Devotionals

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The modern church has become a candy store to delight the eye and ear of the so called “seeker.” I am not saying all churches are bowing their knee to the needs of the world, but a good many have done nothing but let the world influence their worship, preaching and even church design. Don’t get me wrong. I am not against the church being contemporary. But if being contemporary means less of the truth of the Word being preached for fear of offending someone, music that ministers to the body but not to the soul, and raising lazy Christians who don’t even know where to find many of the books in the bible, you can count me out.

An evangelist friend of mine who was my mentor for several years, and has now gone onto glory said, “In your effort to find a good church, pay attention to this most important thing: “When you drive up in the parking lot and people are going into the church, see if they are carrying their bibles. If they are not, immediately drive out and go find a church where they are!”

There are many methods in preaching the Gospel. If we choose to be more contemporary, then we must be careful that the means we use to facilitate our teaching is only a tool and does not become a crutch. In today’s church you will find big computer screens (which I am not against) with a bible reference and the scripture written out so you can follow along. When I first experienced this, I have to say I thought it was very beneficial. That was until I begin to see how the new Christian, several months passed conversion, still struggles to find the most basic books in the bible. Unfortunately, many of these same kinds of churches are causing their people to become church junkies, instead of Jesus junkies, for lack of a better word. The music is geared to cause an emotional high, almost a form of euphoria to make the worshipper feel good. Instead, the music should be focused on God and His throne, whether it makes me feel good or not. Repentance doesn’t always feel good, but it is necessary.

The Word has become adulterated with worldly antidotes. You see, I rarely hear a preacher preach on the “blood of Jesus” anymore. Instead, we talk about His love, His grace, His forgiveness. This is all good, but how can we experience His love, grace and forgiveness without first experiencing the “blood” that covers our sin. We’ve cleaned our churches up a little too much.

What would happen in a church today if spontaneous revival broke out? You know, like the old days when Gods’ presence would come and spontaneous repentance and deliverance would take place for hours. Would our orderly program make room for a move of God? You can’t plan a move of God. You cannot even orchestrate it. But you sure can thwart it! This is where man has failed or should I say been successful.

The sugar coated gospel is designed to cause the unsuspected believer to become dependent on music, nice short preaching or sermonettes and wonderful aesthetics to experience a “quick fix” or good feeling inside. They also become church junkies, because they do not know how to worship or study the scripture outside of the church. Believe me, in Africa, we had none of these seeker friendly antidotes going for us. We had hillsides, hard benches, hot rooms, preaching on Jesus' life, sacrificial death and resurrection and some long services. What was the end result? Thousands coming to Christ!

I am not pretending that I know all the answers. What I am saying is that we need to stop leaning over so close to the world that the church cannot even be recognized. Instead of asking, “Where is Waldo?” the seeker is now looking at the body of Christ and asking, “Where is Jesus?” Everything looks good on the outside but the inside just doesn’t add up. God tells us to avoid those who are like this.

“…holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;

Avoid such men as these. 2 Timothy 3:5

This is a hard word, but it must be addressed. The church needs to wake up from its’ slumber. We are in the last days, and every soul counts!

© 2005 Passion House Ministries, Jane E Morin

http://www.passionhouseministries.com

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