” (rf. Jn. 12:32)

            When we consider this passage, we usually envisage the cross of Christ, Jesus suspended in mid-air bleeding from the many wounds inflicted upon Him because of our sins. On the surface, this interpretation would be an accurate one. However, there is a more subtle, more powerful message at the heart of this text.

            Jesus is stating that if He and His work of salvation (i.e. the Gospel) are “lifted up”, or placed as center focus, then He will “draw all men” unto Himself. He presents to us a cause-effect relationship. In other words, “if” we do this, “then” He will do that. In this case, with the first condition, our responsibility is to focus all of our attention, as His followers, on Him and His Gospel…nothing else. If we make Jesus the center of everything we do, both inside and outside the church, then He will magnify Himself, glorify the Father, and ultimately “draw all men” unto Himself. Jesus then will take to Himself the responsibility of bringing people into a saving relationship by the power of His Holy Spirit.

            What Jesus is stating flies in the face of much of what is passed off as present-day church growth encouragement and initiative. Today’s theories revolve  around the idea that the church must track the trends of the surrounding culture in order to gauge and follow suit  with events and programs that connect with these specific movements. The idea is that if we meet people where they are, they will like us and then come and join us. The more we can accommodate their tastes, desires, and goals, the more that people will be interested in church, thus, coming to be a part. In other words, according to these views, we should “enculturate” the church instead of transforming those who come out of the culture by the power of the resurrected Christ (rf. Php. 3:7-16). By holding to the above, we tend to be relying on the “arm of flesh” in the hopes of redirecting the lives of unbelievers in a positive manner, not bringing any real change in terms of their sins. Rather, it has to be by the Spirit of God operating within them to bring about what is necessary to change and renew their hearts and minds (rf. Rom. 12:1-2). This is why we are falling short in reaching the people around us.

            Let us commit as God’s people to return to our “first love” (rf. Rev. 2:4-5). Let us consciously make Jesus the center of our thoughts, worship, music, actions, and the totality of our lives. Then, as we begin to do this consistently and committedly, we will see Him draw people unto a saving relationship unto Himself. Won’t that be exciting to be involved in such a work happening all around us?

Return and Be a Part of the Body

“But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you’; or again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’.” (I Cor. 12:20-21)

            As we have seen in the previous articles, the Lord has called us individually to be parts of a whole, His body, the Church. As the Apostle Paul states it in the above passage, “there are many members, but one body” (vs. 20). For so long, especially within the evangelical branch of the American Church, we have over-focused on the individuality of the believer in Christ. We have talked about our respective “personal walk with Jesus” to the point that each of us affirms that we live this life as singular “islands” unto ourselves, not needing or wanting connections with other believers. We perceive that we are self-sufficient spiritually. We have the mindset that if we have our own Bibles, devotional works, access to commentaries and other Bible study materials as well as television ministers, we need no other assistance as to our spiritual growth. We can go it alone, “just me and God”.

            However, that is not how God designed the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ to function. As Paul states, “the eye cannot say to the hand (as part of the whole body), ‘I have no need of you’”. Yet, for many believers in their brazen self-sufficiency, that is exactly what they are communicating to the rest of His Church—“I have no need of you”. That is, until they actually do. These individual professing believers will neglect the attending of services, or as the writer of Hebrews puts it, “the forsaking (of the) assembling together” (Heb. 10:25), with the idea that such faithfulness to worship and fellowship with other Christians is not for them. However, if a great need, tragedy, or health issue comes their way, they are quick to make contact with the church office or pastor, expecting a prompt response from the people of God to their situation. It seems the problem of professing Christians expecting from the Church without giving to the Church in terms of their time, talents, gifts or resources is a longstanding one.

            Yet, this does not excuse the sin. Using the analogy of the Apostle Paul, it would be like having your hand deciding one day that it did not like where your head decided to take the rest of your body. So, your hand resolved to go on strike. It refused to work anymore, no longer participating in the operations of the rest of the body. What an impact would it have on you for your hand to simply stop functioning. Depending on which hand it was, the effect could be devastating. The same is true for the body of Christ. The Church of Jesus needs all of its members involved for it to operate properly and efficiently.

            There are some of you reading this letter this month who have been church members, maybe of Evergreen or of another church, who have not attended a church service in a very long time. You think no one misses you. You think that no one cares about you. You believe that you do not or cannot make a difference and, thus, you continue to absent yourself from the rest of God’s people. All the while your own spiritual fire dwindles toward extinction and you wonder why. Television ministries help, but they do not take away the loneliness and the disconnect that you continue to feel. What can you do?

            I will give you the answer in one simple word: return. Return to the spiritual home that God has provided for His people—the local church. It is in this fellowship where you will find the love of Christ, connection with fellow travelers on their spiritual journeys, and the nourishment needed to make the journey a success. One thing you will not find in this local church, though you might expect it, is perfection. There are only saved sinners in attendance in any local fellowship who truly seek to follow the Lord.

            So, rather than taking the “I have no need of anyone” approach to church attendance, as believers in Christ, we should always be diligent to be in God’s house to worship, serve and have fellowship with one another. Whether or not we really want to admit it, we need each other in Jesus. He wants us to be “one body”. After all, for all eternity we will be together as such. We might as well start practicing now while rubbing shoulders here on earth.

The Tithe as Obedience and Worship

            In last month’s edition, we opened the subject of church membership and the importance of being connected to the body, to the fellowship, on an ongoing basis for the good of both the individual Christian and the corporate local church. Regular attendance is but one of the integral factors the Bible teaches regarding being a member of the body of Christ (rf. I Cor. 12:27). We should be diligent in the giving of our tithes as well, for these provide the lifeblood for the operation of the church’s ministry as it always has been for God’s people.

            The principle of giving to God the first tenth of that which comes to us as income was begun by Abram with Melchizedek after the battle of kings in which Abram rescued his nephew, Lot, and, in the process, restored the spoil of Sodom and Gomorrah to its rightful owners, all by the grace and strength of the Lord (rf. Gen.14:1-20). In gratitude, Abram offered to the Lord’s priest, Melchizedek, also king of Salem (read Jerusalem), a tithe of the spoils as a token of his thankfulness for the Lord’s intervention on his behalf in giving Abram the victory. From that time forth, the tithe, as commanded by God and established in the Law (rf. Dt. 14:22-29), was to show the gratitude of God’s people in providing their needs on a daily basis. Anything monetarily given above the tithe was considered to be a freewill offering and/or a gift, but was never accepted in place of the tithe. The tithe was always the starting point for financial giving to the Lord. The first ten percent always belongs to Him (rf. Mal. 3:8-9).

            The New Testament assumes the same teaching, because it does not in any way contradict it. What it does do is to provide new parameters as to how we are to give our tithes and gifts—cheerfully (rf. II Cor. 9:7)—and when we are to give them—the first day of the week (rf. I Cor. 16:2), Sunday. The New Testament, thus, reinforces the truth that the first tenth still belongs to the Lord and His people should be committed to giving it regularly.

            Since Jesus plainly stated that we are to “render unto Caesar (i.e. the government) what is due Caesar, and to God what is due God” (rf. Matt. 22:21), applied to our own time and the means of income disbursal, common sense tells us that our pay structure is already set up to pay our taxes to the government first prior to our income arriving in our hands. Therefore, the paychecks that we receive represent our actual income over which we have control as to spending. It is on this amount that we make our family budgets and upon which we base our tithe. Though we often complain about the percentage of our taxes in the US, they are relatively low compared to other parts of the world. There are believers in other countries whose national income tax rates range from 50-75% and higher, not counting province and local taxes, the combination of which is overwhelming, allowing them very little spendable income upon which to live. If they based their tithe on their gross income, they would have little, if any, money upon which to support their families. The tithe was to be based on that which comes into our hands to spend, over that which we have control. As it was with Abram, so it is with us.

            The tithe was meant to be an act of worship and thankfulness, not an overwhelming burden of legalism. When done correctly, God will show Himself great by blessing His people as they tithe by taking care of all of their needs (rf. Mal. 3:10) and by providing for all of the ministries of His Church. If we obey, it gives Him the opportunity to do wondrous things. The question is this: Are we tithing so that He has this opportunity?

To Be a Church Member

            At the beginning of the year, it seems to be a most appropriate time to discuss a very important subject to the American Church: what it means to be a church member. First of all, let us answer the foremost question—does the Bible even teach the concept of church membership? To answer this question in a word, “Yes”. If, however, you are looking for a proof text that states “Thou shalt be the member of a local church”, you will assuredly not find one. God gave us His Word for us to use our minds as a means of loving Him (rf. Matt. 22:37), not to be “spoon-fed” every bit of information He wants us to have and use, as so many within the Church now have come to expect.

            The Apostle Paul explicitly teaches that true believers in Christ are each connected to one another spiritually just as parts of the human body are essential to one another for the whole body to function properly (rf. I Cor. 12:12, 20). So bound together are these parts that they cannot do without one another (rf. I Cor. 12:25). As Paul puts it, we are “members” one with another in this body. Since he equates the body with the Church, Paul states emphatically that to be a member of one is to be a member of the other (rf. I Cor. 12:27). The transitive property of mathematics is definitely in order here (i.e. if a = b, and b = c, then a = c). Thus, church membership is clearly taught by the Apostle Paul as something expected for those who are serious about their faith in Jesus.

            Now, it is one thing to be a member of the Church and its local representation. It is quite another to be an active, engaged member of that local body. Using the very same analogy, the Apostle Paul does not allow for non-functioning members of the body (apart from those who are sick, infirm, home-bound, etc.). Indeed, if parts of the body refuse to engage in the operations of the whole, the total being is made sick and cannot accomplish what could be done if it were, indeed, healthy and up to full capacity (rf. I Cor. 12:26). Thus, it is assumed that every church member will be active in the life of the local church so that God’s will and plan for that particular fellowship will be fulfilled to the glory and praise of the Lord. To do otherwise shortcircuits both the growth of the whole body and the spiritual life of the individual, actually bringing into question the reality of one’s own salvation experience (rf. Heb. 10:25).

            For those who say that church attendance is not important, the above arguments should be sufficient to prove otherwise. However, there are always those who still claim that they have no need for the fellowship of other believers, that they can worship God anywhere and without the assistance of “organized religion”. The thing that these folks overlook in the Scriptures is this—though Jesus offers us salvation on an individual basis, His redemption was accomplished on a corporate plane. He came “to save His people from their sins” (rf. Matt. 1:21) and to “lay down His life for the sheep” (rf. Jn. 10:11), both examples of the plural nature of His atoning work.

Regardless of how we may feel, as true Christians, we are connected to each other in Christ. He expects us to fellowship with each other and to worship Him in corporate fashion as is reflected by the early Church in the book of Acts (ex: Acts 2:41-47). To do otherwise is a sin and a cop-out on our responsibility to each other. It should be our joy, our priority, and a blessing to which we look forward each week to gather together for mutual encouragement and to lift up our Savior and King in praise, prayer, and song.

Let us, then, renew our commitment to the Lord this first Sunday of the New Year to be in His House with His people to begin regular attendance with our fellow believers in Christ. Not only will we be blessed as a result, but we will prove to be blessings as the Lord finds greater use of us within the work of His kingdom through His Church.

What Do I Owe the Christ-Child?--A Poem

What Do I Owe to the Christ-Child?

By Dr. Chris King

“What do I have that I owe to the Christ-Child?”

A serious question to ponder;

“What do I have that I owe to the Christ-Child?”

I ask myself in awe and wonder.

I once thought that I’d given my all unto Him

My heart and my own sinful deeds.

All of the debt which I owed unto Him

Was now thus removed, no residual needs.

I then could go on in my self-centered ways,

Pursuing the things I held dear,

Knowing that I had my eternity grasped

In payment for past that had cleared.

However, what I had failed to consider,

What others, like me, had bemoaned.

Although God’s gift of salvation was free,

It costs more than I ever had known.

The prophets before me were given His message

Some centuries long ere He came.

Because of their faithfulness in sharing God’s Word,

Many died for the sake of His Name.

The shepherds were told by the angels that night

Of His coming and witnessed His birth.

Though smelling like sheep and despised by the town,

They testified of Messiah with mirth.

The magi came forth from their lands in the East

To give gifts to the King of the Jews.

After showing their costly wares to His kin

Via a tip, they took their leave by a ruse.

Like Scrooge, we must experience the transforming effect

The Christ-Child has on those who come near.

We feel the real debt for the blessings we’ve gained

From His grace and His mercy so dear.

We find ourselves needing to do so much more,

Not to earn or to gain His delight.

But to show appreciation for His blessings to us,

We give ourselves freely and with all of our might.

So, let this Christmas be a time to reflect

On the debt to the Christ-Child we owe.

Have we given Him everything that we have and we are?

Are there any backpayments we know?

As long as breath lingers, vital change is at hand.

We can take the steps required

To glorify God by the lives that we lead

And fulfill our debts as He desires.

The Parallels of Church and Marriage Commitment

“…and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (rf. Mk. 12:30).

            For those of you who are reading this article and are married, imagine for a moment if your commitment to your mate were the very same as that of your evident commitment to the Lord as shown by your church attendance, what would the present status of your marriage relationship be? Having just completed a master’s degree in counseling with an emphasis in marriage and family, I can tell you that any couple who do not spend quality time conversing about the substantive issues of their relationship put their marriage in jeopardy. The marriage relationship needs, indeed, requires both husband and wife to set aside blocks of time (not just date nights, but consistent brackets of time during the week as well as time away from home, just the two of them) to learn what makes the other “tick” so as to correctly prioritize the other’s needs as first under God (rf. Eph. 5:22-33). In so doing, our marriages fulfill the Lord’s expectation of them as earthly reflections of the relationship between Jesus and His Church (rf. Eph. 5:23, 25, 32).

                     However, just as a marriage relationship cannot grow, mature, and prosper without a couple spending quality time together, so the same holds true for the relationship between Christians and the local church. There can be little or no real spiritual growth and fellowship apart from the mutual encouragement that comes from being together as a local church body. It is here that we worship God corporately. It is here that we join together on mission. It is here that we fulfill the command to give our tithes to fund the ongoing work of His kingdom. It is here that we encourage and admonish one another in our growth in the Christian faith. This is why it is to our spiritual detriment to be apart, to allow other things and distractions to keep us from being with the rest of the flock. When we make other activities and items a greater priority than church attendance (e.g. sports activities and events, concerts, weekend outings, etc.), we are, by our actions, stating that these things are more important to us than the worship of God and being with God’s people. Our alternative engagements are stating the real priorities of our lives far louder than what our words could ever say. This is why the writer of Hebrews urges his readers “not (to) forsak(e) our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (rf. Heb. 10:25, New American Standard Version).

            Thus, if your commitment to local church attendance has been slack as of late, be thankful that we serve a merciful God who readily forgives all confessed sin. If we go to Him and sincerely ask His forgiveness for our wrongdoing, He will cleanse us of our iniquities and put us back on the path of true obedience and commitment (rf. I Jn. 1:9). Remember, God takes commitment seriously. Anything less than wholehearted devotion as shown by putting Him first in our lives, disclosed by our attendance to His house for worship and study, is no real devotion at all.

Righting the Ship of God

            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.