The Me Church

This is a humorous look at consumer oriented churches in our culture today. Some will do anything to get people into their churches - except teach the Word of God. As the church in America we need to stop fighting each other to get people into our buildings and instead focus on equipping the body (Ephesians 4:12) to do the work of the ministry. Instead of focusing on being "cool" and "like the world", we need to focus on Christ and Him crucified. Let's focus on the Word and not on cute catch phrased sermons with little content.

More so though it's a look at the hearts of many church goers in our churches today because we've marketed the church as a brand of store and taught them that church is all about them. Church has very little to do with us. If our mindset is what can we get out of church, then we are missing the One for whom we come to worship. Worship music isn't about how happy or emotionally charged we get from the singing and song selection, but us simply giving the glory to our Savior and the worth He is due. The teaching of the Word isn't for us to judge the pastor's style, but to hear what the Lord wants to say to us today. We shouldn't be focusing on attention on entertaining the people because the church isn't meant for entertainment as if it were another movie theatre or rec center, but rather teaching and training them to be more like the world.

Is your mindset, what can I get from the church today or is it what can I give to the Lord at church today? The proper mindset is what will keep you from looking for a me church.

Oh, the Irony

"Then they led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Praetorium, and it was early morning. But they themselves did not go into the Praetorium, lest they should be defiled, but that they might eat the Passover" - John 18:28

There is quite a bit of irony in this passage that can often be overloooked which I want to point out. In context, the Jews have arrested Jesus and are leading him to Pilate in the Praetorium (the palace area in which he lived) so that he can give them permission to put Jesus to death. However, it was Passover time and in their rituals, if they entered into a house that contained leven they would be defiled and not be able to take part in the Passover ceremonies. The Praetorium was obviously a Gentile residence and thus leven was probably there and thus they did not want to enter in and defile themselves.

So think about this rephrased this way: the Jewish leaders have arrested God Himself because of their pride and hatred toward Him and are taking Him to be put to death and yet are afraid of defiling themselves by entering into a Gentile residence that may contain leven! Again they are missing their true heart condition (that is really defiling them) and focusing on the outward "religious" regulations instead. The One who can truly clease them they have condemned. No wonder Jesus called them white washed tombs.

And yet there are many who are just like these Jewish leaders. Outside the church they are living for the world and all its pleasure, but they feel good about themselves because they simply go to church on Sundays. There are those husbands that are in full time ministry that do everything to impress those around them and yet pay little attention to their ultimate ministry, their families (sometimes even justifying this because of their "position" in the church).

Our "religious works" aren't what justifies us. When we focus on the outside rather than on the inside, we too can be just as blind.

Loving the Praise of Man?

"for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." - John 12:43

In this brief phrase, we find a sad commentary on some of the Pharisees who did believe in Jesus. They had come to believe in Him but they did not let others know for fear of being put out of the synagogue and because they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

There are many ways that this translates out to our everyday lives. The first one is obvious, being we choose not to talk about our faith or confess Jesus around others because we don't want to look foolish in front of our friends or family. We don't want our co-workers to think we are some sort of "Jesus freak" or "fanatical" and therefore we hold our tongues and let them think we are just a good moral person rather than a Christian.

But I think the subtle ways we show this are less obvious. When we pump up numbers in our church or ministry (in other words, we say we have more than who really comes out), we may love the praise of man more than the praise of God. When we try to compare numbers in our ministries, we may love the praise of man more than the praise of God. When we climb over others to get to the top, we may love the praise of man more than the praise of God. When we let "slip" how much time we've spent in prayer or the Word this week when no one asked, we may love the praise of man more than the praise of God. When we donate large amounts of money to get recognized, we may love the praise of man more than the praise of God.

We need to make sure everything we say and do is for the praise of God and not for our own praise. When we take the place of a servant, serving unnoticed and not looking for recognition, we probably love the praise of God more than the praise of man. When we pray for those who curse us rather than attack back, we probably love the praise of God more than the praise of man. When we give with no recognition wanted or needed, we may love the praise of God more than the praise of man. And when we reach out to those people who go unnoticed because they aren't "important" enough to minister to (i.e. they won't get us recognition in the church - like children's ministry, nursing home ministy, etc.), we probably love the praise of God more than the praise of man.

Lord, may all I say and do be for Your glory and not mine.