Back in the first part of the last century, Cumberland College of Kentucky was playing football with a rival, and they were totally out of their league. They were losing miserably because the opposing team was bigger, stronger, and more intimidating than they were. One of their players fumbled the ball, and yelled out to one of his teammates to get it, but the reply was, “You get it, you dropped it!” The young man who said that was afraid of being hurt, so he didn’t want to get involved.
God is looking for Christians and churches who are willing to pick up the ball others have dropped. And, He wants them to start running with it. Nobody ever won a football game by worrying about being tackled by the opposition, and nobody ever won anyone to Jesus by worrying about what problems they might encounter. God wants to see if we are willing to pick up the ball and do something with it.
Jesus gave us a command most people refuse to follow in MATTHEW 28:19, 20 –
‘Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’
Jesus said go and do. To “go” necessitates our moving. “Moving,” means to change places. And to change places, means we do something different. That is pretty basic, but we find church after church that is afraid to pick up the ball. Being afraid to look forward, they will spend their time looking back. They are afraid to take a risk, even for the Lord.
The past is a safe memory. It requires no work and demands no risks. But the past will also hinder the future. God put our feet and our eyes pointing in the same direction; in front of us, not in back of us. That tells us that we are to move forward, not fall backwards.
There are several major areas I feel that are hindering the church today.
1. UNHEALTHY TRADITIONS
Most of America’s churches are failing. The numbers of their congregations are going down quite rapidly. And when new people come in, what do they do? They see a church that is steeped in tradition and most people today don’t want anything in their lives to revolve around tradition.
Do you remember the Oldsmobile commercial from just a few years ago? It said, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” People today want relevance, not history. Most of these visitors will leave after the service and never come back. And, if that isn’t bad enough, today’s churches are now seeing their own people starting to drift away.
In these churches, tradition usually means more to the church people than vision. It would seem to me that in many churches, memories seem to mean more than someone else’s salvation. They get busy doing things for the church, but do not have time to worship in church. They spend more time being comfortable where they are than they do praying that someone else will come to Christ.
It is vital that we understand that no football game has ever been won by an armchair quarterback, and nobody has won anyone to Christ by demanding things stay the same.
Jesus warned about it, taught about it, and modeled it, but so many people still don’t get it. Throughout the Bible we see Jesus breaking the traditions for a more important cause. One of the obvious traditions He broke was the healing of people on the Sabbath Day. Jesus shows over and over again that people’s souls are always more important than their traditions.
To some degree or other, we are all creatures of comfort. When we find a place we like, we like to stay there. I am going to show you how that might be okay for some, but not okay for others. Churches need two types of people. The first type of person is the one who deals with the here and now, or the present. And these people must make sure that the way we do church today does encourage others to enjoy the house of the Lord.
The second type of person is the one who deals with the future; what could be, what should be. However, most churches are filled with the first type of people; the type who finds a comfort zone and wants everyone to stay there with them. We cannot do that, however, if we are going to serve the Lord. The first church in ACTS grew by thousands. Yet we find people today who say any church growth destroys the church! They say if the church grows too much, people won’t feel connected to everyone else. Let me say it isn’t as necessary to connect with others as it is to connect with the Lord, and we cannot connect with the Lord unless we are doing what He has told us to do!
I believe every pastor is called to be a visionary who is grounded in today. In other words, he must be fully in the present so he can tend to the people’s needs today, and he must be fully in the future, so he can make sure the church will be able to tend to their needs tomorrow. I will confess that most pastors I know find this to be the toughest part of their jobs.
Their hearts are burdened for the people today, but they must also focus on the vision God has given them for the future of their church. Many congregations limit their pastors from fulfilling the vision God has given them because they personally do not understand it, or in some cases, they just want to remain as they are. These people are actually refusing to follow the command of Jesus. What excuse are they going to give Him on the day of accountability?
Most churches let seven words keep them from doing what Jesus wants them to do. Those seven words are: “We have never done it that way!” What hurts my heart is that I have seen church after church operate under that philosophy while the people under their care drift away. The leaders of these churches scratch their heads in bewilderment, with no clue as to why people leave. But as they scratch their heads, they sit back in their comfort zones, happy that they have made the church exactly like they want it to be.
There was a monastery in Europe that was perched on a high cliff. The only way to go there was to sit in a basket and let the monks on the cliff pull you up with a rope. The ride up that steep cliff was terrifying. One tourist noticed the rope was old and frayed. With a trembling voice he asked the monk who was riding with him in the basket how often they changed the rope. The monk thought for a moment and answered, "There’s no need to change it until it breaks." That is the slogan for many churches in America today.
I had an uncle that used to say, "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it." Unfortunately, most of America’s churches are broken today, but we don’t fix it because to do so would require that we pick up the ball and run with it! And we don’t feel comfortable doing that because that requires us to move from where we are.
I actually had an elder one time say, "If it was good enough for my grandfather, it should be good enough for my kids." I asked the elder what the make of his first car was. He said it was a 1947 Ford. I asked him if he still had it and he said "no." I told him that as the need for autos change, so does the way people want to hear about Jesus. The message of the Lord stays the same, generation after generation, but the way it is delivered must constantly change so as to reach the population around us that is constantly changing.
I want this church to grow for the Lord. I pray that this church does not have to get broken before it gets fixed. I pray that we are led to that growth, as it honors the Lord, not as it honors us.
There are many churches that feel the only way to grow their numbers is to water down the Word of God so that it is ‘easier to listen to.’ What we find, however, is that the churches that are growing in numbers and becoming a big impact on their communities are those churches that stand firm on the absolute truth of God, as stated in the Bible.
Everything in existence changes, except for the Word of God. Butterflies change, humans grow up, trees grow taller – and churches must be willing to change the formats of how they reach people for Jesus.
2. OUR WORSHIP HURTS US
PSALM 42:1 says,
“As the deer pants for water so my soul pants for you O God.”
Does that verse describe the way you worship? In other words, when you worship, do you reach out to seek God’s face in you life? Do you yearn to be closer to God, or do you yearn for the end of the service to hurry up so you can get to the restaurant before the other churches get there?
The American church needs to change, and the place to start would be in attitude.
In 2 PETER 3:9, we find that God is a God of incredible love for all people, not wanting any to perish by all to come to repentance. Unfortunately, that does not accurately describe worship in most churches today. Most churches don’t want any emotions at all shown in worship.
Now, it is true that God wants an orderly service, and anything or anybody that would take the focus off Jesus should not be permitted, but I encourage you to open your heart and let the wonderful emotion of Jesus flood your soul. Be free in the lifting of holy hands as you worship; the saying of “AMEN’ as you agree with God’s word, and the coming up front for prayer as the Holy Spirit tells you to.
Our worship must include everything that has the possibility of touching others for Christ. We need hymns for those who see the wonderful messages in the lyrics. We need choruses for those who feel the renewing of their spirit when they hear them. And, we need some contemporary songs for those who see the praises to God in the music.
We need a variety of music, just as we need a variety of messages. We need to be able to help others see God from all sides and to seek Him in all ways.
3. HAVING NO FORWARD VISION HURTS
There’s a great story in LUKE 24. It concerns the two men on the road to Emmaus. It takes place after the death of Jesus. And Jesus appears alongside these two guys but keeps himself hidden in the sense that they don’t recognize who he is. And they’re down and discouraged and Jesus says to them, “What’s wrong?” And they say, “Well, it’s about Jesus. He died and we hoped that He would be the one to restore Israel to power.”
Now I want you to think about that. Jesus came to spiritually redeem mankind and to restore our relationship with God. What an awesome mission that was. And yet the hope these men on the road to Emmaus had was limited only to what they could see. “We had hoped he would be the one to bring us to political power.” They weren’t lacking faith, they were lacking vision. And so many Christians and churches do the same thing. We avoid looking ahead so we can avoid having questions or being unsure. But by avoiding it, we let our vision slip away.
PROVERBS 29:18 says,
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
The vision you and I should have is found in the Bible. I read one of the most important commands that Christians were given; the Great Commission. Most of us would never be willing to go forth anywhere, much less to other nations.
God knew that, so in His wonderful wisdom, He provided ways for us to stay here and still fulfill that commission. He gave us the mission field. This church is an active supporter for the missions, and one of those missions we can contribute to is the Gideons. As Brother Rome conveyed to you a little earlier, the millions of Bibles they give to others throughout the world are not free. And so the Gideon’s International needs help in order to fulfill the Great Commission.
And by our supporting them, we are helping to fulfill the Great Commission, too. Isn’t God a wonderful God? At the end of this service, I would like to take up a special offering, for the Gideons from CrossRoads Church.
There is something else that hurts some churches.
4. NOT HAVING THE YOUTH AS A PRIORITY
Statistics have held fast for generations that about 80% of all decisions to accept Jesus come before the age of 18. The church must have a very high priority of the youth to survive and to see impact in the community.
Isn’t it wonderful how children always see things through brighter eyes than we do? We can all see children and marvel at how they view life. Yet, too many times, when it comes to church, we demand that they do things just the way we do things. Well, folks that just will not work today, no matter what. When we try to make the kids invisible so they won’t bother us, they leave.
Dying churches are very quiet places. Crying babies aren’t heard. Yelling kids aren’t heard, and in thoe churches, a future cannot be seen.
IN CONCLUSION
We need to make a decision and then make a commitment on that decision. The decision is very simple. Do we want this church to grow enough to do whatever it takes to reach new people for Christ, or do we want to reach people, but only if they find their way into our church?
God is looking for a church that is willing to pickup the ball and run with it for His glory. God is looking for churches that are willing to step out in faith and run away from hiding in tradition; churches that exalt His name in wondrous worship, not from worship that is so conservative there is no room for emotions in it.
God is looking for churches that have the vision to carry His Word to the world. He wants us to go boldly where others fear to go. And He wants churches that have His youth as a very high priority. We need to let our youth discover God in the ways they can relate to Him in, not force them to relate to God the way someone of my age would.
In JOSHUA 24:15 Joshua calls on the people to make a decision to serve God or not to serve God. We are called to make that decision today, too. Jesus said He would rather us be hot or cold, but would spit the lukewarm out of His mouth. To do God’s work, we must be willing to keep those traditions that exalt the Lord, and discard those traditions that keep us comfortable.
Dying churches don’t make bold decisions; they make safe decisions. But dying churches don’t do anything for God, either. Dying churches are lukewarm because they have made a decision to serve themselves rather than serve our God.
This church is moving forward. We have nearly tripled the number in our church in less than four months. But growth for growth’s sake is not good enough. What are we going to do with that growth? We are going to do the only thing we can do; we are going to do our best to lead them to Jesus.
May I please have the Praise Team come forward to sing the invitation and closing songs?
Can you become a part of this church’s future? You can if you turn your back on the fear that keeps us all tangled to the past. You can if you have the faith to be bold as Paul told Timothy. You can if you want to see it grow. But you must be willing to do new things and to even do old things new ways.
Let’s not waste any more time. Let’s stand right now. I feel the Holy Spirit in this place and I know He is going to touch hearts and lives in here as never before! I ordain each one of you to be ambassadors for God. I want you to touch your neighbors, your friends, you family. I even want you to boldly touch strangers for the glory of the Lord.
How many people do you know who are not living for Jesus on a daily basis? Why is it you aren’t doing everything you can to help them? Are you afraid of making them mad at you? Let me ask you this: If you saw someone standing out in the middle of the highway and you knew they were going to die, would you be afraid of making them mad at you by going and bringing them back to safety? Of course not! So why are we afraid of making others mad when we see them getting ready to die and go to hell?
Again! I ordain you in the name of the Lord Jesus to go as He has already commanded you. Go and help others back into the way of the Lord. There is no Godly reason to not talk to people about God. But you have to be wise when you do.
In ACTS 6:4, it says that the apostles gave of themselves “to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” That means that they talked to God about men before they talked to men about God.
You do likewise. Start praying continually that God will use you to touch other people for His Son. Ask God to put those people in front of you that you are supposed to talk to. If you do this, you will be doing what Jesus commanded you to do in MATTHEW 28:19-20. And you will see the fruits of your labor.
In verse 7, it says,
“So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.”
Will the Praise Team please come forward?
Let me ask you this: Can you become a part of God’s future? Yes you can, but only if you are obedient to Christ today. Christ commanded you to carry forth to others. Today I have ordained you to do so. God wants you His children to yell, "Give me the ball!" He wants you to not be afraid anymore. He wants you to have courage enough to run with the ball.
And if you do this, God will do two things. He will store up more treasures in Heaven for you, and He will grow this church so we can touch even more people for the glory of Jesus.
INVITATION
