John 3:19 - And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
I read a short article sent via email the other day. There are a few pastors and teachers of the Word who stand strongly behind their beliefs and present Jesus in the way He should be presented.
The email was from Chuck Swindoll of Insight for Living. He and a some others do not preach what so many in this world want to hear. Jesus' message to all is not always an easy one. But as I'm so fully aware, people don't want to hear these hard words. Listen to one of the concerns that Chuck Swindoll shared in this email letter of October 14: Biblical preaching has been cast aside in favor of motivational speeches. Hard truth has been forsaken for feel-good stories.
I've heard people say they don't go to church anymore because it's boring or too preachy. I'm thinking it's not that it's boring but that it's a hard word. I'm sorry to say I think that's what a lot of people today feel. I wondered why this would be. The answer came clear as day in my head that many don't like being convicted of their sins... The truth of God's Word IS convicting. Hebrews 4:12 tells us ...the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. There's no way of explaining how it can do this but it does.
I'm not saying all these people go out of their way to live out of God's will, but Jesus is not the center of their lives. These people will have a hard time getting to knowing Him because the conviction (which I'm sure many would say is not happening to them) is more than they want to experience. They believe in God but they do not truly understand Him or know Him. If they did some of the things they think or do, or the way they talk, would not be.
I felt like that once. Anything to do with church or Jesus, or how I should know Jesus was just plain annoying. People can handle talking about God because that name is so all-encompassing and maybe not so intimidating, but get to the very personal name of Jesus and watch out. People will flee.
I laughed and scorned at the guy who drove his old beater station wagon on the downtown Milwaukee streets with a recording to repent. This car was entirely painted with scriptures. Oh, how we all used to wish he would just go away and stop annoying us. Or the men or women who passed out tracts during busy lunch hour...I'd take it and throw it immediately in the nearest trash container, hoping they would see me. Imagine if that person was Jesus...imagine how He was scorned and laughed at. And that's exactly what we do when we do this or turn away from the truth of God's Word...we are scorning and laughing at the Man who only wants all to be saved.
There are many like-minded, concerned men and women wanting the end to the soft teachings displayed in most of today's churches. This is what I want too. This is what I know most of my Christians friends want. This is what we want our churches to hone in on. I want to hear the hard word.
I don't want to just hear how Jesus loves us but how He will judge...and, oh, how He will judge. He will judge me for those times I've kept my mouth shut to not stir up controversy. He will judge me for putting busyness before Him some days. He will judge me for words or thoughts that should not be. It's not a pretty picture. And I need to hear this too. I need to hear more of the messages against sitting on the fence determining not to jump off on the right side of it, into the pasture where the sheep have a Shepherd. Some will jump off the other side where the wolf is lying in wait to devour the poor sheep, the side without a Great Shepherd for protection.
Imagine if the Church (in general) would get back to the truth of Jesus Christ and not some watered-down version to get people into the churches so the churches can survive. It might be that these churches would be small...but then again, there may be more people than we can imagine who long for those messages. I'll tell you, I would much rather have a small church so on fire for the Lord than one huge one where a person can get lost and be content to listen to "Jesus loves me." On the other hand, praise God if the church is large and it's because all are like-minded, desiring the meat of God's Word, not the milk. If these people were drawn in because of the tough message, I'm all for that!
There comes a time in every Christian's life when we must do away with the milk, the easy to swallow Word. We must in time desire the meat of His Word, something to chew on, to take in and let it nourish us, sustain us, build us. We cannot stay babies forever. We must begin to grow. I've known people who are just satisfied where they are in knowing that Jesus loves them. There are probably more people than I wish to know about who are satisfied where they are just knowing that Jesus loves them. Some, I believe, don't think they are able to understand any more than this.
Reaching into God's Word and drawing out His messages is something we must do. We must read and learn...we must listen to what He has to say. It's not as difficult as it seems.
Yes, the Church today needs to get on its knees and repent for succumbing to a word that draws a crowd for the sake of numbers in their church, or for fame and fortune. When I was searching for a church in the Phoenix area to attend, I attended two relatively well-known churches and was very disappointed...one was too large, the other too "made up" for television. I ended up in a small Baptist church in the community where we stay. It preaches a good word. I feel very at home there and rarely walk away instantly forgetting what was said.
We are told in biblical prophecy that a time will come where we will experience a spiritual dryness. If we aren't there already, we are walking into it at a quick pace. With God being forced out of and shrinking in this country, we are liable to experience this dryness. The prophet Ezekiel references a valley of dry bones. Without God, without His Word being preached, we might fall into this valley ourselves. We must keep the truth of God's Word alive and active in our own lives as well as the Church. It starts with each one of us. It starts with our letting our churches know what we desire to hear. We must let them know we are craving meat, hard words, the truth of God's word, not what so many want to hear.
1Corinthians 3:2 - I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able...
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