Week after week, pulpits are filled with noble people who have been deceived. Each week a preacher is put in a position between humble, obedient service and pride. Ego is a demanding ogre!
I am not here accusing any preacher of wanton exhibitionism or purposeful attention seeking. What I am saying is that we have gotten the weekly meeting of the church ting totally wrong for so long that it is no longer relevant to our society.
Before we go too far here let’s look at what the Apostle Paul said about his approach to ministry at the Corinthian church.
"And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.
For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling," I Corinthians 2:1-3
It would see that our teachers are no longer satisfied with the simple clean message and must dazzle us with words from the Greek or a treatise of some theological issue. All the time the congregation sits in a well practiced trance; hearing little, thinking much. The problem is that their thoughts are not toward the wonderful grace of our God but run the gambit of every mundane thing that is going on in their miserable lives.
Judge for yourself. Is the church more healthy today than in the past? Are we heading in a better or worse direction?
I know very well that this is a harsh and radical statement. It would seem that few care to listen to one who issues such condemning accusations. But the cost of eternal lives is in the balance. Last week I heard a new, to me anyway, term that is funny but shocking.
The conversation was centered around evangelism and the discussion mentioned three spiritual states of man: believer, unbeliever and make-believer. This “make-believer” thing is a huge change in thought for me. How many people sit in our churches as “make-believers” because we have gotten the Sunday morning thing wrong?
Jesus told His followers a story one day about some sheep and some goats. The startling thing to me is that the goats, who would not inherit eternal life were shocked at the news. They thought that they were sheep and no one told them differently until it was too late.
I don’t know your personal contribution or participation in today’s sham each of us must examine our own view of the message that we deliver with our own witness. Is the message convoluted and defensive or is it simple and clean?
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