Is Jesus welcome in MY Church?

There is this very convicting song by Todd Agnew called My Jesus.  In one verse here is what Todd writes:

My Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He'd prefer Beale St. to the stained glass crowd

WOW!  Have you ever wondered what Jesus would think if he came to your church on Sunday morning? What would he do? Would he be comfortable?  I mean really think about it for just a second, would you?

For seven churches in the first century, Jesus did show up for a visit — sort of. In Revelation, there are seven short, but powerful letters written to specific local churches. In these letters, we gain insight into what Christ thinks about them, and we see how our church might stack up.

The letter to the church in Laodicea is particularly striking (Revelation 3:14-22). In it, we see some remarkable parallels to the church today.

Passion! Do we really possess it?

God writes to this church: “You are neither cold nor hot.” Christians hunger for something we call passion. But what is this passion? Is it the tingly feeling we get when the lights go down, the volume goes up, and we are enveloped in a sensation of sound and lights? Is this true, deep, genuine passion, or is it a surface emotion?  True abiding passion comes from a right relationship with God, He alone can provide it in us it is not from us!   But often, we mistake fiery passion for a fleeting emotion often that we create.   I happened to think that Christ takes this issue seriously. Revelation records that “because you are lukewarm…I will spit you out of my mouth.” True passionate love for God does not come from a good show, but from a deep and abiding relationship with him. Perhaps our entertainment-fueled passion is nothing but a lukewarm nod to God. Perhaps we risk God’s displeasure over our mock passion.

Purity? Is it really present?

Christ also targets the bogus purity of the church. He counsels them to “buy from me gold refined by fire…and white garments so that you may clothe yourself.” This church had an issue with purity — or more specifically, the lack thereof. When a church is given to moral and mental sin, it is difficult to develop the passion we praise, and it is impossible to have purity present in our lives. What tolerance do we have for moral laxity in the church today? Our entertainment choices do not reflect a pursuit for purity, but for a spicy interest in moral impurity. True purity comes through Christ, and righteous passion then will follow.

Prosperity? Is it for real?

There is no doubt about it; the American church is materially prosperous. But does material prosperity mean that we are spiritually prosperous as well? The Laodicean church thought they were prosperous, too. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.” But Christ knew better. “[You don’t realize] that you are wretched, poor, pitiable, blind, and naked.” Could it be that our material affluence has contributed to our spiritual bankruptcy? It is easy to depend on the comfort of riches to insulate us from the coldness of a spiritually depleted life. What would our churches look like if we stripped away everything American, everything technological, everything cultural, everything material, and everything manmade? Would we even have a church left — at least one that we could recognize? Let us see our prosperity for what it is — a tool to use for kingdom advancement, not for personal comfort.

Christ’s loving discipline will be dispensed.

Jesus provides a warning for churches in this state:  “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Perhaps if Jesus entered our churches, he would see our need for discipline. We need to repent of where we have wronged him. If only we could see Him for who HE is and ourselves for who we are!

The church has become so consumed with showiness and presentation, that we have neglected the heart of real worship. We think that big crowds equal a big impact for God. We attempt to coerce the Holy Spirit to do our bidding, by means of manipulative tricks with lights and sound. Yet true worship has nothing to do with fog machines or sound systems or cool computer presentations.  Yes, this blog comes from tech freak!  I am the biggest techno guy around.  I love the tech toys…  and they may have a place in worship but if we are not careful our love for these things can supersede our devotion for our God!

In Jesus Made in America, Stephen Nichols writes, “Christians in all cultures and ages have the tendency to impose their understandings and cultural expressions on Scripture or beliefs.” There is nothing wrong with media, with prosperity, or even with fog machines. But there is a need for a purer understanding of Scripture, shed of its cultural growths.

From Scripture, we see that we are to:

·       Cultivate true passion (Revelation 3:15-16)

·       Pursue Christ’s purity (Revelation 3:17-18)

·       Repent of our sin, and welcome Christ into our lives and churches (Revelation 3:19-20)