Lately I’ve been feeling convicted about my obedience to the Lord. It’s not that I’m being intentionally disobedient, but I am not being intentionally obedient either. I’m not stopping throughout my day to touch base with God to see if I’m on the track of righteousness. So, as I’ve started to make it a habit to reflect at different points during my day, I’ve asked him, “God, how can I be obedient to you right now?” and his response has caught me off guard sometimes.
I find myself doing what is comfortable rather than what is right. I’ve slipped into a mindset of complacency and I’ve pondered why that is. As I’ve prayed about this self-contentedness, I began to realize that I live in a self-focused, self-reliant society. The problem is that secularism isn’t the main culprit to the corruption of my faith. It’s the disobedience of the American church.
Let me stop right here to make something very clear. I’m not saying that going to church is bad. On the contrary, going to church is good and we should all go there more often. I’m also not saying that there aren’t any good churches. Believe me, I’ve been to some bad ones, but I’ve also been to some good ones. The problem is that finding a good biblical church is hard. The Church as a whole in this country has become self-focused and self-contentment. Church has become about what feels good, what sounds good, and what looks good rather than what challenges us, makes us uncomfortable (in a good way), and what pushes us to act in faith.
The American church is getting caught up in the glitz and glam of a large stage with flashing lights and entertaining worship music. We’re flocking to “pastors” who are really just glorified inspirational speakers. They talk about things like the power of positive thinking rather than the power of the Holy Spirit or about doing good in the world rather than about the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We sit in Bible studies that are no more than a social club. The gravity of Jesus’s death and resurrection is lost in the excitement of church “feeling” right.
Even if we don’t go to a church with a professionally polished worship band, we still buy their music. Even if our pastor isn’t a celebrity, we still purchase their books and do their Bible studies. Is it wrong to put our money towards these things? No. I think God can work and is working through these people (well, some of them). The problem is that we become more focused on the people being used by God than on God himself.
We’re not meant to follow celebrity pastors. No man (or woman) is meant to have that much power. The power we’re supposed to follow is that of God, not man. The more power a man has, the more likely he’s going to fall. Just look at all the sin and abuse uncovered by ministrywatch.com, thewartburgwatch.com, or julieroys.com. Affairs, sexual abuse, spiritual abuse. The stories are maddening.
I, too, have been affected by these types of leaders. I’ve been at a church when the lead pastor was caught in adultery and then, a few months later, took his own life. I had become entranced by his charismatic teaching and was gut punched when the news of his affair came out. I’ve been spiritually abused by another pastor and, subsequently, kicked out of his church when I didn’t go against God’s Word when he told me to. I’ve been sued by a narcissistic Christian leader after I spoke up about his abuse of his staff. Church has become a painful place for me and, even though I’m now in a church community where I’m finding healing, I still find myself testing everything I learn there, and testing every action taken by leadership.
American Christianity has become about an entertaining worship set followed by a dynamic speaker. What happened to worship leaders who call us to align our hearts with God and pastors that teach scripture (in context, mind you)? The focus of the church is on who is on stage rather than what is happening outside the church’s walls. We fail to care for the hungry, the imprisoned, the sick and those who don’t know Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46). We call ourselves “Christians” and we go to church, but we don’t really know Jesus (Matthew 7:23). I’ve fallen for the deception. I’ve let the extravagance of American Christianity sway my attention away from Christ.
This problem isn’t just about the modern religious leader, though. There have been centuries of powerful men who have fallen under the power of leadership.
Saul, the first king of Israel, was a man who loved God, but as he sunk deeper into the power, he fell further away from God. Eventually God took his Spirit from Saul, who became tormented and murderous. (1 Samuel 9-31)
Saul’s successor, King David, was anointed by God. He was a great godly king, but even he let his power overtake his obedience to God. On a day when he should have been in battle with his soldiers, he stayed home and ended up in bed with Bathsheba, one of his soldiers’ wives. When he realized his mistake, he tried to cover it up by killing Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah. (2 Samuel 11)
On the other hand, the fault doesn’t always lay with the leader who is in power. Sometimes the leader is doing the right thing, following God, but the followers grow impatient and create their own gods. Just look at what happened when Moses was on Mount Sinai.
When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
Exodus 32:1 (ESV)
When Moses returned from the mountain, he brought with him God’s law. God’s people were about to find out just how disobedient they really were. And, if we are in God’s Word regularly, whether it’s through a Bible reading plan, listening to an audio Bible, or in a Bible study where you actually study the Word of God, we will continually realize just how disobedient we still are. But if we get bored because our pastor, while a good Bible teacher, isn’t a dynamic speaker, are we just going to run out and find something that sounds better, even if it’s not biblical?
When was the last time you read Exodus 20 where the ten commandments are listed? When was the last time you checked your heart against the ten commandments? For example, when was the last time you let, “Oh, my God!” enter your thoughts? I know I have. It seems like a little thing, but not to God.
Beyond the ten commandments and into the New Testament, I’ve especially been convicted by the Great Commission.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
We get really busy serving in our churches but when was the last time you shared the gospel with someone outside of church? I was convicted of this recently and prayed for the opportunity. Sure enough, God put someone in my path who was interested in hearing about Jesus, so I shared the gospel with them. I probably will never know if that conversation ever bore fruit, but it was soul satisfying to be obedient to the Lord in this way.
The problem with all the glitz and glam of American Christianity is that we’ve become soft and our faith becomes self centered. Our belief becomes about what makes us feel good. Did I like the message at church today? Did it make me feel good? Did I like that book I read? Did it make me feel good? Or, was church a little bit uncomfortable today? Did the sermon challenge me to do something that I am not comfortable doing in my own strength? We can’t confuse faith with feeling!
We have it so easy in America. We’re not persecuted for our faith. And, no, getting into “Facebook jail” for a spiritual post does not count as persecution. We’re free to worship our God openly without the fear of death. We can freely share the gospel in public without worrying about being arrested. So, why aren’t more people who call themselves Christians out there sharing the gospel? Being the gospel to someone else?
Let me tell you, I’m no evangelist. It’s not a gift God has given me to be able to do naturally like some people I know. I once knew a woman of whom a teenager told me, “That lady could convert a garbage can!” That’s not me. I’m so uncomfortable with opening up about my faith to someone who doesn’t share my beliefs. But God commands me to share my faith and when I have the opportunity, God somehow gives me the words.
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
James 1:22-25 (ESV)
I hope you go to a church that challenges you in your faith. Makes you a little uncomfortable. Presents you with opportunities to act out your faith and to step out in obedience.
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If you are looking for a good church, read this blog post about how to find one.