The Lukewarm Church

         The church in modern times has often been described as apathetic. Apathy is defined as “Absence of passion, emotion, or excitement.” We live in a day where the world is largely indifferent/apathetic about the church and the church is largely indifferent/apathetic about itself.

        While Satan and the worldly system he drives works day and night to undermine and silence the church, the church by and large, sets back and does little to demonstrate its concern for itself. In many churches, less than 10 % of the Sunday morning attenders come back on Wednesday evenings for the prayer meeting. All-the-while overall Sunday morning attendance is declining, more and more churches are discontinuing Sunday evening activities and Sunday School all due to lack of attendance and interest. In most congregations, the older generation is dying off faster than younger people are being reached for Christ. Any way you look at it, the church in the late 20^th and early 21^st century is lukewarm for Christ at best. Keep in mind, Satan is filled with zeal and is actively working to harm and destroy the church while the church itself often acts as though it is unaware of his efforts.

        The Lord indicted the New Testament church at Laodicea for being lukewarm. They were in their groove, they felt self-sufficient and Christ was no longer a part of what they were doing. The church was fully operational and incorporated the name of Christ, but the most important reason for their existence had faded out of sight. Paul, writing to Timothy in 2 Tim.3:5 warned of a perilous time where, even believers would “Have a form of godliness but deny its power” and from such people he warned to turn away. Laodicea had a form/appearance of godliness, but there was no power because Jesus Christ was no longer the reason they did the things they were doing.

        The city of Laodicea was wealthy, and like all people have the tendency to do, they felt the security that money often brings and they stopped trusting in, and relying on God. The attitude in the church mirrored the attitude of the city itself. These deeply prideful people felt they did not need any help, advice, or direction. They thought they were ok but Jesus told them they were “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Rev. 3:17). Their condition reminds one of the children’s story “The Emperor has No Cloths” by Hans Christian Andersen. In the story, two swindlers convince the Emperor they can make a set of cloths that will only be able to be seen by the most worthy of people. They went through the motions of dressing the Emperor in these garments. None of the Emperor’s court dared say a word thinking they were unworthy as the reason they could not see the cloths. The Emperor went out and was paraded among the people with the crowd also seeing his nakedness but no one daring to say anything for fear their unworthiness would also be exposed. Finally a small child unaware of what was going on blurted out “The Emperor has no cloths!” Then many began to laugh. The Emperor finally caught on to what was happening but kept it to himself, continued smiling, and simply kept up the façade. In many ways, this is what was going on in Laodicea and is going on in the church of today. If an outside consultant came in and audited the church spiritually, I wonder what might be found. Is it possible it might be discovered that everyone is just playing along and the church is really “wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” just like at Laodicea?

        Christ, in His graciousness, did not destroy the Laodicean church. But instead offers them 3 things. He says He will give them true wealth, like gold that has been refined in the fire (spiritual wealth or true redemption), white garments so as to cloth them with purity and so that their nakedness will not be on display, and to anoint their eyes with eye salve to overcome their spiritual blindness. The full intent of the Lord’s discipline was for their profit. The book of Hebrews speaks of the discipline believers experience at the hand of God. “For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers then you are illegitimate and not sons.” (Heb. 12:6-8)

        Jesus says to the Laodicean church in verse 20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” The picture is of Christ standing outside of the gathering of this church knocking and desiring to come in and be a part of the fellowship and, in fact, be the centerpiece of all they were doing. How ironic it is that there could be church without Christ. The definition of “church” is “the body of Christ;” but, as we know all too well, it does happen all the time. Too many churches have “Ichabod” spiritually written over their doors, meaning “The glory has departed.”

        In verse 20, Christ offers to join them in the most intimate of fellowship. In biblical times, eating or dining with someone showed love, concern, and affection. This is why Jesus was often criticized by the religious leaders. He not only associated with sinners, but He went so far as to eat with them and in so doing He caused a scandal.

        For those who will be “overcomers” He promises to grant them to sit down with Him on His throne as He also overcame and sat down with the Father on His throne (vs. 21). The right to sit with Christ on His Heavenly throne is one of many promises to overcomers conveyed in Scripture. Christ is saying, in effect to the church, if you are with Him you will be victorious! He is speaking the same message to the church today!

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

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The Faithful Church Christ Desires

         Believers are told many times and in many ways in Scripture of the need to persevere. Perseverance is “Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose or state, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.” (Dictionary.com) Perseverance is the responsibility of both individual Christians and churches.
         We live in a world that will rarely settle for anything less than immediate results and instant gratification. God’s ways may seem slow to many people, but His ways are much more reliable than man’s ways. The Apostle Paul, commending believers to be patient and wait on the Lord, wrote “Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, continue steadfastly in prayer.” (Rom. 12:12) Above all else, God is calling his church to be faithful to His Word and the promises therein and persevere no matter what trials/tests/tribulations come its way.
         The New Testament church of Philadelphia, addressed in Revelation 3:7-13, was doing what the Lord expected of the church. They are lifted up as an example of faithfulness. The Lord had nothing negative to say about them, like He did the other 6 churches addressed in Revelation 2 and 3. He commends them for standing strong in the face of difficulties and persecution. This church had little strength, little power, and little influence but Jesus was pleased with them because they had not let the cares of the world and other external pressures affect them in a negative way. They were strong in the Lord.
         It is never easy to stand faithful to God in the face of persecution, but it is always the right thing to do. Former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote in his autobiography “Sometimes when you are doing the right thing, you have to stay strong, steely, and silent, even though you are getting beaten up by others for doing what is right. Often it takes a long time for the truth to emerge.”(John Ashcroft; Never Again; 229-30) Perseverance is about being in it for the long haul.
         The believers at Philadelphia had already passed many tests; therefore the Lord is promising to spare them from the ultimate test. The specific promise is to remove them from the period of unparalleled tribulation that was coming upon the world.
         Sadly, faithfulness is hard to find these days. Most churches have inflated membership rolls and many of the names are of people no one seems to be able to identify. Some are trusting in their church membership as their ticket to Heaven, but the Lord is not concerned with whose name is on an old ledger in the church office. He is concerned with who is actively serving Him and standing strong withthe church against the constant attacks of Satan and those working on his behalf. The true church is comprised of those who are actively serving as a part of the living organism identified as the church.
         People trust in many different things, but there is no substitute for the real thing. Just because spiritual placebos satisfy a person’s mind, does not mean they have any actual benefit. An old evangelist said it well “Any religion that does not affect the way you live your life will not save your soul or take you to Heaven when you die.” (Evangelist David Miller). All Christians today need to heed the example of the church at Philadelphia. Further, all claiming to be the followers of Christ also need to examine what is actually involved in being a New Testament Christian.

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

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A Dead Church: And Sins Leading to Death

         Perhaps, in the entire world, there is no greater tragedy than for a local church to be accurately described as dead. In fact, the very idea seems oxymoronic! It sounds clearly to be a blatant contradiction of terms! The idea that the church, the body of Jesus Christ, would be dead seems wrong and indeed is wrong. Christ is the Son of God and the firstborn from the dead. It is His resurrection that we celebrate at Easter and the reason for the church’s whole existence. Yet, the term “dead church” is being used with more and more frequency these days. However, describing a church in these sorts of terms is not really anything new.
         In Revelation 3:1-6 Jesus’ words of condemnation to the Church at Sardis were that they “appeared” alive but were actually spiritually dead. Many things can give an appearance that does not reflect reality. Space, for instance, is virtually incomprehensible to the human mind. The nearest stars to the earth are trillions of miles away. These vast distances forced astronomers to come up with a new term – “light year.” It is the distance light, which travels at 186,000 miles per second, travels in the span of 1 year. It turns out, 1 light year is 6 trillion miles! If a star, for instance, thirty light years away from the earth exploded and died five years ago, we could not be able to tell by looking at it for another 25 years! Though no longer in existence, the light from that star would go on shining as if nothing had changed. The light at Sardis appeared to be shining, but the church was dead.
         Instead of focusing on and pursuing present faithfulness, many churches look backwards to past glory. I once was called as pastor to a church with a long history. Very shortly afterwards a few of the older members began telling me about how this church had planted several other churches and was therefore, in their estimation, very mission minded. A bit surprised, I inquired further. It was then explained how that in the 1880s, then in the 1890s new churches were planted then again about 3 more during the early part of the 1900s for a total of about 5 or 6 mission churches spawned. The most recent church plant was in the 1920s! Yet, 8 decades later this was still something the church considered an object of pride. The obvious question was, “But what have you done lately?” Many churches look backwards and not forward. The church is called to be largely progressive and somewhat reflective, whereas many churches are instead just the opposite – largely reflective and only slightly progressive. This is a sign they are much more like the church at Sardis than they would ever realize or admit.
         The church at Sardis probably had started out like Ephesus by losing their first love. That likely led them to compromise like Pergamos, then naturally to corruption like at Thyatira, and then ultimately death. James wrote in his epistle of a progression which takes place “When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:15). The specific sin(s) may be different in each case but it is “sin” nevertheless. For some churches it is sexual sin that goes unconfessed or perhaps undealt with by the leadership who are aware of the problem but look the other way. In some cases it is one of many various forms of idolatry. Churches have been known to make idols of their bank accounts, their buildings, their property, particular objects within the building, particular rooms within the building, a particular program sponsored by the church, a particular method for doing certain things, etc. Idolatrous type tendencies can show up in a lot of different places. Laziness can also cause some churches to die. Relying on someone else to do what the New Testament tells you (if you are a Christian) to do. Countless people have been blamed by others for not doing the work they themselves were supposed to do. Apathy is also another reason churches die. Often the attitude within the church is much like the attitude within our nation. Someone once stated to his friend ‘“The main problems in our nation today are ignorance and apathy - don’t you agree?’ The friend replied, ‘I don’t know and I don’t care!’” Sadly, I think there is some application when it comes to unhealthy attitudes within the church visible in both words and behavior.
         What is the remedy? Jesus tells the church at Sardis they need to “wake up.” It was not time for indifference. Second, the small remnant needed to “strengthen the things that remain which were about to die.” Third, the faithful remnant needed to “remember what they had received and heard.” In other words, they needed to focus once again on the basics/fundamentals. Fourth, after going back to the truths of Scripture, they needed to “keep” them and not let them slip away again. Fifth, they needed to “repent.” Repentance means swallowing a lot of pride, which most are unwilling to do.
         The Lord promises to the church at Sardis that if they simply do what he asks of them, He will cloth them with white garments symbolizing purity and holiness. He further promises to not blot out their names from the book of life, but instead confess them before His Father. Church history gives us a pretty good indication that there was at least a partial heeding of Jesus’ words to this church. Melito, a prominent man who served as bishop at Sardis several decades after John wrote, indicated that some measure of revival did take place after this letter was received. No church and no individual is too far gone if they will simply repent and turn to God!
 
In Christ,
 
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
 
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Corruption: The Inevitable Fruit of Compromise

         Compromise can lead both individuals and churches down the road to corruption more quickly and easily than what we might imagine. Many of the problems we face get kicked down the road like the proverbial can. There seems never to be a good moment to deal with many things so they are put off in favor of a better time. But sadly, that more opportune time rarely, if ever, comes.

         Many things that Americans put off end up costing them more in the long run. If your car is making a funny noise and you simply ignore it and hope that it will go away you will probably end up paying much more later on than you would have, had you had it checked out sooner. You know, on one level, those dizzy spells and headaches you are having are not good and that you need to see your doctor, but if you put it off too long the doctor may say ‘there is nothing I can do.’ When you see a few termites, you may reason it is not a serious problem. After all, what damage can a few termites do? But, for every few you see there are many more doing their destructive work. Think about the national debt in America. Economists predict that by the time Obama leaves office, it will be at 20 trillion dollars! How did it get this big? Quite simply, a little at a time! Politicians knew we should not take on more debt, on one hand, but on the other, it was so tempting to compromise yet once again.

         Many churches have compromised with the world for so long they have been corrupted by the world. Sin is caustic and it eats away at churches like rust on metal. It seems wrong at first, but a little bit is tolerated, then a little more, then still yet more, and ultimately the whole church lives under the weight of ongoing compromise and corruption. This is exactly what was going on in the church at Thyatira, addressed by the Lord in Revelation 2:18-29.

         Despite the compliments given to the church by the Lord, things were far from being well. They were tolerating a false prophetess to teach/lead in their midst. She is called “Jezebel” by the Lord, almost certainly not her real name but a distinction reminiscent of the wicked queen and wife of Ahab from Jewish history. Jezebel was so vile that 1 Kings 16:30-31 tell us that the most wicked thing Ahab ever did (and he did many wicked things) was marry her!

         This false prophetess at Thyatira was leading people to be involved in sexual immorality and in eating meat offered to idols. She was teaching that one could engage in wicked behavior away from church and still be in good standing when the body met for worship; and apparently, nothing was being done to prove anything any different. Verse 23, of chapter 2 mentions her spiritual children, so she was certainly having a profound, and negative, influence on the culture of the church. The Lord had given her opportunity to repent, but she had refused. Her punishment was to be cast onto a “sickbed,” most likely a reference to death and hell – the ultimate resting place for those who refuse to repent.

         God takes sin seriously, even when church members and church leaders do not. In Acts 5 we read of the account of Ananias and Sapphira lying to the Holy Spirit and before the church and they were struck dead. Clearly God desired purity in His church and not His people getting all cozy and comfortable with sin. The church leaders at Thyatira could have done something but they were guilty of appeasement in the situation and that usually leads to far worse problems than there ever really needed to be.

         The church of the 21^st century is certainly a church of compromise, at best, and corrupted at worst. There are things going on in churches that are highly disturbing when measured against God’s Word. Maintaining the purity God desires is not particularly easy, but necessary. The church loses its power when it compromises and when it becomes corrupted all hope is gone unless or until it truly repents and turns the reins of leadership back over to Jesus Christ.

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

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The Principle of the Work Ethic

        Work often does not hold the place in society that it once held. There are those who do take their work seriously, but too many instead look for ways to avoid the various labors of life. The Bible places a high premium on work and performing our various tasks should ultimately be viewed as a type of worship to our Lord who has given us both the work and the ability to do the work. Viewing work from the proper perspective is critical to understanding its place in our lives and in understanding the God who has placed us here to glorify Him through our efforts laboring with our hands.

         Historically, Americans have been hard workers. This country was literally built by the sweat of the brows of many people who had vision and determination to see their dreams become reality. There is an entrepreneurial spirit which has existed, almost from day one, and has driven people to be innovative and strive harder.

        In honor of this Labor Day holiday, I wish to share something I came across recently in my reading. This brief article presents a very interesting picture of work that is both simple, yet profound.

        

         Engrained deep within the American spirit is the Puritan work ethic, which places a high moral value on doing a good job because work has intrinsic value for its own sake. To the Puritan, all of life was to be lived in relation to God, a principle which gave sacred significance to every activity. Work was valued as a vital part of their service and worship to God, and they took the Bible seriously when it said, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him” (Col. 3:17). Just as the Israelites were instructed to work six days and then rest on the seventh (Ex. 20:9-10), the Puritans regarded work and worship as a lifestyle of obedience to Christ.

         God Himself taught us this by example as He created this universe and all that is in it. He could have merely thought creation into being, but He took six days and rested on the seventh. Man was created in God’s image with a purpose, to work by creating a desirable habitat (Gen. 1:28). Man was created to work toward the betterment of both himself and others for six days, and then the Sabbath rest offers opportunities for worship that renew the spirit.

         When God completed His creation, He declared it “very good” – the quality was a reflection of His character. Similarly, the quality of our work reflects our personal character. Whatever our trade or craft, we should do all to the glory of God and in the service of mankind. God is worthy of the best we can offer, for He has endowed us with gifts to be used for the good of all. God has designed our labor to have dignity and consequence.

         This spiritual heritage has led America to be the strongest economic powerhouse in the history of the world. There is no desire in this independent spirit to simply exist on handouts from a government agency or siphon off a living from benevolence or friendships. And it flies in the face of a pleasure-oriented society that exalts leisure above all else. The object of life is not to see how much work can be avoided or how much fun we can have, but to give our very best “with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. (Eph. 6:7)” (Taken from The Patriot’s Study Bible; an article entitled “The Principle of the Work Ethic;” pg. 1354)

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor

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