Knowing God’s will for your life is very important for a number of reasons. In fact, the Bible says that if you do the will of God—you will live forever with God!
Buy it today at Amazon.com
Below is a brief excerpt from Chapter 1 of Revealed. Enjoy!
An ocean liner was cutting across the Pacific when its captain spotted an S-O-S smoke signal ascending from what was thought to be a small and deserted island. As the rescuers landed ashore, an old man standing in front of three man-made structures greeted them joyfully. The man had been stranded alone on the island for nearly twenty-five years.
Wondering about the three huts along the tree line, the captain asked him, “Is there anyone else on this island?”
“Just me,” came the reply.
“Then why do you have three buildings?”
“Well y’see,” said the skinny old man, “the one on the left is my house and the one in the middle is my church.”
“What about the one on the right?” the captain asked.
“Oh, that’s my old church. I stopped going there years ago. Too many hypocrites, y’see.”
Christians tend to laugh at stories like this one, but there also happens to be a real sense in which much of our modern-day American Christianity is a lot like that lonely, shipwrecked old man. Far too often, American Christians church-shop and church-hop with hardly a second thought about whether or not it’s actually in their best interest to do so. If the pastor leaves, the style of music changes, or the deacons paint a new color on the walls, we can always find another church. Maybe even a better one, we think. We assume the grass is always greener on the other side of the hill and, many times, it most certainly is. Indeed, the grass may be greener at some of the other churches around your city, but what we often fail to realize is that someone still has to mow it!
There are issues in just about every church around the world.
Personally, I have been to literally dozens of churches during my lifetime. Without exception, each one had meticulously crafted their own special blend of what church ought to look like. From a bird’s-eye view, many of them appeared to be quite healthy, flourishing with an abundance of God-exalting, Christ-loving disciples. Some of the other churches, however, might be better off to do nothing more than show up next Sunday and vote for a do-over.
Maybe you’ve visited a few churches like that as well?
I have been to mega-churches with thousands of members, new church-plants where having thirty people show up was something to rejoice about, and churches that met behind steel doors in a cold prison facility. I’ve been to churches with audio sound systems that cost more than a Rolls Royce and to churches that met in school classrooms with no microphones at all. I visited one church where the lone usher was a college student wearing a Superman t-shirt, and others where every usher had gray hair and wore a pressed suit and tie.
There are churches with soft padded pews and churches with hard metal chairs; churches with ornately-carved, wooden pulpits and churches with only music stands; home churches that meet in someone’s living room and churches with multiple super-sanctuaries; churches with a warm, inviting atmosphere and churches that were so unfriendly even Mr. Iscariot would have blushed. Some churches permit only hymns to be sung while others wouldn’t know what a hymnal was if you shoved one under their nose.
The fact of the matter is that there are literally thousands of churches to choose from and they’re each filled with fascinating people from all walks of life. One thing I have noticed, however, is that there is no such thing as the perfect church. Someone once told me, “Charles, if you ever find the perfect church, do them a favor and don’t ever go there. You’d just mess it up for everyone else.”
So that begs an important question: Which church is actually doing church right?
The Kind Of Church Jesus Would Attend
Chapters two and three in the book of Revelation provide us with seven letters authored by Jesus Himself—penned at the hand of the apostle John—and delivered to seven real churches in seven different cities. Those seven churches, essentially, are representative of all Christian churches everywhere in the world today. What strikes me as odd, however, is that Jesus told five of those churches to flat-out repent of their wickedness or something awful was going to happen. And soon. He even threatened to permanently shut the doors of one church forever.
Five out of seven churches. That’s not very good.
Of the two churches that Jesus had only kind words to say about, one was a church enduring severe tribulation, poverty, and religious persecution. The other church was one that Jesus said kept His word, did not deny His name, and kept the word of His perseverance. In other words, Jesus commended only those churches filled with people wholly devoted to glorifying Him, regardless of what it cost them in the end. What impressed the glorified Son of God was not how popular or well-attended a church had become, but how obsessed the saints were about declaring His holy name before a sin-loving world.
If you had asked Jesus to recommend a good church in the area, it’s unlikely He would have sent you down the street to that state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar church facility. Nor maybe even to the one on the other side of town with the hip worship band and trendy youth program. No, He probably would have told you to pack your bags and move to Smyrna, because that was where His people were enduring intense persecution, remaining obedient to His word and persevering in their faith—even if it killed them in the end.
What I find so intriguing is that the Lord’s commendations had absolutely nothing to do with the church’s stylistic approach to music, the sort of facility they fellowshipped in, which translation of the Bible they read from, the size of their membership, or even the multi-faceted demographics of the worshippers who showed up Sunday morning. Nor was Christ concerned about whether or not the pastor wore a suit and tie when he preached or mere faded blue jeans and sneakers. What concerned Jesus was how radical the people were about loving Him, not how loyal they were to a particular preacher, church denomination, or even the showy frills of a seeker-sensitive religion.
Ultimately, Jesus was satisfied only with those churches committed to pursuing God-centered worship, not shallow veneration. Radical love was the decisive issue as far as Jesus was concerned, not vain popularity.
I think there is a lot to be learned by understanding that.
If Jesus were to write a letter to your church today, what do you think He would say? Would He applaud the faithfulness of your local congregation, encouraging the attendees to forge ahead with business as usual? Do you think Jesus would have anything to say to you personally? Yes, to you personally. Do you think He would demand that some of the churchgoers in your congregation repent of their sin, wickedness, and lack of commitment? Do you think He would threaten to forever close the doors of your local church assembly?
Five out of seven churches. Again, that’s not very good.
