songsofjesus.com

Hold fast to Jesus and His Word

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In “Whatever Happened To Jesus?” I give a call to return to the “old paths” of faith in Christ as well as a call to return to our “first love” of Him.  I wrote the song early on in my Christian walk (about 3 years after being born again) and have watched and pondered the direction of the church ever since that time.  I wish I could say the things I wrote about in 1987 have improved, but sadly, in my opinion, they have only gotten worse.  I’ve had the song in various stages of recording and decided to finally finish it and release it this year.  As I do, I’m very concerned by many of the things I see going on in today’s church…

I’m sure that some people who heard my first song about the lukewarm church (“Nice Little Church“) probably thought it had something to do with the “emergent church movement”.  I talked about the lack of life in so many churches, questioned whether many of our churches might actually be filled with people who have never been born again, and was trying to point out that there needs to be an actual connection and experience with the living God- that religion can never give people what they ultimately need.  If you thought some of the themes in “Nice Little Church” sounded like the cries of the emergent church, I suppose you could be correct- yet the conclusions the emergent church has arrived at for solving the problems in the church are far from the conclusions I have come to.  We may have seen some of the same problems, but we have arrived at radically different solutions!

Repent, return to Jesus, and get back to the Word of God!

In my songs I address some of the things that I see as major departures from Christ.  My solution to the issues in both of my songs about “the church” is not to come up with something “culturally relevant” (as much of the emergent church suggests we need to do).  Rather, I suggest we get back to the “old paths”- repent, return to Jesus, and get back to the Word of God as our supreme source for truth.

In “Whatever Happened To Jesus” I ask, “Whatever happened to his Word?“  Apostasy is basically a falling away from God’s Word and departure from His truth, which leads to a falling away from Jesus.  When God’s Word is downplayed, denied, twisted, referred to as antiquated, and relegated to a place where the church prefers the words of men over the Word of God, we have full blown apostasy.  The Word of God should be the litmus test for our belief and practice, but it is increasingly being tossed aside as outdated and irrelevant.

As I began releasing my songs it became apparent to me that I would not be pleasing very many people with the messages they contain- First, I’m challenging the church-at-large on three main issues:

1. Boredom and lack of life.

2. The worldly “put on a show”, entertainment, experience-driven, atmosphere that seems to have overtaken many churches. 

3. The downplaying of God’s Word and sound doctrine.

Dead churches are obviously not God’s desire, but neither is a worldly, culturally driven church the will of God for his people- we need a return of authentic life in Christ, which banishes deadness and boredom and needs no worldly hype and adornment.  In both songs I am calling for change that results in experiential life with Christ that is grounded in God’s Word.

Whatever happened to Jesus?  Isn’t this supposed to be about JESUS?

I’m tired of dead, formal religion with all it’s trappings that keep people from Christ rather than leading them into an experience of Him- Jesus is alive, and if we’re not experiencing and walking in that, there’s something radically wrong! 

On the other hand, in declaring the need of life, and an experience with Christ, I’m not interested in a free-for-all; I have no interest in deconstructing and reconstructing everything under the sun as many are now doing.

I’m especially not interested in downplaying the Word of God and throwing out biblical terminology as some prerequisite to reaching a “Post Modern Church” (a term that is meaningless in my opinion, and used to voice the idea that the church situation we find ourselves in today is somehow different than the place the church has found itself in the past, and therefore needs special treatment- an idea I reject).  The whole notion that we need to change to reach the times and culture we find ourselves living in is spurious- We are the ones who have eternity in Christ; it is not we who need to become like the surrounding culture in order to change it, rather we are to “shine like stars in the universe” as we “hold out the word of life” to a “crooked and depraved generation”.

This world- it’s lusts and it’s culture- are ALL passing away, “but the man who does the will of God abides FOREVER”.  The emergent church (as well as those who hold to it’s obsession of being culturally relevant) are missing this important truth:

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him… everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me.”  (John 6:43-45)

It is NOT our identification with culture that wins people to Christ, rather, it is the work of our Father who draws people to Christ.  Our obsession needs to be with our Father and with His Son, not with the latest cultural fad.  The Spirit of God points to JESUS, not to this world’s culture.

Where can I find authentic life in Christ?

So I find myself in a difficult place, not content with the traditional church and it’s religiosity, and quite unwilling to go down the emergent road of culture based faith.  My most likely ally would seemingly be the house church movement with it’s desire for simplicity and intimacy, but even there signs of trouble loom- I love home churches and believe they are entirely biblical in and of themselves, but I see “emergent church” beliefs and practices sliding into home churches at a rapid pace.  I’m concerned as well by the often “reactionary” attitudes and practices of many in the home church movement:

1. Throwing out Pastors (and in some cases ALL leadership).
2. Believing that Christians who are a part of traditional churches are apostate.
3. Holding to bad and sometimes bizarre doctrine.
4. Being unwilling to receive correction because everyone’s an expert! (“It’s not about the “one man show”- we all have the truth and can teach it!”)

So my songs about the church are not aimed at any one group, neither are they a call for everyone to “come out and depart their churches” as some have done only to end up sitting home alone, no longer gathering with other Christians. (I don’t think sitting at home alone is the answer- God may call you out of a specific church for various reasons, but do you really believe His intent for you is to spend the rest of your time here on planet earth alone and cut off from gathering with other Christians?)

The fact is, we are told that in the last days there will be a great apostasy, and we are seeing it.  There is no quick fix of church structure or form that will solve the problem- The solution is to hold fast to Jesus and His Word.

Hold fast to Jesus and His Word

I hope my songs will drive you to Jesus and God’s Word.  I am personally convinced that even greater change than we are presently seeing is coming to the church.  God has historically brought change to the church through periods of revival and reformation, and there is no reason not to expect that He will continue to do so.  If we would be wise, we will not categorically refuse change, neither will we just accept everything that comes as “change”, but instead will “Test everything” as scripture admonishes us to do.  I hope you will give serious thought to the various issues I address in my songs about the church.  Most of all, I hope these songs will drive you to God’s Word to seek His truth, and that you will allow His truth to rule in your life.

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