the basic message #E323
1/25/05
I guess everyone's heard the term, "Reformation of the Church", that goes back to the days of Martin Luther. Luther waged war on the Roman Catholic church way back in the 1500's, but I think a new reformation of the church is long overdue. While Luther's focus was the church government, the reformation of 2005 needs to be congregation focused. And what, you might ask, is my basis for this assertion?
Matthew 15:7-9
You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: "'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"
Think about the weight of the passage above. Here is the man we claim as Savior, quoting one of the great prophets of the Old Testament, Isaiah. Wouldn't you tend to think that, in itself, would serve notice that this passage is important? Consider also that Jesus was still alive on this earth when he spoke these words, so if the people who experienced his presence directly were getting out of step with Jesus, where does that leave us?
It leaves us with preachers and teachers that may not really know who Jesus is. Our religious leaders have become much like our politicians- they seek out what the people want and give it to them. You can rest assured that not every politician believes in the death penalty, but as long as Americans overwhelming support capital punishment, our politicians will boldly proclaim, "Fry 'em". Similarly, our religious leaders also keep a finger on the pulse of the congregation and preach sermons that mesh well with the lifestyles of the people. Pastors reading this will protest, saying, "I preach on the hard subjects- where is this guy coming from?" I'm coming from where the pastor isn't.....the congregation. I can say with almost total certainty that the average church attendee can hear a sermon about the sins of the world and walk away thinking, "Yep, I hope all the people guilty of these sins were paying attention this morning."
If we could be invisible for a moment and walk through parking lots at doctor's offices, what do you think we'd see? Cars? People in cars? Yes, but I think one sight that would be fairly common is people sitting in cars crying. Why? It's simple- doctors have the tough job of telling people that they're sick- sometimes sick enough that they may die soon. Most people don't want to break-down in the doctor's office, but once they reach the privacy of their car, their emotions are free to flow. How often do you see anyone in the church parking lot crying? Not very often, I'd guess. We hear 52 sermons (or more) each year, yet most of us think the preacher is talking to the guy sitting in the pew in front of us, or in back of us, or across the aisle. Is it ever us the preacher is describing in his sermon? Sadly, most pastors think their job is simply limited to boldly proclaiming God's word, while leaving it up to the congregation to understand that he's talking specifically about some of us. Consider once again the doctor. Let's say he walks out into a crowded waiting room and loudly proclaims, "Someone in this room has cancer and will probably die within 6 months." After dropping this bomb, he turns around and goes back to his office. Isn't that what most preachers do every week? They step into the pulpit and thunder, "People that commit sins like thus and so are bound for a fiery Hell. I hope you have a nice week, and please drive carefully on the way home. Donuts and coffee will be served in the gathering area after the service." The big difference between the doctor's office example and the church service is this: If we were sitting in the doctor's office and he said someone there had cancer, we'd want to find out if it was us. If the preacher says someone is a sinner bound for Hell, we wonder if the donuts are glazed or chocolate covered.
Some of you may be thinking, "If this guy thinks he's so smart, what does he think the answer is?" I may not be very smart, but I do indeed know what the answer is. Unfortunately, the vast majority of you will reject the answer, since you are probably part of a church that teaches, "All you have to do is believe." While belief is important, acting on those beliefs are critical. Believing the doctor can cure you isn't of much value if you don't follow his instructions, and belief in Jesus Christ as Savior isn't going to get any of us very far if we don't heed his words. It's incredible that people can read that last statement and walk away saying, "Old John, he still thinks he has to work his way to Heaven." Go back and read the passage at the beginning of this message and see if Jesus is talking about you. So what is the answer?
There must be a partnership between the pastor and the "flock". Our Salvation is primarily our responsibility, not the pastor's, so we should take the initiative. How? By first scheduling an appointment with the pastor to discuss our lives- what we believe, what we do. Don't be surprised if the pastor is surprised when you ask for the meeting. Most preachers don't have visitors unless something major is going on like weddings and funerals. Your pastor/preacher/priest will likely be very confused by your visit, so be prepared. You'll have to take the initiative to get the conversation moving, so be patient. You'll need to "open your kimono" and reveal your life to him. Like what? Do you support the right to have an abortion? You need to tell him. Do you drink to excess? Tell him. Do drugs? Beat your wife? Steal from your employer? Tell him. You must treat him with the same respect you treat your doctor. You can't expect the doctor to make you well if you don't tell him what hurts, and the pastor can't make you spiritually well if you don't tell him what hurts, so be reasonable. At the risk of being redundant, let me stress once more that your pastor will probably be puzzled, at the very least, by the reason for your visit. Our religious leaders have become programmed over the years to get in the pulpit and deliver a sermon without really connecting to the congregation directly. There is a gnawing reality within a tiny minority of pastors that asks, "How many in my congregation are really saved?" Notice I said "tiny minority". The average pastor doesn't want to even consider that the bulk of his church is going to Hell, and who can blame him? If you're an engineer working for Ford, do you want to consider how many people may die as a result of mistakes you make in the design of a car? If you're a surgeon, do you want to consider how many people have died because you were thinking more about the construction of your new vacation home than on the patient you're cutting on? Human nature, being what it is, causes us to "look the other way" rather than dig down within ourselves to ask the hard questions. The big difference between the surgeon and engineer versus the pastor is that their mistakes don't send people to Hell, they just speed up the arrival date.
Will anyone take these words today and act upon them? Probably not. George W. Bush is well known for his aversion to any "self analysis", and I'm afraid the average American Christian is much the same. After all, isn't it much easier to blame someone else for our problems in life? Make no mistake, friend, each of us will give an account of our lives before God one day soon, and God will have little patience for excuses. In fact, consider for just a moment that our meeting with God will be the only totally truthful meeting we ever have with anyone. As we stand before God, we will be unable to lie or dodge his questions. Maybe it's time to start rehearsing for that meeting- after all, there's nothing we can do to avoid it.