“How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” – Elijah (1 Kings 18:21 ESV)
As a pastor I can’t tell you how many times I have thrown down that gauntlet. Choose today who you will serve! God or Man. We have struggled with this because for the past hundred years we have operated in a quasi-Christian culture. In the past being a good guy was to be “mighty christian of ya”. Good ol boy and polite society was synonymous with being christian. Over time this muddied the waters of what legitimate christianity was. So, pastors would stand in the pulpit encouraging people to discard “casual christianity” and submit fully to Jesus. Basically…we asked them to choose.
People did. Many chose the world…backfire.
There are many stats pointing to the failure of the local church. Showing declining attendance and offerings. I don’t deny those stats…I deny the reason. Some may be turning away from the church…however, most were never here to begin with. They came out of the shadows and did what we asked them to do…they chose.
They chose, they chose their comfort, they chose their lifestyle, they chose to gamble on the idea that if need be they can rekindle their affair with Jesus later in life…when things slow down. They chose.
So, what is left in this post christian society? In my humble opinion…clarity.
I believe this actually helps the church, here are 3 reasons why.
WE KNOW WHO TO TRUST
We now know who can be trusted with the leadership of the church. Our teams, deacons, leaders and teachers are followers of Jesus striving to live for Jesus.
WE KNOW WHO NEEDS TO BE REACHED
Let me be clear I am not in favor of creating an “us” verses “them” attitude in the church but if EVERYONE is a christian then who is left to be reached. I remember one time the worship pastor and I were asked to film a “man on the street” video at a local Walmart, on this video we interviewed people and asked “Are you a Christian? and Why? or Why not?” We were amazed at the result…EVERYONE WAS A CHRISTIAN. We went to the pastor and told him we may as well close the church because there was nobody to reach.
That is a ridiculous concept but it highlights the problem. You have to know who is lost if you are going to save them. Today’s culture is much more open to say they are NOT a christian. In fact the cool thing to do is to not believe in anything. With the honesty of people’s lack of faith so open it makes it much easier to know who to pray for, who to talk to, who to reach.
WE CAN STOP BLENDING AND START INFLUENCING
The cat’s out of the bag…christians are never going to be “as cool as the world”. We are so insecure to be loved that we blend our experiences to the worlds standards…that is not a huge deal but what can be is that churches have begun to blend their values with the worlds standards.
We can stop trying to fit it. We can stop trying to make Jesus cool. We can do more influencing and less apologizing.
WHAT DO WE DO?
– As Joshua asks, “Choose this day whom you will serve.”
Don’t play around anymore…choose a side. Follow the world or follow Jesus.
– Get involved. Don’t be ashamed of the beautiful gospel of Jesus. Communicate with love but with conviction
– Pray. Our community, country and world are at a tipping point spiritually and the people of Jesus need to pray. Pray daily.
Tell me what you think?
Sean Rheaume 