How did we reach this level of Mediocrity?

I accepted Christ as my Saviour 42 years ago and some 35 plus of those years I have been in some capacity of ministry full and part time.  I have seen the church go through many changes during this time, some good and some not so good.  There have been many service opportunities that have been addressed and some have gone by the wayside.  I have watched church leader’s rise and have witnessed the fall of some as well.  All of this happens because the church is a living entity.  The Bible which contains our directives is a living and breathing book.  The God that we serve is alive and quite active in the lives of every one of His followers.  The Holy Spirit of God which dwells with in the hearts and lives of believers continues to show Himself active within the lives of individuals as well as the church as a whole.

Throughout these years I have not lost the hunger and desire to study and meditate on His word.  Though there were times when the fervency of my study time waned and there were days when the immediacy was not so immediate but even in the lowest of times I do not remember long periods of drought in the Word.  My normal morning routine consists of time in prayer and study before I spend time with others.  I give the Lord my attention in the morning as I am waking up and I do my best to spend time with Him in prayer before I close my eyes to sleep at night. 

My thought and direction for this post is wrapped around the thought, “What has happened to the church and her people?” I have noticed a drastic change in the hearts and minds of believers especially over the past ten to fifteen years.  The desire for spending time in His word and meditating on His Word does not seem to be much of a priority with many who are called Christian today.  The concern for the lost is still there because that is a number that is a publishable number in the weekly bulletin.  They want to know who and how many decisions for salvation there have been made and how many visitors darken the church door.  Sadly they do not seemed to be concerned about how many are darkening the back door as they leave the church looking for somewhere else to go.  There is a sure direction that is noticeable in the church today one that is directed solely toward new believer’s.  This theme is not denominational specific and can be found in a variety of churches.  This theme is the message that studying the Word of God is not important nor is it really important that we spend time reading the Word either.  This my friend is not the message of the God of Heaven, it is not the message of Jesus the Son of God, nor is it a message of the Word itself.

God’s desire for all men is to have a relationship with His Son Jesus.  If we in turn surrender to His call and accept Christ as Saviour then the second desire of God for man is put into place which is that we become like Jesus.  He want us to emulate Christ, He want us to be like the early believers.  Acts 11:26, “And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch.  And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people.  And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”  Here in this passage we find the calling and direction of the church, they found others, bought them to the church, they taught them the Word which resulted in an amazing transformation.  We find that instead of being called “Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians” (Acts 2:9-11), or where ever they came from.  We find that they were all “Called Christians,” because they had spent time with Christ, because they spent time with other believers and most importantly because they were “taught”. They did not adopt the name because it was cool; they were given the name because the people of Antioch could tell that they had spent time with Jesus.

 

So, how much of the Scriptures are we as believers supposed to involve ourselves with?  We do find in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (17) That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”  All Scripture is given and profitable for all good works.  So without too much presupposition I think I can say that as a believer I should try to grasp all of the Scriptures.  The Bible does go on to say in 2 Timothy 2:15 that we are to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”  Study the Word, we are not to just read the Word.  Why is it important for the believer (every believer) to study the Word of God?  I believe that Jesus gives the best answer to this question when He said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39)

It takes more than just fellowship and community to grow a believer it takes the Word of God.  It is the responsibility of all believers and not just the pastor to study the Word.  We see here in Acts 17:10-11, “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. (11) These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”  This passage does not just single out the pastor and elders, it is referring to “the Bereans” all the believers in Berea as a whole, these people were praised because they studied the Scriptures. 

The real question then becomes, “Do we follow the Bible and what Christ said or do we sit back and celebrate our new level of Mediocrity?”

More to come…