Is it Enough?

Hosea 13:6 - "When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot Me."

We have it too good. When there are other people in other countries who are hungry for God's Word who have to huddle in small, dark rooms...in secret...to hear about God, how can we complain about what we have, or what we wish we had, in our own churches? What's good and what's good enough?

What if we didn't have a church. No big sanctuary with comfortable pews? What if all we had was a basement, stark and unfinished, where we would not be seen or hopefully not heard? What if we had to walk to get there for fear of having a display of cars lining the streets causing some to wonder? What if we didn't have cars and we walked miles just to "have church?" And what is "church" anyway?

Christianity is being silenced in this country. We don't have a clue what it would be like to have church like those in Asia or Africa or any other country where creature comforts are non-existent.

We go to church in our Sunday best, driving one of our cars. We partake of coffee and doughnuts and mingle in heated or air conditioned settings. We nestle into our Sunday school classes having our coffee and having fellowship, children safely in the hands of babysitters in another room. We walk into the sanctuary and greet all our friends and talk about the week, maybe complain about it. The music starts. Some like it, some don't. Some just have to finish their conversation before they can focus on the Lord. The Sunday routine begins and ends just as it always does. Is this being satisfied? Do we walk out different than when we sauntered in? 

Oh, we have been blessed, as it were, as a nation. But have we taken what we've received and gone overboard with it? You can add my name to the list.... Are we being wise stewards of what God has given us? Can we do without? Will we have to some day? Do we have so much that our stuff gets in the way of God? Has our trust in Him diminished because we have replaced Him with what we think will get us by?

What if we didn't have church like this? All churches shut down. What if it we had to gather in a home setting where it was too dangerous to sing because we would be arrested, imprisoned, maybe tortured for our faith or killed? Or we had to do church on our own, secretly. Don't think something like that could happen in America? Only God knows.

What if church was comprised only of talking about scripture? That's worship, isn't it? Would we be satisfied just gathering and discussing a certain chapter of the Bible, or spending the entire time digging deep into the meaning of a couple of verses, backing up answers with other scriptures throughout the Bible? And praying and sharing.

Shouldn't this be enough? In the book, Radical by David Platt, scenarios like this are brought up. There are so-called churches, normally house-churches, all over Africa and Asia where the only thing they have is the Word of God. Platt makes the comment: But is His Word enough for us? It seems to be enough for those who have very little and the only thing of value is the Word of God.

Where have we gone? Where has our enthusiasm for only God's Word disappeared to? The founding father's had little and precious possessions when they arrived here. They worked hard to build a new life. They had no real distractions like we do. They had very little in the way of creature comforts yet they knew the importance of having trust in an Divine God for everything, every day. They trusted Him for their short-lived lives and their provisions.

We have more than enough. We have all the creature comforts and we're still not satisfied. We have to keep up with the Jones' with our homes, cars and the newest technical equipment. Our homes are warm and secure. There are grocery stores in abundance so we don't have to grow or can our own. We lack for nothing. Oh my, the microwave is broken...my car won't start...the computer's down...the bird feeders are empty.

We lack for nothing? What about what the Word of God says about lack: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). That is what will happen if we do not begin to crave God's Word. This is what will happen if the things of this world become bigger and more important while God becomes an occasional thought and His Word something we once knew. 

The Church is contributing to this lack of knowledge as it shapes and molds Jesus to be whatever we want Him to be in our lives. We say we are Christians, but...are we the first to grab the coffee and doughnut or complain when we don't like something in the church? How He must be grieved over even the best of people when we walk in on Sunday with a laundry list that's all about me. I hope the service isn't too long because I have plans; the coffee ran out too quickly or the doughnuts disappeared before I arrived, because I was late, because I was busy doing something at home. When we arise on Sunday morning...and every morning...is God the first thing on our minds? Do we look forward to gathering with others expecting to hear from God? Or are our minds preoccupied and it takes awhile to settle in, if we ever do? Just how important is God to us?

Platt's church decided to try to imagine what it would be like without all the frills of today's church. One night a week they stripped their church of any form entertainment and just gathered to study the Word of God and pray...for hours, not the usual 1+ hours. They inconvenienced themselves for up to six hours!

Is there any other church hungry enough to do this? What a step in a totally different direction...finding out who God truly is. Longing to know...longing to live it out...longing to have His Word deeply embedded in our hearts and minds... Platt says: Fundamentally, the gospel is the revelation of who God is, who we are, and how we can be reconciled to him. Yet in the American dream, where self reigns as king (or queen), we have a dangerous tendency to misunderstand, minimize, and even manipulate the gospel in order to accommodate our assumptions and our desires. He further says that we need to find out whether our understanding is biblical or American. We need to determine what the goal of the gospel truly is. Is it about God at all? Have we forgotten who He is, what He stands for? Have we become so satisfied and so proud? Have we got Him all figured out and are we so secure in our relationship we don't need to return to Him day after day to hear Him speak?

There were several prophets who spoke words to Israel about returning to the God they had forgotten, worshipping Him only, letting go of the things of the world. Is God enough for today's world? Will we change? Where are these people today? Could it be that one by one we will return? It starts within us as a person and has that ripple effect on to others. Can this be achieved? Only time will tell.

Hosea 2:13 - "I will punish her for the days she burned incense to the Baals; she decked herself with rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, but me she forgot," declares the LORD.