The Great American Church Myth

In almost any retail business today you can find those little questionnaire cards asking, “How are we doing?” Everyone in retail business understands like never before the importance of “giving people what they want.” If you don’t, they are gone! Any restaurant that has been in business for twenty-four months will probably make it because they have been able to navigate those dangerous waters of appealing to the fickle tastes of the American public. We are all a spoiled lot. Recently, I was with a friend ordering breakfast. I said, “I’d like two eggs over easy, ham, no grits, dry, whole wheat toast, sugar free strawberry jelly and tomato slices.” The waitress looked at me and said, “My, someone has really spoiled you, haven’t they.” I said, “Rotten to the core!” We all want what we want when we want it. It’s the American way of life.

Unfortunately, this consumerism has found its way into the American church. American Christians shop for churches like they shop for groceries. People actually call churches with a survey sheet of sorts, asking “What can this church do for me? If I attend this church, will I be fulfilled?” I was serving as pastor of a church in the Houston, Texas area back in the early 90’s when a lady met me at the back door of the church after service. My sermon that day was not a particularly “make you smile” kind of message. It was more of a “you need to change” kind of sermon. I’ll never forget her words that day. She said, “Preacher, if you don’t give these people what they want, they will leave you and go somewhere else.” I wonder how many pastors find themselves imprisoned by such attitudes? How many gifted and called spiritual leaders are held hostage by self centered people who believe the myth that the job of the church is to make sure that they are fulfilled!

The myth of the American church today is clearly an infection that has attacked the church from the prevailing attitude of the current culture. This attitude screams, “It’s all about me.” Churches are driven to try to compete with music, drama, sermons, and all kinds of specialized ministries that a very savvy Christian public demands. This attitude is a far cry from Biblical definitions of what the church, the Body of Christ, is supposed to be. The church is not a centralized place organized to serve Christians. It is a staging ground for Christian service. The church is a place where Christians are equipped for service. It is a place where spiritual gifts are discovered, strengthened and activated into function. In truth, the address for fulfillment for the Christian is not the church…it is the world. The church equips the Christian to serve outside the walls of the church and that service in the name of Christ brings fulfillment.

It is time for the American church to return to it’s roots. It’s time for Pastors and leaders to cease bowing to consumerism. It’s time to stop the insanity of competition and return to the primitive principles of Christian service rising out of a personal relationship with our Lord and King, Jesus. The real question should be, “What does He want?”

Revival Of The Minister

I can't remember a time when more ministers seemed to be under the gun. Many are very discouraged and some are reconsidering the ministry all together. Of course finances is always a major player in the scenario. Some are missing paychecks and churches and ministries are struggling to make ends meet. I have heard it preached that the world's economy and God's economy are two different things. That "preaches good" but they are connected and there is evidence in the Scripture as well. Of course God is a miracle working God and gives financial miracles beyond the world's economy. We have experienced that. However, in the day to day operation of things when the economy of a town is hit, the finances of the church is hit as well. There are churches of which I am aware that report their income is down by half of what it was just one year ago. People are scared. Even as I write this, the stock market closed today really, really low. No one has the answers to these problems, though some claim they do.

Where does all that leave us who are called to minister to society? What about ministers who are wanting to quit? What about those who are out of gas? What about ministers who have lost their vision or are simply confused? First, let me say this is a wonderful opportunity, maybe the best opportunity in a generation, to be "on the bridge, at the helm". It's a time to be giving clear leadership. It's a time to be preaching the Truth of the Gospel like never before. People need to be hearing a clear clarion call. They need to see and hear from leaders who are filled with passion and faith. What must we do to get there?

There are several things we must be doing in order to get off the "fantail" considering making a jump and get ourselves back on the bridge with our hand on the wheel. Let me list a few:

1. Consider the Call - Were you ever called by God to full time ministry? Crisis always shakes up the milk and the cream always rises back to the top. You can't defeat or stop the call. You can beat the call, you can persecute the call, you can discourage the call, but in the end, the Call of God is an overwhelming, unsinkable force within the man or woman of God. If you are called, take a moment and revisit your Call from God. Make a fresh commitment to that Call.

2. Die to your rights - We must move beyond feeling that we deserve better than we are getting. Nothing arouses the discipline of the Father quicker than a child complaining about the provision of the father. It is in the "taking up the cross daily and following Him" that the devil is denied his weapon of discouragement.

3. Choose Lordship over doctrine - Jesus is our Lord, doctrine is not our Lord. Jesus is clear and certain, doctrine can change, develop or even be flat wrong! God is not a compliant God. By that I mean, God will not be who we want him to be nor will he perform according to what our doctrine says he will do. His is in fact...God. If you find yourself discouraged because God hasn't performed according to your perception of Him you have two choices. You can either walk away or you can make a fresh commitment to His Lordship and ask Him to change you and your doctrine. The end result must be that whether we understand or not, we will be faithful and loyal to His Lordship. By the way, our "understanding" is just like doctrine. It may or may not be right.

4. Repent of complaining - The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 77:3 "I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah" Complaining only robs us of the energy of God and actually works against our situation and our healing. It's a time to watch our hearts and our lips. Let's be found encouraging those around us. We are leaders among God's people.

5. Guard the Sacred Trust - The Lord spoke to me recently and said to me, "be careful how you handle my Bride!" It put a new fear of God in me. His church is "His Church, His Bride" and not my Church. Some have acted as if the church was their own private business and have run it much the same way. This kind of presumption leads to all kinds of abuses. As Papa Ken Sumrall has taught us for many years, "beware of the gold, the girls (boys) and the glory." Presumption leads to abuse in all three deadly areas. If you get a leader that is hurting, disillusioned, mad at God and feeling he's not getting what he deserves, you have a recipe for disaster. He will fail in one of the big three. Let's remember, we are called to follow Him. We begin by following Him and when he returns, and He will return, we must be found still following him. No matter how anointed we may be nor how large a ministry we raise up, He will never follow us. As a matter of fact, "these signs will follow those who believe or who keep following Him".

5. Get Healed - It is time to get healed! We need you healed! The Kingdom needs you healed! Whatever it takes, get healed. If I can help, let me help. If you are close to another "healed brother", ask for help. Confess your condition. James tells us, "is any sick among you, let him call for the elders". You must confess your sickness in order to get healed. You cannot operate in the Gospel ministry which is a ministry of healing, without being healed. Of course, we are all in process but there has to be a basic level of health or else we will simply reproduce in our people our level of health or the lack thereof. Get real and get healed. Pharisees hide their sickness and pretend they are healed. Genuine, transparent disciples "confess their faults one to another, and pray for one another, and are healed." Pursue healing and health!

6. Reinvest your life in ministry - Don't invest your life in trivial pursuits. You and I have been called to a higher place. Remember how you felt when you first comprehended the call of God upon your life. Nothing else mattered to you. Money didn't matter, reputation didn't matter and success didn't matter. You simply wanted to please Jesus. Has that changed? Has the call changed? Has Jesus changed? After over 33 years of full time ministry I can tell you that we have been placed in the most important role in history. We are called to do what at times is a thankless task. At times we are punished for doing good and Godly things. We are not rewarded for our labors as the world often rewards. We can't look at what we do every afternoon with appreciation and pride because most of what we do is unseen and may remain that way eternally. Yet, no one holds the promise that we hold. For those who remain faithful until the end, we look forward to hearing those special words of the Creator of the Universe as he says to us, yes to you and me, "well done thou good and faithful servant".