The year was 1984 and I had just become a born again Christian.  I remember the popular saying at the time- “Christians can have fun too!”  But even though I had just turned 24 it wasn’t a “Let’s have fun with Jesus” gospel that saved me.  It wasn’t a certain style of Christian music that moved me; it wasn’t a new cultural church vibe that drew me- All it took was the Holy Spirit showing me I needed Jesus.

The path to Jesus is not found in this world, and it doesn’t need this world’s culture to validate it.  The church in it’s preoccupation with being “relevant” has bought into a lie- People do not come to Jesus because we have dressed Him up to look appealing, or to be cool, fun or current.  There has only ever been one way to enter into LIFE, and it has nothing to do with being like the world.

Only the Spirit of God is able to open blind eyes and move hard hearts; only the Holy Spirit can draw people to Christ- everything else is smoke and mirrors.  Salvation is the Father’s work, not ours: This is true for every generation; it’s true for every age group; it holds true for every people group and culture. 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…”  (John 6.44)

I can almost hear the deafening reaction, “Yes, but, we need to be relevant; the church is no longer relevant!”

To that I say: The reason we are not relevant is because we are not focused on the eternal. 

God’s Word is always relevant because it never passes away like the world’s fads do.

When we seek to be like the world we cease to be truly relevant.  The church exists to reveal heaven, to point to Jesus and eternity, and when we fail to do that we make ourselves utterly irrelevant.

The heavenly call

The call of His Spirit is not an earthly call, but a heavenly one.  In Revelation, chapters 2-3, does God tell the churches to do their best to be like the surrounding culture?  Does he tell Christians to makes themselves attractive and appealing to the world by being just like the culture they live in?  No, He calls them to repent and return; He calls them back to Himself and refocuses their eyes on eternity.

So many in the church are worried how they will reach future generations- I’m worried for future generations if this generation fails to stand for God’s truth.  Paul, the Apostle, laid down his life to defend the faith so that all who came after him would be able to have the purity and truth of the gospel.

Many today appear more interested in having a dialogue or conversation about what the truth is, than being messengers of the Lord.  A messenger represents the one who sent him- We are to carry heaven’s torch to light a dark world.  This will bring us into sharp contrast with the culture around us.  What does light have to do with darkness?  The absolutes of God’s Word will bring the church into sharp contrast with the relativism of the world.  This is how it should be!  When we try to blunt that effect we’re hurting, not helping the gospel.

The death of doctrine

Have you seen the proliferation of Christian blogs that call for change in the church that come with an obvious dislike of doctrine and dogma?  “We shouldn’t be so dogmatic, so absolute!”  But the Word of God tells me that the church is supposed to be “the pillar and foundation of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15)  If we won’t stand for absolutes, for truth, who will?  Jesus put the truth plainly:

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”  (John 3:19-21)

The reason people refuse Jesus is not because He’s irrelevant or antiquated- scripture says they reject Him because they love darkness and refuse to walk into the light.  What favor do we do the world by blunting this truth?  To a world drowning in relativism we need to hold out the absolutes of God’s Word.  Who will stand and say, “Thus saith the Lord”?

A distaste for “preaching”

Why is it that those calling for change in the church often seem apologetic about the church?  Preaching has always been a staple of the church but it doesn’t fit well with our culture.  We’ve grabbed a hold of the world’s buzzwords and want everyone to “join the conversation”- preaching gets in the way of that we’re told, so preaching is now ”bad” and conversations and discussions are “good” according to the culturally responsive Christian.  Some are downright apologetic that a person would have to actually endure preaching!

Should we apologize for “preaching”?  And who forgot to tell George Whitefield?

The church would be blessed to have 10,000 George Whitefield’s to herald the gospel.  The guy preached to 20,000 people in open air meetings without a microphone!  (The year was 1742!)  Any account of Whitefield I’ve ever read describes the man as quite direct and dramatic.  Have you ever read the sermons he preached?  He preached absolutes and made declarations, and oh, how God used him!

The point of preaching is not only instructive, but declarative.  I think many Christians are afraid of that today.  We’re afraid to say, “Thus saith the Lord”.  Whitefield wasn’t having a dialogue or discussion!  Nor was Stephen in the book of Acts, when he preached with such fire and truth that they stoned him to death!  His message made his listeners so furious that the bible says they “gnashed their teeth at him”.  He suddenly became very unpopular for telling the truth, but the bible has this to say about Stephen…

“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.”  (Acts 7:55)

We should not expect to see the glory of God if we refuse to stand up for the truth of God.

There’s a place for conversation and a place for proclamation.  Where are the Elijah’s of God? Where are the men of Acts like Stephen, or Paul, or Peter?  Where are the messengers of God who when they speak, speak as one who speaks the very oracles of God?  (1 Peter 4:11)

You see, it’s not an “emergent church” that we need… comfortable with the surrounding culture, and the culture quite comfortable with it.  We need to be crying out in this wilderness, “Prepare the way of the Lord!”  (Isaiah 40:3-5)

A voice of one calling:
       “In the desert prepare
       the way for the LORD;
       make straight in the wilderness
       a highway for our God.

 Every valley shall be raised up,
       every mountain and hill made low;
       the rough ground shall become level,
       the rugged places a plain.

 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
       and all mankind together will see it.
       For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Yes, these words mark the first appearing of our Lord; but the message holds true- Jesus is coming back!  And not to have a cup of coffee!  The time is short- How dare we embrace this world instead of warning it!  It’s time to repent and return:

“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.  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 in it will be laid bare.  (2 Peter 3:8-10)

Does this sound like a good time to be cozy with the culture around us?  

“Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding…”  (Jeremiah 3:22)

I’ve noticed a growing trend among many in the church (especially evident on Christian blogs) regarding “preaching”.  It seems that “conversations” are all the rage now, and preaching is out!  We’re called to “join the conversation”, but who wants to sit and listen to the preacher?  Is there still a place for preaching in the church?   

I find it strange that people would question the idea of preaching, as if to say it was useless or even unbiblical.  Aren’t we commanded in scripture to “preach the Word”?  (2 Timothy 4.2).

I’ve always understood that the meaning here is one of making a proclamation; that we are to be heralds for Christ.  When I think of a herald, I think of someone who declares a message.  That implies a monologue, not a dialogue.  Questions and discussions may follow, but first a message is declared.  In fact, I remember reading Wuest’s Greek translation many years ago concerning this subject, and here it is:

“Make a public proclamation of the Word with such formality, gravity, and authority as must be heeded…”  (2 Timothy 4.2)

That sounds like preaching to me!  As I continue in the passage, I can see how preaching would lead to discussion and further exhortation. (Which I’m all for, by the way.)  I guess my point is, why throw the baby out with the bathwater?  Preaching and discussion are both biblical, and both are needed in the church.

I believe the present “anti preaching” bias that is present in so many who are questioning the traditional church structure is simply a reaction to not having been allowed any type of discussion in our gatherings.  As is so often the case, the pendulum then swings to the far extreme and we end up having the opposite problem!  I see the same thing happening regarding “leadership” in the church.  (See my post, “Leaderless Church“.)  Christians who have felt that they were oppressed by leaders, leave the traditional churches and opt for a leaderless church.  This type of reaction will never produce the right results; we simply exchange one lopsided form with another.

One reason given for not liking preaching-  “I can’t remember a single sermon I’ve ever heard.”  Really?  Is there so little impact from the preaching of God’s Word?  God has many tools at his disposal, and one of the best is preaching.  Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit I’ve been arrested by preaching throughout my entire life as a Christian!  Preaching that came from a pulpit, a car radio, a book, a song, or a friend… I’ve been challenged and changed by preaching.

For the record, I love discussion as well.  I think it’s invaluable, but I’m not buying into the anti preaching sentiment that seems so prevalent today.

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”  (Acts 2:2)

I’m not content with a “sound from earth”- I want to hear “a sound from heaven”.  If the early church had never heard that sound I wonder where we’d be today?  I’m not talking about some of the weird stuff going on today that passes for a sound from heaven.  I don’t recall reading that the early church barked liked dogs, rolled around the floor in uncontrollable laughter, had gold dust falling from the sky or anything like that.  What I’m talking about has nothing to do with this sort of thing at all-  I’m not interested in going to revival meetings where men prance around and make big shows of the “power of God”, creating a spectacle of themselves and the church.  But I do want to hear a sound from heaven…

Jesus speaks from, and of, eternity- and that is what we so desperately need today.

You can take the supernatural circus, I don’t want it.  You can take the coffeehouse “cultural faith”-I’m really not interested in that either.  I’m tired of hearing about a “social gospel”, a “cultural gospel”, and that we’re here to “create beauty” through the arts and on the earth.  Whatever happened to the eternal gospel?  Can someone please tell me about heaven, hell, sin and redemption?  Who will stand up to preach the cross, tell of Jesus’ blood, and preach to win souls?  Will someone please give me that gospel- the one I see saints laying down their lives for in the Book of Acts?

I honestly feel sorry for those who are seeking God and have to wade through the mess of Christian blogs and churches that offer up this pathetic, watered down, twisted mess!  Oh, I know there are some who still faithfully preach the cross and are focused on eternity… but I remember a time before there were hundreds of thousands of blogs with everyone’s religious opinions; a time when the world was a much easier place to navigate.  There has always been bad doctrine, but there’s never been an explosion like what we’re seeing today of confusion and doctrinal error.  We can thank the internet for that- it was the perfect vehicle to usher in every unbiblical belief under the sun and spread it around the earth.  It has given a voice to people who probably never should have been speaking in the first place because they were never called by God to do so.

In the bible men were actually “called by God” to speak and act as God directed- they were sent out by Him, and anointed by the Holy Spirit.  I’m not sure many Christians worry about that today, we just all assume we should speak our mind.  And that’s the problem… I’m tired of hearing the sound of people speaking their minds-  I want to hear a sound from heaven!  I want to hear from those who are called, who speak by the Holy Spirit and cause us to focus on eternal things.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

The man who hears a sound from heaven, who hears Jesus, speaks of eternal things.  There’s a famine of the Word of God today, a famine of hearing from heaven, and because of that, not many people are talking about eternity.  Are we so focused on earthly things simply because we’ve never had a revelation of the glories of eternity?  Have we heard “a sound from heaven”, or are we just parroting the world we live in?  The Christian’s focus isn’t to be about earthly things!

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

See, it’s not about the arts, it’s not about Christian music, it’s not about Christians getting involved in politics, it’s not about social justice, it’s not about some culturally driven faith, it’s not about a prosperity gospel where God makes us all rich, it’s not about gold dust and holy laughter… it’s not about all this stuff and so many more of the things we’ve been told it’s about.  This world is passing away along with all the things we think are so important.  I’m really tired of sitting in a church (like I did a couple weeks ago) and being told that we should be focusing on this earth.  I don’t appreciate being told that D.L. Moody got it wrong with his notion that this world was a sinking ship, and that we needed to get as many saved as we could before it went under.  Wrong?  Moody got that wrong??  God help us-We need an army of Moody’s!  We are in a desperate hour when the ship is sinking and the Captains of the ship are out taking the world for a pleasure cruise!  We should be on a rescue mission but we’re out “creating beauty”.  Moody said, “You don’t polish the brass of a sinking ship”.  If we could only see what Moody saw- this world is passing away.  He heard a sound from heaven, saw the sinking ship, and tried to bring as many as he could to the safety of eternity in Jesus Christ while they still had a chance to be saved.

Twenty-six years ago, when I was just turning 24, I also heard a sound from heaven.  I heard the Spirit say, “You can be born again!”  I got a glimpse of eternity and saw the world (and myself) for what it was- dead in sin and without God.  I grabbed hold of Jesus with everything I had, and as I looked into His face I began to be changed from one degree of glory to another.  The thing I’d been looking for my whole life was Jesus!  Like the old hymn says,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”

Do we see what we’re doing today in the church?  Do we understand where this embracing of the world system is taking us?  Does Jesus really want your eyes off of Him and off of heaven? Does He want you “polishing the brass” of this sinking ship, or looking to eternity?

“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

I hope I will stir some of you to think about this.  Read your bible and ask yourself honestly what the focus of the early church was on.  Read Acts and ask yourself if you’re focused on eternity like that?  Are you wanting to reach the lost like they were?  Has it dawned on you and alarmed you that this world is quickly passing away?  Does eternity fill your vision?  Maybe it’s time to sit in your upper room, read your bible, pray, and wait on God until you hear a sound from heaven!

As I’m reading Christian blogs I find it fascinating how so many people seem to enjoy making God so complicated!  Jesus didn’t say go and get a masters degree in theology, he said “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!”  (Mark 16:15)  I’m sorry, but it’s NOT that complicated!

Where did we ever get the idea that knowing Jesus requires us to be scholars; or that telling people about Him meant we would need special training?  Doesn’t it remind you a lot of the “teachers of the law” that Jesus talked about?  Their theological highbrow would make the ordinary man’s head spin.  They had so many rules and excelled at making simple things complicated!  This made them seem very elite (which they of course reveled in!).  Is this why Jesus chose ordinary unschooled men for the most part to begin His church?  Paul being a notable exception having had the best of education.  But notice how Paul considers his best attainments “rubbish” that he may “gain Christ and be found in Him”. (Philippians 3)  He points out quite clearly in his letter to the Corinthians that his goal was not to come with “eloquence or superior wisdom”, but rather “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power”. (Begin reading at Corinthians 1:17)  Paul tells us that all we really do by adding our eloquence and human words of wisdom is rob the cross of it’s power!  We make it weaker, not stronger.  Simple is better!

We don’t need more “teachers of the law” online to muck things up!  The simplest, clearest, presentation of the gospel is what I seek.  As far as I’m concerned our goal should be to make God knowable; hiding Him in a cloud of theological terminology does NOT do that!  This isn’t about how smart we are or how much we know… it’s about HIM.  He said “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation!”  Let’s do it!

I’ve been reluctant to get involved with Facebook, blogs, ect., because the internet is already taking so much of my time. I’d like to connect with the Body of Christ here, and also share the things He’s called me to share through my music… but I can really see how all this can rob me of my time with God. Here’s a post that I wrote recently on another persons blog about that…

“All I know is that being online is sucking huge amounts of time out of my life… time I used to spend with Jesus. Thank God there was no internet when I got saved! I would have been exposed to so many ideas I would probably have ended up a confused, faithless, mess. As it was, I just had my bible and plenty of time to think and read. I also had plenty of time to walk and talk to God. I seriously believe God is telling me to just “come away” from all this mess, as Keith Green sang about… and be with Him. All this connectivity may be robbing us of the greatest connection of all.”

I honestly believe that. We have the most awesome means to fellowship, and tell the world about Jesus through these sites, but I don’t think God’s gonna be too happy if social networking takes the place of time spent with Him.