Lately, I’ve been dissatisfied with “Church As Usual.” I’ve watched over the years as people come to church to do the “church thing” and rush out to make sure they get a good table or don’t have to wait too long in line at their favorite restaurant. I’ve seen lifeless worship – even participating in it. I’ve seen the boredom on faces as the pastor delivers a message. I’ve listened to hundreds of dull, lifeless messages – even delivering some. I’ve also seen the unresponsiveness of the cold heart. I’ve seen unimaginable cruelty among Christians. I’ve seen power struggles, heard lies, observed betrayals, watched lives crushed by harsh words and unforgiveness, and lived through the horrors of “godly” Christian people. In the end, I’ve become disenchanted with “Church As Usual.”
Why do we go to church if all we think about is the game or food? What is the purpose of dusting off the Bible on the desk and exerting the required effort to carry It into a building? Why waste the time to get out of bed to rush off to minister or to listen to a sermon we barely care about? Why go to church at all? Why not just stay home, read a verse from the Bible, and then turn on the TV?
We, us, the Believers, the Church – we have lost sight of what matters most in the Church and the church building. IT is and should be the reason we get out of bed every morning. IT is and should be the reason we live and breathe and come together to minister to each other corporately. IT was lost in the Garden of Eden and regained at the Cross and continues to be trampled in the Church. IT is relationship.
When Adam sinned, the fellowship he once enjoyed with God was broken. Sin now stood between God and Adam. Adam would no longer enjoy the walks in the cool of the day with God as he once did – side by side. There was no longer a face-to-face relationship because God cannot stand sin, and sinful man cannot, on his own, survive in the holiness of God. God created Adam for a relationship. Adam ruined the relationship. But God (I love that thought) being rich in mercy and grace (Eph 2:4-10) saw fit to make a means possible to restore that relationship that once existed. It is, and always has been, the Cross of Christ.
But, so often, we come to church with the cares of the world distracting us from the true reason for church – relationship. This relationship is between God and man and man and man. So often, our relationship with God is hindered because of our sin. Too often we hamper the Spirit’s moving because of selfish idolatry. Too often we destroy the relationship with fellow believers because of petty disagreements. Too often the sanctity of church is shattered through power struggles and arguments. Too often we fail to understand what we have been created to do as a church – relate to God with our worship and relate to each other with our fellowship. We are too self absorbed for anyone else. We are too busy in ministry to comprehend all that has been lost. King David put it well when he wrote, “Cease and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
I’m tired of Church As Usual. I’m tired of missing out what it truly means to go to church. I’m tired of the emptiness of a Christianity that exacts nothing from the parishioner. God created me to have a relationship with Him. This relationship cost God His Son. This relationship demands of me much more than I have given. All too often we lean on cheap grace. All too often we shrug our shoulders and say, “Oh well, I sinned. God will forgive me.” What a slap in the face to God Who paid such a dear price to have a relationship with me! It is equally a slap in the face of God for us to let our petty, selfish tantrums keep brothers and sisters in the same church sitting on opposite sides of the church building because their poor little feelings got hurt. Did not God forgive us miserable sinners to re-establish a relationship? How can we as humans do any less? I’m tired of Christians saying, “God did this for me or that for me. Isn’t it wonderful how He has blessed me?” all the while they have hatred for another believer in the church. Is it not the ultimate in hypocrisy? Is it not the ultimate disgrace to our glorious Savior? Forgive the brother or sister the fault and live in the freedom of God’s grace. No one says you have to have them over for steaks after church. But you do have to forgive. “But if you will not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.” (Matthew 6:15) “Then Peter came and said to Him, ‘Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.’”
Forgiveness is vital in the church. It is vital because it is the only way fellowship is restored. I read a great quote from Dan Allender’s Bold Love. “Forgiving love is the inconceivable, unexplainable pursuit of the offender by the offended for the sake of restored relationship with God, self, and others.” In a nut shell, friends, stop being offended by your fellow believer’s behavior and prayerfully pursue a restoration of fellowship so that both of you can enjoy the worship of the very God who made it possible for you to have a common Relationship in the first place.
We were created to relate. So, stop being selfish and relate.mrc
