Posted on 06/15/2005 7:06:41 PM PDT by Rightly Biased
Perhaps not.
Oh to be called Faithful as the Bride of Christ.
(its hard to type holding a two year old in one hand)
Maybe more praying in our prayer closet during the week would help Sunday go a lot better?
Ugh - that is just painful. I fear very much that too many churches are doing just that. Most of the time it is done in all innocence.
The root problem is spiritual, but I often wonder if decades of public schooling also play a part as well, making church members less able to comprehend the Bible, and less willing to sit still for meat rather than milk.
I am no master here - I have trouble "finding time" to read the Bible.
In each of the Seven Churches of the Book of Revelation there is a core, a remnant of solid believers whose hearts are committed to serving the a Lord whether or not the rest of the church is going along with God's program and heeding the admonitions of the Lord Jesus. It is easy to be critical of "the church" these days. The important matter is for those of us who "have ears to hear" is for us as individuals to pay attention to the special words of Jesus addressed to the overcomers in each of the churches. In the case of Laodicea--the church at the end of age--Jesus says,
Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich, and white garments to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and chasten; so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'" (Revelation 3:18-22)
Ray Stedman comments on Laodicea as follows:
"What a sad condition! There is a big difference between "you say," and "you are." Our Lord points this difference out. This is the "Faithful and True witness" speaking, the one who tells the whole truth, even though it hurts. This church at Laodicea was, to use a popular expression, "fat, dumb and happy." It was smug. It was self-sufficient. It was complacent. They had plenty of money. Perhaps they had beautiful buildings, gifted preachers, a great choir, a great organ, and the respect of the community. They thought they were doing well. But when Jesus looks at it, he says, "You are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked." Why such a difference in these two views? It is because they were being measured by two different standards.
I might say to you, "What is the temperature today?" and you would look at a thermometer and say, "It is 32 above zero." But I might check another thermometer and say, "No, you are wrong. It is zero." The truth is, we would both be right because one thermometer was Fahrenheit and the other was Centigrade. Zero in Centigrade is 32 above on Fahrenheit. If you use two different standards of measurement, you will never be able to agree on what the true temperature is. That is what was happening here. They were being measured by two different standards. Laodicea was using the standards of the world. It was pleasant, comfortable, approved by the community around, and they thought they were doing well. But Jesus is using the standard of what he intended his church to be like. It is definitely not to be a Country Club, run for the benefit of the members. It is not a Performing Arts Center either, where one is entertained with wonderful music. It is not to be a Political Action Group, taking sides on the issues of the day, nor is it to be a protest movement. Elements of all these may, at times, be legitimately expressed in the church, but none is to be its raison d'etre, the purpose for which it exists.
Jesus tells us plainly what his church is to be like. It is to be salt -- and not just plain salt, but salty salt! He said, "Salt that loses its saltiness is good for nothing," (Matthew 5:13, Mark 9:50, Luke 14:34). It will only be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. But a church that is salt should be salty. He means that, like salt in food, it should be spread throughout the whole area, flavoring whatever it touches. The church is to function not only when it meets on Sunday, but out where you people are during the week -- in business offices, in the marketplace, in shops, in your home, wherever you are. That is where the church does its work. That is where it is to tell the good news and to be salt, flavoring life with a different flavor, a different attitude toward circumstances, which does not go along with the willful, wicked, and wanton ways of the world but which chooses to walk in truth, righteousness, love and honesty. That is how the church becomes salt, filled with good works.
And it is also to be light. "You are like a city set on a hill," said Jesus. "You are the light of the world," (Matthew 5:14 NIV). Light is a symbol of truth. The church is to be a source of truth and of vision. It is the church that is charged with the task of making people understand the program of God throughout history, and of interpreting the events of the day so that men see what God is doing, not what man intends to do. That is the work of the church: To declare the truth about humanity's lost condition and the good news that a Savior has been born who will save us from our sin. Judged by that standard, Laodicea had nothing. They were as though stripped naked, poor, pitiful, wretched, and blind.
Disease in the Body of Christ. Hardly. Some leaders mistake the mega-church social club building they "attend" for Christ's people which compose the real Christ's Church wherever in the world they are. I stand amazed at the huge number of *stars* and *authors* making scads of money in what appears to me to be little more than a religious organization - sanctioned merchandising of the Gospel for personal and organizational financial gain in a style reminiscent of the money-changers in the temple which Christ evicted in a most forceful way.
Just out of curiosity, who are the "stars and authors" that are making scads of money? And how much money is a "scad"?
***Often it seems that the majority of people who profess to be Christians do not act as Christians.”***
Maybe many in the modern church are not truly converted.
You may likely, and sadly, be correct.
When an on-fire minister of the Gospel gives a message with a bunch of TRUTH in it, see how many in the congregation start sneering or squirming. See also how fast that minister is suddenly voted out by the deacon board.
I think that may be the problem and it may be a lot bigger than we think.
There is more truth to that statement than you would ever know.
~~~Salt and Light.~~~
Since we as Christians are the Church then we get together on Sunday's and Wednesday's then is there strength in numbers? Are we more salty and a brighter light?
Please don't turn this into a large church bashing thread.
Thanks.
RB
ROTFLM*O!! Rick Warren's, T.D. Jakes', or Joel Osteen's churches sure aren't dying, fool =-).
By tuning into TBN [Trinity Broadcasting Network] one can go to church anywhere in the world 24/7/365, without the gossip-mongers competing to rise in the pecking order of some boring, run-down church!
It is interesting. Thanks for posting.
You sure?
Look around at the everyday church.
Read the whole article as well.......
And don't call me no fool ;^) looser
---Maybe many in the modern church are not truly converted.
I think that may be the problem and it may be a lot bigger than we think.----
This has been a problem since the first century. It will no doubt be a problem til Jesus comes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.