Awakening a Comfortable Church

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

"Many churches today have wonderful buildings, faithful congregations, dependable supporters, encouraging weekly services, but something is missing.  Like the believers in Laodicea, our modern church is missing a zealousness for Christ."

Would any coach want an entire team of content mediocre football players, playing for him? Would any business want a whole company of uninterested employees working for them? Would any pastor want to eagerly lead a congregation of happily complacent believers?

Jesus is the Founder and Chief Shepherd of the church. In straight forward terms He condemns any of His congregations that are filled with these type of contented mediocre, uninterested and complacent followers. There was once a church just like this, and Jesus wrote them a letter saying, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Revelation 2:15-16)

Jesus used temperature language to illustrate where this church stood in relationship with Him. They did not have a cold distant relationship, nor a passionate one. They were somewhere in the middle, which Jesus forcefully called, lukewarm.

The church had good biblical doctrine. The congregation was morally upright. They were not lazy, but a group of doers, always getting much done in the church. Consequently, their divine rebuke did not result from their beliefs, morals or activity. Instead, it came from their attitude toward their Chief Shepherd. They acknowledged Him, talked about Him, but they did not operate their church, nor live their lives in dependency on Him. And anyone that visited the church could sense this. They may not have been able to put their finger on it, but there was something or rather, someone missing. Jesus.

This is the state of so many churches today. They have wonderful buildings, faithful congregations, dependable supporters, encouraging weekly services, but something is missing. Jesus says to them what He said to the Laodicean church, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” (Rev. 3:19) Like the believers in Laodicea, the church today is missing a zealousness for Christ. This is another temperature word referring to hot or boiling. There is no burning passion for Jesus. There is no boiling love for Him. Just a contented lukewarmness. And people can feel it. Amidst the solid teaching, friendliness, good programming, something is missing.

In love for His church, Jesus comes to its door and patiently, but steadfastly knocks. All the while, the door remains unknowingly closed to dependency on Him. Even so, He knocks, waiting for anyone in the church to come and welcome Him back in. If they refuse, He will “spit them out of His mouth.” But if they respond and turn from their lukewarmness to a renewed walk with Him, He offers a great promise of blessing upon them.

My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, take time to examine the spiritual condition of your church and your own walk with Christ. Where is the passion for Jesus? Where is the boiling love for Him? Where is the heavenly zeal? This is not about feelings, but about the bent of one’s whole life and the spiritual state of a congregation.

Listen to Jesus’ loving and persuasive words to His precious bride, “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Rev. 3:20-22)

Hear the Spirit’s call to His church and respond. May we, the church, repent of our lukewarmness and be awakened to a fresh zeal for Christ, the one who died in our place.

A prayer for you. “Shepherd of the church. Search our hearts. Point out if we have strayed from you and lost our zeal. We repent of our love for the world and dependency on ourselves. We turn to you asking that you pour out upon us a renewed passion and love that burns with a raging fire, that nothing in this world can extinguish. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Drugs, a Deal with The Devil

"Drugs. No matter if it is a drink or something that is smoked, injected, snorted or swallowed, they have been around since near the beginning of human history. Why do we do it? Because we believe the lies they promise."

“Drugs.” That is what the Sherriff and Police Chief told me was the greatest problem their area faced when I was seeking to learn about the needs in their respective county and city.

Since nearly the beginning of mankind, the human race has continually had an ongoing battle with drugs. A grotesque scene between a father and his two daughters from long ago captures the influence they have had on humanity for thousands of years. The stunning episode is recorded in the Bible. Lot fled from his home just before his town (Sodom) was destroyed by fire because of the judgment of God. He had lost everything but his two adult daughters, and their new home was a lonely dark cave. No doubt they were all discouraged, grief-stricken, overwhelmed, and unsure what the next step was. Though they were a religious family, they did not call upon God nor search out Lot’s gracious uncle Abraham for help.

Eventually, Lot’s daughters felt desperate to have children and reasoned between themselves that there was no option for them outside of their father. They each conspired to have a one-time incestual relationship with him, and to do it with the help of alcohol. The first night, they spent time with their father, coaxing him to drink. Lot was unaware of his daughters’ plans, but knew that he was drinking alcohol and refused to stop. When he became drunk, one daughter laid down with him. After Lot woke up from his hangover, he did not remember anything other than being drunk. The next night Lot started drinking again and the same thing happened with the other daughter. Lot never realized the implications of his drinking until he found out that both of his daughters were pregnant.

Lot’s daughters wanted something for themselves, but instead of trusting God for it, they rationalized the need to drug their dad to get it. And as for Lot, rather than going to God for help, he went to alcohol and lost his moral compass at a great cost.

Drugs. No matter if it is a drink or something that is smoked, injected, snorted or swallowed, they have been around since near the beginning of human history. Why do we do it? Because we believe the lie, that they can give us some temporary relief. Indeed, drugs are an evil tool that leads to evil things.

They offer grand promises using demonic lies. “Take this for the pain”, they say. “This will help you have a good time”, is said with a devilish smirk. “It will calm you down,” whispers another minion. We believe the promises, treating them like a god, as if they have the power to give us what we are searching for. These false gods have a high price though. They can take nearly all your money, family, job, possessions, reputation and perhaps even your very life and eternal soul, dragging it to the fires of hell. Taking drugs is a deal with the devil and he wins every time.

What’s the answer? From Lot and his daughters, to every person in the world, if they did this one thing, the drug problem would be solved.

Find freedom in Jesus Christ.

Jesus died and rose again to defeat the power of sin, to set men and women free from its strangle hold. Many are like powerless slaves to drugs, following them like a sheep to slaughter. But the cross of Jesus, came to rescue people from the slavery of sin, that they might be free. Turn from your drugs. Throw them away. Flush them down the toilet. Burn them up. Leave them behind and run to Jesus and there you will be free. Freedom is waiting for you!

A prayer for you. “Lord God, I pray for the drug pushers and users. Open their eyes to the lies they are believing. Open their eyes to what their drug is taking from them. Let them no longer be deceived. Then bring them to turn to you. Help them to see the cross and call out to you and be gloriously set free! In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

What if Tomorrow Never Came?

"Do not wait until tragedy hits your life before you discover what is most important. Open your eyes now to the eternal, the spiritual, the things of God. Prepare for the next life before it is too late." 

What is the focus of your life? Is it seeking things to be happy or achieving important goals? And what if your life was suddenly taken from you today? Would you be ready, or so focused on this life that you were not ready for the next? Questions like this can make us think and may reveal that our life needs some adjusting. (image from IRMP Consulting)

Related to this, a man in a crowd once called out to Jesus, wanting Him to get involved in a personal matter. He was having a dispute with his brother over the family inheritance. In response, Jesus made a profound statement, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (Luke 12:15).

Jesus laid His finger on the real problem. It was not his brother, but the man’s focus. He was being tempted by the potential wealth he could have with some of the inheritance, and all the things he could do with it for himself.

Jesus knew this temptation was a common problem in the human heart, so He told a story to illustrate an important truth.

He shared about a wealthy farmer who had a tremendous harvest, “. . . and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ (Lk. 12:17-19)

Now if Jesus ended the story at that point, there would be nothing to learn. Instead, He continued with these striking words, “But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” (Lk. 12:20-21)

The farmer’s life focus, was the “here and now.” For him, his life revolved around his work, building wealth, and making plans for his future. The farmer gave no thought to anything beyond his own interests, nor to the eternal, spiritual or anything of God. As a result, his Creator called him a “fool.” Why? Because all the things he focused on would mean nothing in the next life. He could take none of it with him. At death it would all be ripped away from his earthly hands and left behind to others.

Let us not be so quick to condemn the farmer. If we are honest, many of us are much the same. The temptation to become fixated on this life is real, because there is so much that grips our attention. The more and more stuff we buy, the day-to-day challenges, the busyness. We all have fallen prey to this common enemy. That is until a major crisis hits.

Cancer. Car accident. Heart attack. Natural disaster. When things like these suddenly appear, it is often a wakeup call. The farmer was focused on this life, storing up things for himself, when God announced he was going to die that very night. That was not in the farmer’s plans. He was not ready.

Do not wait until tragedy hits your life before you discover what is most important. Open your eyes now to the eternal, the spiritual, the things of God. Prepare for the next life before it is too late. Jesus died and rose again to show us our urgent need and greatest priority. That is, to prepare to meet God and live for Him. Store up heavenly treasure though sharing the good news of Christ, obeying God’s commands, being faithful toward Him, forgiving those who have hurt you and loving your neighbor.

A prayer for you. “Lord God, show us if we have put the stuff of this life ahead of you. We admit and repent from our ways. Change us, O God! Become the priority in our life and prepare us for the next, whenever that day should come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”