“The Problem with Churches”
October 20, 2009
“I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."
"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:9-20
The seven last sermons I preached have been in the book of Revelation. Are you tired of it yet? This book is also known as the “Revelation on Jesus Christ to John the Beloved”. Jesus wanted to reveal some things to His people. So He used His old servant that He loved so much, John, to speak to us.
We have been studying the seven Churches. Jesus found something good in each of them and each of them had some unique problems. This morning I want to go back and take another look at the church. In particular, I want to take a look at the problems in the church.
The “Problem with Churches” – that’s an easy one isn’t it? The problem with churches is people. People are so flawed and frail and obstinate and ornery and lazy and selfish and – I could go on and on. But the church IS the people. The church isn’t a building. It isn’t something made of wood and stone. The church is people. The dictionary defines it like this:
1. The whole body of Christian believers;
2. A body of Christians worshipping in a particular building or constituting one congregation.
The Bible defines it like this:
“,,, his body, which is the church.” Colossians 1:24
“Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.”
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
I think it is important to realize that the Church is the ‘body’ of Christ. It isn’t a building – as illustrated by this Scripture:
“The churches in the province of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Priscilla greet you warmly in the Lord, and so does the church that meets at their house.” 1 Corinthians 16:19
Did you notice that “the church’ met in a house? The house or the building wasn’t the church. The Church is people. The church is the ‘body’ of Christ. And if the Church is Jesus’ body – that means we are His hands and feet and heart. We do the things a body ought to do. We do the will of the head. Who is the head? The Bible says,
“And he (Jesus) is the head of the body, the church …”
Colossians 1:18
So there is one true church. It is the body of Christ. It is important that you understand that the church is the body of Christ. When I was a young man in the sixties, there was a great movement among the youth to leave the organized church. It was the Jesus movement. They were sometimes called Jesus Freaks. And, at that time in our history, the youth were unhappy with the ‘establishment’. That meant the government and any large organization. It bled over into the church and organized religion. Literally millions of people who profess to be born-again Christians were more or less alienated from the organized church. But the Bible says the church is the body of Christ. When people differentiate between the church and Christ; when they say, “We are going to write off the church but we sure do love and believe in Jesus,” something is seriously wrong. The Church is the body of Christ. You want the head – but not the body? There is something wrong with that.
But the problem is that the church is “people”! And people are such problems. Some are stinky and smelly. Some have stinky and smelly attitudes. Some lie, cheat and steal. Some commit adultery and fornication. Some will betray you and let you down. Some will stab you in the back. And we want to let these people into the church? We want to bring these people into Jesus’ holy body? Yes! Jesus did. He loved them. From Judas to John.
Within the community of the gather church, people need to be saved, healed and brought to wholeness in every area of their lives. But before there can be a coming to wholeness, certain guarantees must be made to people. Otherwise they will not risk themselves to be open with us enough to receive healing.
The minimal guarantee we must make to people is that they will be loved – always, under every circumstance, with no exceptions. The second guarantee is that they will be totally accepted, without reservation. The third thing we must guarantee people is that no matter how miserable they fail or how blatantly they sin, unreserved forgiveness is theirs for the asking – with no bitter after taste left in anyone’s mouth. Love, acceptance, forgiveness – these three things are absolutely essential to any ministry that will consistently bring people to maturity and wholeness.
A woman came to a pastor one day and said she’d have to stop having Bible studies in her home. “That’s too bad, the Pastor said. “Why”
“They are ruining my carpet and stinking up our new drapes.” She said.
The pastor kindly responded, “Do you want clean drapes and a spotless rug, or do you want to expose hurting people to the love of Jesus?”
Love means accepting people the way they are for Jesus’ sake. Jesus hung around with sinners – and if we are too holy to do that – we are holier than Jesus. Jesus didn’t isolate himself. Jesus mixed with sinners so much that the self-righteous got very upset about it. “He’s friendly with some very questionable people!” they said. Jesus replied to them, “I didn’t come to minister to you religious people. I came to minster to sinners. I came to call them to repentance. Isn’t that cool? Jesus spent His time with dirty, stinking, filthy sinners. And when those kind of people find someone who will love them and accept them and forgive them, you won’t be able to keep them away.
How can the church, the body of Christ, do that if we don’t get out among the sinners? How can we do that if we don’t love? The Bible says,
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” 1 John 3:14
We, as Christ’s body, do not have an option to love. If we are in Christ – we will love. We will choose to love. Because we have been accepted in the Beloved, we must be accepting of the beloved. I can’t give up on you till God does, and He won’t! We’re safe with God and we’ve got to be safe with each other. You and I need to know that we can blow it and still be loved.
Love and acceptance is not license. Just because we love the sinner – it doesn’t mean we condone the sin. Jesus saved the woman that was caught in adultery from being killed. He loved her. He saved her. He forgave her. But His parting words to her was, “Go and sin no more.”
Part of what we do is to bring people to repentance. We are to teach people to stop sinning. We are to teach people to become obedient to everything Jesus taught. We are to teach people how to live holy lives. But all we do must be done in love. And if there is no difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’ – why should they want what we have? We need to lift people up – not sink to their level. Jesus did. We can, too. It’s called love. We can love them where they are at – as they are - and help them find something better.
A major part of a pastor’s life can be spent rushing from crisis to crisis so that he never has the opportunity to sin down and think. It’s easy to be trapped by the pressure of the moment. Pastors find themselves thrown into situations and they have to deal with what is there – right then. A water heater goes out; a stove has to be replaced, wood has to be split and gathered in; a fence blows over and has to be replaced; a roof is leaking and needs to be fixed before the next storm; a sermon has to be prepared for Sunday; and on and on it goes. That isn’t even talking about duties to the family and needs around home. Is a pastor to spend his entire life on call as a spiritual ambulance, or is there something more fundamental he should be doing?
I have come to realize that the people themselves are the minister. “Every member is a minister”. When a crisis arises, it doesn’t necessarily have to come to the pastor. When someone passes away the situation doesn’t call for a theological treatise. It calls for people who understand the nature of grief and bereavement to move in and meet the personal needs of the sorrowing.
Crisis cannot be avoided. They can’t be scheduled. When a marriage breaks up, someone’s heart is breaking. When the whole situation is about to go up in smoke, we can’t say, “Well, let’s see now, the pastor can see you a week from next Tuesday at 4:00pm. What we can do is involve people in ministry to the point that needs are met and the pastor is free of a constant demand to be involved in every crisis.
The pastor is usually one of the best educated people in the church – and one of the most spiritually mature. For that reason many people think he should teach Sunday school and lead Sunday night bible Study and any midweek study the church may have – besides preparing a fantastic sermon for Sunday.
You have it all wrong if you think that. The best educated person in the world is nothing without the power of the Holy Spirit – and the least educated person in the world is fantastic when he is in the Spirit. The religious people of Jesus’ day were amazed at the teaching of the early Christians. They took note that they had been with Jesus. Paul was the ‘chief’ of sinners. Peter and most of the apostles were uneducated. But when filled with the Holy Spirit – they made a
tremendous difference in the world.
Our need today is Spirit filled Christians. Last week Bob talked about that crisis experience as being a second work of grace. It has to be intentional. When you get saved you come to Jesus asking forgiveness and confessing your sin – but you are still filled with self and self will. When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you have been forgiven – and you surrender you will and consecrate all there is of you to Jesus. Every great Christian I ever studied, regardless of denomination or what they called it, testified to those two works of God in their lives. When we have Spirit filled people who are willing to serve Christ – He will work through them to minister and to teach. I am learning to let go and let God. I am learning to trust God more and to trust people more. It isn’t easy for me – but I’m working on it. I need you to use your gifts and talents in the marketplace. I need the Holy Spirit to work through you to accomplish His will.
The bible says,
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives.” 2 Peter 3:10-11
Since we know these things – we ought to live holy and godly lives. And we ought to be teaching others the same thing. I love leading people to the Lord. I thank God I was able to lead someone to Jesus this last week. I love baptizing people. It was such a blessing to baptize those 5 last week – and we have more to be baptized next month. But what we need are people with holy hearts empowered by the Holy Spirit – ministering to people all through out the week. Will you sign up? Find a need and fill it. Find someone that Jesus can love through you. Find someone that the Holy Spirit can instruct through you. That’s what the church is all about.
If you are needing a home – we can be your home. If you are needing forgiveness. We can forgive. If you are needing a friend – we can be your friend. If you have never made that commitment to accept Jesus Christ as your Savior – now is a good time. His Word says if we confess our sins – He will forgive them.
If you have never received that second work of grace – you need to today – so you can received the power that is available through the Holy Spirit. Jesus not only promises to forgive if we confess – but to cleanse us if we confess our need to Him. Let’s surrender our hearts and lives to Him.
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for your great love for me. Thank you for the love that cause you to go to the cross and die for me. I confess my sin and rebellion. Please forgive me. I confess my need for a clean heart and mind and attitude. Cleanse me, Dear Jesus. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit right now. Thank you.
In Jesus Name
“I Will Serve Thee”
