God is calling believers to a life of relationship and obedience to Jesus Christ to get ready for the coming trial. He is calling together those who will forsake all – their possessions, relationships, the fads, programs and movements of today’s “churches” for the real thing – a relationship with Jesus and other saints. He is calling us to get ready for the church’s finest, most trying hour. Is this likely to happen in today’s organized church? Are the saints being warned and prepared? I would venture to say that few churches prepare the average Christian to become a productive, mature saint ready to face any difficulty. Study of the prophetic scriptures is an academic exercise at best and certainly not something that demands drastic changes in our lives.
End times prophecy was written specifically for the “end times” Christian. It is meant to warn and to be heeded. It is there for our benefit. We are warned so we will take action. God warned Noah and told him to build an ark. He not only heard the prophecy, but he did something about it. The Lord has given us His Word, His Spirit and watchmen who are warning the saints. The Bible says "as in the days of Noah, so will the coming of the Son of Man be." (Matthew 24:37) The Bible goes on to say that people “will be marrying and giving in marriage” – going on with their daily routine completely unaware of the storm clouds brewing and the coming judgment of the whole earth. And why didn’t people pay attention? They were deceived! The didn’t believe the warning and thought life would go on as it always had.
Noah did two things: 1) he built something and 2) tried to warn others. He was the only one who did something to get ready. He built an ark – a place of refuge. And the ark is likened to the “church” – His body on the earth. Everyone that mocked him was swept away by the flood. Only those in the ark were saved. Once the rain started, it was too late.
In the same way, if we say, "don’t worry. The Lord will take care of us when the time comes," it may be too late. The ark is His Church – His people on the earth. God expects us to build up that ark – one another. Only, the built up, organic, living, Church will stand in that day! This has absolutely nothing to do with the buildings that we call “churches” but it has everything to do with relationships with other believers. The church is a “people ark” – not an organization, but people in relationship with the Lord and one another. In that day of Tribulation, it is not the time to be a lone ranger. We need one another like never before. We have to start building those relationships while we have time.
I am reminded of the story of the man who was watching the water rise around his house during a flood. The water came up to his door. A four wheel drive Jeep came by and asked if he wanted to evacuate now. The man replied, "no, the Lord will take care of me." A little while later, the water was up to the windows and a boat came by. They asked if he wanted to leave with them and he said, "no, the Lord will take care of me." The water just kept rising, swirling around the house. He had to climb up to the roof. A rescue helicopter came by and asked if he wanted to evacuate now. He said "no, the Lord will take care of me". The water continued to rise. The current swept him away and he died. When he gets to heaven, he asks, "Lord, what happened? Why didn’t you save me? You promised to take care of me!" The Lord said, "first I sent the jeep, then the boat and finally the helicopter. What more do you want?" God is not fooling around. He gives us ample warning. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Please be honest! If the pastors were removed, and the “churches” closed or taken over, how well would the average Christian fare? As our churches slip farther into apostasy, will the average Christian even notice? Are they sufficiently grounded in the Word and in a daily obedient relationship with the Lord? Are they really close to and "built up" with other Christians on a day to day basis? Can they stand on their own without the help of a “professional”? Do they have such a relationship with the Lord and other Christians, they could suffer any loss or persecution? Does the world see a mega church, money making, entertainment enterprise or a corporate expression of Christ and say, "Behold how they love one another!"
When the Lord withdrew his presence from the Tabernacle, it left a beautiful tent and later a beautiful temple. Worshippers continued to offer their sacrifices not even realizing something was wrong, something was missing. The Lord’s presence was gone and all that remained was a beautiful shell. In the same way, most churches can go through the motions Sunday after Sunday whether the Spirit of God is there or not. They can sing their hymns, pray their prayers and preach their sermons whether God is present or not. The tragedy lies in the church’s reliance on a program driven religious structure, a lifeless form, run by the dedicated few rather than an organic expression under the control of the Holy Spirit.
This leaves us with the following three last days scenarios. What is likely to happen to Christians? This is the question posed by Jesus: When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith? (Luke 18:8)
I. Most Christians will be deceived and become a part of the deception.
Many true Christians today are sincerely following the Lord in the best way they know how and sincerely trust their leaders. Is that trust warranted or are the shepherds just pandering to the flock to keep them happy and keep the money flowing? Are the shepherds really sharing God’s Word for them or just regurgitating sermons they gleaned from books, the internet or someone else’s sermon notes? Are they really sharing the whole council of God? If so, when was the last time you heard a sermon on prophecy, the last days and the need to prepare?
Few dare to question their leaders. After all, they are the experts. They went to Bible School and Seminary. They are responsible for their flocks. They wouldn’t lead them wrong! If you dare to question them, you are labeled as rebellious and ostracized or asked to leave. There are few like the Apostle Paul who would encourage the brethren to be Bereans and dare to question, holding up what they are told to the light of the Word. We have been beaten down by the experts and told we are sinful and rebellious to question their judgment. Most will follow like dumb sheep. Only the courageous few will have the courage to stand against the tide, suffer the loss of face and relationships and embrace the persecution that will be heaped upon them by their “brothers and sisters.”
Will Christians heed the call and break away from their apostate churches? Most won’t. People naturally resist change. Everyone has a "steady state", a "comfort zone" and few get out of it. Few have the ability to change because they are predisposed to keep the status quo. The real danger is that they will be changed by the institutions and society around them. Unfortunately, you see this happening all the time. In the end, when they are faced with the decision to take the mark of the beast (and recognize what is happening), the Lord may stir in a few hearts and they will refuse. This is what I would call being saved but as by fire. "If any man’s work is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." (1 Cor. 3:15)
But if Christians don’t really know the Lord, recognize His voice and obey it today, it is not likely they will be prepared for the Tribulation to come. Their dependence on a broken church system and their lack of preparation will not bode well for them. If they don’t know the Lord and have strong bonds with other discerning Christians today, it is not likely there will be much time to develop them when most needed. If they are not careful, they are likely to jump on the political bandwagon to save the world for Christ, the Church, democracy and capitalism! If they don’t know how to discern today, they are likely to be caught up in the deception in that day, persecuting true believers who refuse to submit to the religious/political system.
II. Some may stay and overcome.
Our God is a big God and His hand is not shortened that it cannot save. His way is to have a remnant. The church as an institution will survive in many forms up until the "end" and some true believers may overcome in spite of the system. There may be little clusters of believers within the various institutions. Some may not catch on to what is happening early on, but when push comes to shove, they will stand firm and probably lose their lives in the process. Revelation 2 and 3 speak of seven churches. The saints in these churches may be persecuted and some overcome, no matter how apostate they become. The fires of tribulation will separate the sheep from the goats and the wheat from the chaff. God is sovereign and He knows the heart of His people. In the end, there will be a remnant of overcomers who will stand and pay whatever the price may be.
“Judgment begins with the household of God” (I Peter 4:17) How can God judge the earth unless he first cleans up His own house? There will be a few overcomers. Will they be the pastors who preached and entertained week after week but failed to warn their people? Will they be the leaders and board members who are there because of their position of stature, wealth and success in the community? Or will they be those little saints who simply opened their hearts to the Lord every day and let Him deal in their lives, people like the housewife who loved, wept and prayed for her children and revered her husband and stood with her friends, who spent time communing with her Lord and submitted to His will?
It will be nearly impossible for Christians to stand firmly for the truth in an apostate church. They just won’t be welcome and will be asked to leave. This is happening all the time. We hear about it daily. The great danger is that Christians don’t really care for the truth. They care about their relationships and their image in other people’s mind. Few will stand against false revivals, ecumenical movements, false teachings and the like because they don’t love the truth and have no ability to discern. They are more afraid of losing family and friends than they are for standing for the truth. So in the end, those very relationships will lead them down the broad path of acceptance. They don’t know the Word or the Lord and have depended on false shepherds who told them what they wanted to hear rather than the truth.
III. Some may leave the Church institution.
Some will voluntarily leave their churches as they see it take compromising positions. Others will be told to leave their church because they ask embarrassing questions and dare to confront the leadership. Some will be so blown away and will give up and stop meeting altogether. These saints will find themselves "without the camp" (Hebrews 13:13) and will have to struggle to make it on their own. There will be no paid professionals to take care of them. The average saint will either wither and die because they aren’t prepared and can’t stand alone or they will come together with other Christians and hold on for dear life.
The rest of this book is addressed to this group. The last days is not the time to become a solo act. We are exhorted to "not forsaking 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." (Heb. 10:25)
God’s Ultimate Intention
Every saint is gifted and every saint should function in the Body of Christ. Some may have the gift of pastoring and they should care for people with the love of the Lord. That doesn’t mean they become a “one man show” and function at the expense of all the other members. This is a “function”, not an “office”. Others are gifted in evangelism and others in church planting (as an apostle or one who is sent out) and so on. They don’t need any special training or degrees to do this. They need to be mature and have a real walk with the Lord and a heart to serve others. Some may be teachers and they should teach with the anointing of the Lord, not necessarily based on education and book knowledge but out of real life experience with the Lord. The same is true for all of the other gifts such as hospitality, giving, etc. The church should be a living organism where each member builds up the other with the gifts the Lord has bestowed. In contrast, professional pastors burn out because they are expected to do everything. This is not what God intended.
Function follows form. If you have a congregation of several hundred or more people sitting in rows facing a pulpit, you have a one man show. If you have 30 or 40 in a home or small building with chairs in a circle and each person has come ready to participate and minister to others, some may have a hymn, a psalm, a praise, a teaching, an exhortation – but all have come to give rather than take, to participate rather than to spectate, then you really have something!
Instead today’s church reflects the times we live in. The successful church today is a "market" oriented, customer driven; a bottom line, well greased organization that provides "one stop" shopping. A staff of pastors provides for all the needs. It gives the people what they want (not necessarily what they need) including inspiration, entertainment, moral training for their children, counseling, social opportunity, etc. We may think this system has worked but, in my opinion, it is far from having a "body life", where every member has gifts and brings them to a simple, intimate gathering. It creates bottle-fed babies and “still born” Christians who never mature.
The “pastoral system” leads to a division of labor and identity – the professional clergy and the non-professional laity. It is a carry over from Judaism, Roman Catholicism and every other religion. It is basic to the religious nature of man who wants someone to take care of “spiritual things” for them so they can go about their lives. But this was not God’s intention. He said “we are the temple” (I Corinthians 3:16) – not a cathedral or a “church building” which is often referred to as the “house of God!” The building made of wood, stones or stucco is not the “house of God”! The Church of Jesus Christ is a “people house” – living stones knit together (see Ephesians 3), each functioning and flowing life to the other.
The fact that the Christian Church can’t get along very well without professional leadership does not bode well for the church in the last days. If I were a pastor, I would do everything I could to work myself out of a job as soon as possible. I would do everything I could to make the saints aware of the coming deception (which is already here), of the false unity being conjured up, and of the danger of getting too entangled in this world (including politics and social action). I would teach them to think for themselves, rather than blindly follow me or anyone else. I would teach them to be "Bereans" like the Apostle Paul did as he commended the saints for critically judging his ministry against the standard - the Word of God, instead of labeling them as negative, rebellious and divisive.
Many pastors seem to be doing the opposite - never accomplishing much with their teaching - just the same warmed over messages to the same cold congregation week after week. Some pastors intimidate the saints by telling them how difficult the Word is and how they need his constant guidance. This is ridiculous! The Word is perfectly clear and easily understood to the open and hungry heart. Pastors want to wow you with their Greek and Hebrew so that you will continue to need them to interpret the word for you. As mentioned before in the Promise Keepers chapter, the founder, Bill McCartney, told thousands of people in a conference how much they needed their priests (yes priests!) and pastors to interpret the Word for them, because they were not qualified. What kind of statement is this? Was the Reformation in vain? Dare you trust someone who believes you are unqualified and unable to think for yourself?
I have heard pastors tell their congregation they shouldn’t worry because, as the shepherds, they will protect them, the flock. Is this really true? All I see are pastors following one fad after the next to promote church growth. (and more $$$) Are they out for the congregation’s interest or their own? What if they are taken away? Then who will the “congregation” follow? What if the shepherds are leading the flock into deception? Are they still to be good little sheep and follow? The "dumbing" of America has also brought about the "dumbing" of the church where people blindly follow and ask now questions. But God will hold every one of us to account - both shepherds and sheep. Your pastor or priest won’t be by your side to speak for you on Judgment Day.
Let’s look for a moment at the process the typical evangelical church today follows to select a pastor. A Search Committee advertises for a pastor. They receive hundreds of resumes. The committee pours over them and selects a few for telephone interviews. After a lengthy process and voting for candidates, finally a few are invited to come and interview. After a lengthy interview process, reference checks and all, a couple may be invited back to preach, to see if the people like what they hear. They listen to them preach, find out about their management style, organizational abilities, knowledge of church growth, youth and music ministries, etc.. Once an offer is extended and the pastor arrives, he has a job to do and is expected to do it well or be replaced.
There is no place in the Bible where a congregation searches for a full-time pastor, who goes through this selection process and then serves at the discretion of a Board or whatever. There are no "full-time" Christians as distinguished from "part-time" Christians. In the early church, workers were not imported according to their training, organizational ability, gift as a speaker and the letters after their name. Leaders were recognized within the Body of believers for the good fruit produced in their lives and the gifts worked into their lives by the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, all the gifts were raised up from within the local church. They didn’t go to Bible School or Seminary to become full-time professionals. They didn’t travel 2,000 miles to audition for the post. They weren’t elected. God put them there among the saints and there was a witness by the saints that they were gifted and chosen to function in the body. Again, we are talking organically - a person functioning in the gift God has given them, not positionally in an organization. These are functions, not offices held at the discretion of a board or “congregation”.
In today’s pastoral system, either a pastor rules the Church with an iron hand, or a board of deacons or elders rules and the pastor has to be careful to please it. He may be afraid to take an unpopular stand for fear of losing his job. Some pastors compromise because the economic times are tough and they have no where to go. What else could they do? Good jobs are hard to find. Look at the fastest growing churches today and you will see that most are led by pastors who tell the people what they want to hear including the so-called purpose driven market oriented churches.
Pastors dare not risk speaking out on certain subjects or they may lose their job. It may divide their congregation and alienate a good portion of them. Promise Keepers is a good example of an organization with admirable goals but a questionable foundation and even more questionable methods. Yet, it would be a death sentence for the average pastor to speak out against it. They can’t take a stand or make a decision. Yet they assure their flock the shepherds would lay down their lives for the flock to protect them. What kind of leadership is that? If they can’t take a stand on something that should be fairly obvious such as the Promise Keepers, what makes us think they will make a stand further on down the line? What will it take before they take a stand? Unfortunately, this is a pathology that is working in both the clergy and the laity - a heavy deception is upon them and they don’t even know it. (Please see recognizing_deception_and_apostasy_chapter_6.htm)
Why do pastors seldom preach on end times prophecy? Either the pastor feels it is irrelevant because he believes we will rapture before the Tribulation or he doesn’t want to be too controversial for fear of upsetting factions of the "congregation." Who wants to tell his congregation, "you had better shape up because you may have to stand on your own? We may not rapture and things could get ugly. You may lose the good life." Who wants to warn them he may be removed and some apostate leader may take his place? Who would dare to warn people they may lose everything - their home, their car, their 401k plans, their vacation to Europe, their family, their friends, their very life! Who would dare say the most terrible persecution the world has ever known called the Great Tribulation may be just around the corner and they had better get ready? Who wants to be told that their closest friends, even in the Church, may turn against them, that they will have no income and may not be able to buy groceries, clothes or any thing else? How long would he last? He would be laughed out of town! This is not a message people want to hear. They want to hear that if they do certain things, God will bless them financially and keep them healthy and happy. The fault also lies in the laity because they are the ones that obviously want the kind of leadership they are getting.
This is one of the most misunderstood and abused concepts in the body of Christ today. Some pastors emphasize the need for the saints to be under authority, implying their authority. But in the New Testament, the pastor was merely one of the "gifted" saints. Authority was in the Holy Spirit and under certain very limited circumstances placed in the elders. It was limited to gross moral failure, doctrinal error or divisive behavior and the only remedy was disfellowship if the person failed to repent.
New Testament authority is not to "lord" it over the saints. It is not positional authority because they hold an office but functional spiritual authority recognized by the saints. Authority is earned and freely accepted, not imposed. It is granted by the saints as the brother’s life and service meets the qualifications listed for an "elder" in the Bible - basically someone who walks with the Lord and his life backs it up. Authority should not be acquired by vote or seized. It should be freely granted. As a protection, the authority should never go beyond the local assembly. That way if someone gets on an authority trip, the damage is contained.
In most churches today, elders serve as a Board of Directors, or sometimes as merely a "rubber stamp" for the pastor who is often the head elder as well. The basic problem is, we have turned what should be a living organism into an organization. We have turned a natural organic function into an "office." The loving oversight and protection of the shepherd who is just one of the saints doesn’t exist. Churches are organizations, 501c3 tax exempt corporations with a Board of Directors, rather than organisms - people knit together in love as equals. The scripture is very clear. In the Body of Christ, there is no member that is more important than the other. We are all equals - in fact, Jesus turns it completely around from the world’s ways - he who would be chief should be the least. This is not the way of today’s church!
Authority does not rest in a hierarchy but in the ruling and reigning of the Holy Spirit in all the members of the Body. Man’s way is hierarchy but Jesus says “It should not be so among you.” (Mark 10:43) An elder brother acts in the “authority of the Holy Spirit”, not because he has a position or office. Spiritual authority is recognized in the spirit. There is an internal “amen”. It is not positional, or absolute. The only authority a body of believers may exercise over another saint (e.g. in the case of gross unrepentant sin) is to cut them off from fellowship. (see Matthew 18) This is not a matter of organization. It is a matter of life and the flow of Christ’s life between the members of His body.
There is so much confusion in the Body of Christ today. We should not tell one another what to do or run each other’s lives. This doesn’t mean we can’t share concerns with one another. We can pray for one another. We can fellowship with one another, but if a brother or sister is in gross unrepentant sin, the only thing we can do is break off fellowship. We have no authority over another person. Authority belongs to God alone. We should not play “god” by running each other’s lives. We have free will and God doesn’t go chasing after us. He lets us go and hopefully, we learn the lesson. When you break off fellowship, you turn the wandering brother or sister over to the capable hands of our Father in heaven. We are accountable to God alone.
The whole concept of accountability, talked about in an earlier chapter, leads to inappropriate meddling in one another’s lives. We answer to the Lord for the things we do as individuals. If we open to the Lord, He will lead us and transform us. We should quit worrying about the outward and focus on the “growth of life”. When we are “born again”, the Holy Spirit makes our human spirit alive. We grow as we fellowship with the Lord, let Him speak to us through his Word. We should concentrate on having the right conditions that allows the Lord to grow in us and transform us. The human tendency is to look at and work on the outward. God’s way is to change us from the inside out and that comes from spending time in His presence and learning to hear and obey Him. Of course, we are a mess, but only the growth of Christ within will change us.
It is not a matter of outward accountability but it is about Christ’s life working in us and flowing from one to another. If we would spend less time worrying about all the things our brothers and sisters are doing wrong and more time praying for one another and encouraging one another in our relationship with the Lord, the body of Christ would be a living testimony to the world. Instead we devour one another and try and to exert control over each other, processing offenses, keeping score, criticizing one another and holding others accountable for things that are none of our business. The alternative to a living body where the Holy Spirit works in each person, is a hierarchy where we answer to one another up the ladder to the pastor, apostle or prophet. The latter is what is being proposed in churches today. Please see the previous chapter on the apostles and prophets and cell groups. (recognizing_deception_and_apostasy_chapter_10.htm )
The more we focus on the outward, cleaning up the outside of the vessel, the worse our problems become. Our only hope is an inward growth of Jesus Christ and His transforming power. All the authority and accountability in the world will not help. I have known brothers who had to report their every move all day long to those they were accountable to in order to keep them away from their besetting sin. In the end, it didn’t do any good because there was no inward change. We need to focus on causes rather than symptoms. The symptom is sin. The root cause is a lack of growth in the Lord.
The Bible tells us that in the last days, Christians will gather around themselves teachers who basically tell them what they want to hear.
" For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but {wanting} to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3,4)
They itch their ears with wonderful rhetoric because this is what the people demand.
The Church of Laodicea means the Church "ruled by the Laity," by the people, by "democratic" vote. This, in essence, describes the governance of most churches today. If the church doesn’t like their pastor, they throw him out and get a new one. Laodicea is the lukewarm church that thought it was wealthy and in need of nothing. (Revelation 3:14-22) Only in America, only in the last 50 years, have we seen the emergence of the "Green Gospel" - the Gospel of Wealth! It is no accident that the Word-Faith movement has flourished under the teachings of Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, Oral Roberts, Benny Hinn and so many others. This is what the people demand and want to hear. I attended a huge church in Houston, once a struggling Baptist Church - it had dwindled to so few people that they were about to close the doors for good. Then the pastor, saw the light and became an avid follower of the Word-Faith movement. Over night it grew to thousands of people. Who do we fault? The pastor who was failing? Or the people who flocked to hear another gospel? In case you are not aware of it, please read "Christianity in Crisis" for full documentation of the fact that they are preaching another gospel.
But why would Christians choose to follow after prosperity, signs and wonders? Why are they so easily deceived? Nine out of ten “born again” Christians do not have a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ! Now I know that is an outrageous statement, but hear me out. People get genuinely “saved” but somehow lose touch with the Lord after that. Why? What separated them initially from God? Their sins, right? What separates us after we are saved? Our sins. Christians go through the motions. They attend church. They may even have “devotions” – read their Bible and pray, but if they don’t confess the sin in their life, they do not really have a relationship with Jesus Christ. SIN SEPARATES US FROM GOD! Plain and simple! If we don’t deal with it, we will not have His presence in our lives. Why do Christians lose their first love? Why do they become lukewarm? Why does the world encroach on their lives? Why don’t they spend time in His presence? Why don’t they hear His voice? Unconfessed sin! The most basic thing to the Christian life is given to us in I John 1:
“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” (I John 1:5-10)
Christians can go for days, weeks, months and even years without ever having a real relationship with the Lord and you wonder why unbelievers think we are hypocrites? When we are initially “born again”, we begin with a real conviction of sin. We confess our need for cleansing and a relationship with Jesus to be in us what we can’t be. Jesus comes into our life. Then we forget to ever deal with sin in our lives again. Colossians 2:6 says, ”as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” We have to humble ourselves every day and confess our need for Jesus. Our sin separated us initially from God and if we let it build up and don’t deal with it, we lose fellowship with God. Brothers and sisters, the church is dead today because Christians are not walking in the light and dealing with their sin!
And what is sin? What should you do about it? You think you should make a list and be careful not to do it? “Don’t smoke. Don’t chew; don’t go with the girls that do”. Our conscience lets us know and a Christian walking in the light has an active conscience. Sin is also whatever the Holy Spirit puts His finger on when you are in fellowship with the Lord. Unless it is a serious sin (such as adultery), don’t worry about it until the Lord deals with you on it. When God says quit smoking, He gives you the power to quit. You quit or lose His blessing and presence. When He tells you to do something, do it. If you disobey, confess it specifically and fellowship will be restored. God doesn’t expect us to be perfect but he deals with us bit by bit so we aren’t so overwhelmed. For example, let’s say you have a problem losing your temper with your kids and the Lord brings this to your attention while you are in fellowshipping with Him. The Lord says He will take care of it. Just turn to Him whenever you feel you are about to lose it. He works on you all week and His overcoming life keeps you calm and cool with the kids. The point is, God deals with us specifically. Now we may lose it, but when we do, the light of God shines on it, we confess our failure and the blood of Jesus cleanses us and restores the fellowship. This is a living process. And guess what, when you get together with the saints, do you have something to share? You bet you do because God has worked in your life!
In contrast, the typical Christian life becomes a mental exercise – read the Bible, pray, go to church… and we become great actors – academy award winning but we are dead inside. There is no fellowship because sin has not been dealt with. If you think I’m being too much, reread the books of Colossians, Galatians, Corinthians, etc. Paul is continually warning the church that having begun in the spirit, they are trying to perfect themselves in the flesh! It took me ten years as a Christian before I really learned the basics of I John 1, but still, I can go for days, weeks and months going through the motions just like you. So if our lives are powerless and our churches are dead, what do we expect? Sin and darkness keep us away from Him. If we say we have no sin, we are liars, but if walk in the light and confess our sins, his blood cleanses us and we have fellowship with God and one another. Folks, it is as simple as that!
Every time we approach the Lord, we should ask Him to shine His light into our heart and search us. When we read the Bible, we shouldn’t just read the words but ask the Lord to speak to us as we read. God won’t deal with everything wrong in our lives at once, but will pinpoint those things that need to be dealt with. Brothers and sisters, we are so critical of one another, but when we get into His presence, God doesn’t point out our brother’s sin, but ours. We should be broken and humbled in His presence! Just as we needed Him when we were first saved, we need Him every day. You have heard the saying, “keeping short accounts?” That is what we must do if we are to walk in the light and have fellowship with Him and one another. That is the key to the church life. If every member has a living, up-to-date relationship with the Lord, they will have plenty to share. There will plenty of love, life and forgiveness to go around. Relationships will be healed by His life and love flowing through the Body.
But if we don’t walk in that light, we won’t hear His voice. The Bible will seem like an old, dead book. We will be critical of one another. There will be no overflow in our lives. We will get caught up in the world. Our love will grow cold and we will become ripe for apostasy and deception. We may even chase emotional experiences, signs and wonders but if we don’t deal with the sin in our lives, we are only kidding ourselves. We may attend church and get caught up in our emotions once or twice a week, but that is not having a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is going through the motions.
I have been a Christian long enough to see what happens to me and to others so I am not exaggerating when I say that nine out of ten Christians do not have a clue how to live the Christian life, and out of the ten percent that do, we only really deal with the Lord sporadically. And we wonder why our lives are powerless and our churches are dead? Shame on us!
Why does the church (and by that I mean the “born again” Christians) need a little dose of persecution/tribulation? For most of us, that is what it will take to dislodge us from the hold of the world and the cares of life, into a real relationship with our Lord. Until then, the laity is content with going through the motions and letting the clergy do their job.
The true normal Christian church life is based on a body of believers who walk in the light and when they come together, they have plenty to share. They are all there to give rather than to receive. This is what God desires – a body of believers that is full of His life flowing from one person to another!
The church meeting should be the expression of the working of the Lord in every member. Instead, we have the Sunday worship which consists of some singing, structured prayers and a sermon. There are specialized meetings and programs according to a person's interest, age and marital status. Just because a church has home meetings does not mean much and we will see why later. Since the Reformation, the believer has not made much progress in regaining his place in the ministry. He can usher, serve communion, sit on a board, teach Sunday School - but even then, most pastors will tell you less than one in ten are really involved. This kind of involvement is not releasing the corporate ministry of the individual believers in a meaningful way. The whole structure is against it. In most cases, the church is totally dependent on the pastor. He is the kingpin, the cornerstone. Remove him and the church may fall apart. This isn’t necessarily intentional, but it happens.
So how would we characterize the modern church in America in contrast to the simple gatherings of the Bible?
Formal spectator Christianity versus an informal gathering where all participate.
There is a structured meeting led by the pastor versus a spontaneous gathering led by the Holy Spirit.
A few participate versus each member of the body functioning.
Exhortation from the pulpit versus exhorting one another.
Cold, impersonal meeting where people can hide, versus the warm, loving atmosphere of an informal home gathering.
Participation is limited to trivial tasks such as ushering or passing the plate versus true participatory worship, sharing and ministry to one another.
Based on a clergy system versus an open fellowship and "body life”
People participate institutionally versus relationally
Church is something you go to versus being what you are - a living expression of Christ on the earth.
Although the Church may make some attempts at having home meetings, they are of limited scope, guided discussions or “Bible study”. Most are either social gatherings or “little church” meetings dominated by one or two people. The church is still centered on Sunday morning performances and the weekly message where people go through the motions week after week with very little commitment or involvement. The pastoral and professional staff are over burdened. They have a tough job - dragging, cajoling and exhorting people along. The problem is, once you build a "sanctuary" and grow to a certain point, it is the end of free expression. Even if participation is a goal, it becomes impractical after there are more than 30 or 40 people. Today, if someone has a testimony - take a number for you are not likely to be heard in the average church. First, it is just too big and second, the pastors fear losing control. If you have a problem, make an appointment with the pastor rather than share with your brothers and sisters in an intimate fellowship.
There is nothing God ordained or particularly Scriptural about the way our modern churches are organized and function. There is nothing particularly sacrosanct about any of the accruements of Christianity, from our buildings, to our Bible Schools and Seminaries, our Sunday Schools, our form of worship, etc. The early church did fine without any of these things. The modern church is a product of our society, our culture, our history, tradition, our lusts and our laziness.
Tradition is very powerful. Like the papá in Fiddler on the Roof - it would break the average entrenched Christian to do anything different than the normal routine. Our tradition is comfortable, like an old shoe. It is all we know. We tend to believe something is right just because we have always done it that way. That doesn’t necessarily follow. I would suggest caution in terms of the deception and apostasy to come as we hold on to traditions that have no real meaning or biblical basis. The Bible warns us to not take heed to myths and traditions of men. Since things have always been that way, we think they must be right. We elevate traditions and practices to truths. You must follow an order of worship: begin a service with a few songs interspersed with prayer followed by a message and a benediction because that is the way we have always done it.
Jesus spent three and a half years boldly and overtly attacking the "traditions of the elders." Jesus had a field day with "teachers of the law". The New Testament is full of examples of Jesus attacking the "self-evident truths" - the traditions invented by men in the religious establishment. How would Jesus react if He were to walk into one of our churches today? What would He say? What would He do? We seem to have the idea that Jesus is this nice loving, accepting "big brother" who lets us do what we want and doesn’t ever impose His opinion on us. We no longer recognize the Jesus who accused the religious leaders of His time of being a "generation of vipers" and "white-washed sepulchers", who drove money changers out of the Temple with a whip, who accused them of keeping the letter of the law and completely missing the "spirit." Using this theoretical example, we would probably blast Jesus for being critical, unloving and not being respectful of authority.
What would Jesus say to the church that spends most of its money on buildings and programs? What will He say to all of those well meaning pastors and televangelists on Judgment Day?
"Well done. Sit here at my right hand" or,
"I really appreciate your sincerity and service, but what did you do to really equip, build up and release my Body, and step into the background as much as possible so others may have an opportunity to minister?" or,
"I know you meant well, but don’t you realize what a building with a lot of people sitting in rows looking at you week after week produces?" or,
"I know you understood intellectually that the church building isn’t the ‘house of God’ but you sure didn’t act like it."
Wouldn’t it surprise us if on "That Day" Jesus said that there was no greater hindrance to His true expression on the earth than the organization and institution of the church? On Judgment Day, Jesus will be merciful to those of us who are washed in the blood but our works will be tried by fire and He is going to tell it like it is, not how we hoped or thought it should be. Everyone of us will appear saying we tried our best; we followed our leaders, did what we were told, but that may not hold up in His court. So how about one good reason for a little persecution, says Jesus? "Let’s test your institutions and programs and all the so called "born again" Christians and see what is left after I allow the fire to be put to it." Let’s find out what is wheat and what is chaff! How many will stay standing after a little pressure is applied?
Unfortunately, we have been living under a system that makes few demands on us. The average Christian is spiritually emaciated because of lack of spiritual exercise - the lack of demand that he participate meaningfully in the body of Christ! The pastor may be one big muscular arm, but if the rest of the members never exercise spiritually, what will the body look like? The pastor’s arm may be the best, most sincere, hard working arm and the more it has to lift, the stronger it becomes while the rest of the members grow weaker and weaker. The opportunities given the average Christian to serve (e.g. ushering, cleaning the building, serving food) are not really meaningful in terms of producing real spiritual growth. Real growth requires real spiritual exercise and a consistent opportunity to minister and flow life to other saints. More on this in the next chapter.
Continue to Chapter 18
What to do.
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