The Lord told me recently that the church is malfunctioning. The Scripture that He spoke to me is Jeremiah 6:14, which states: “They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace, when there is no peace” (ESV) I love the modern church especially how we have moved from religious conformance to accepting people as they are. But if I look at the word that God gave me and my own experience it’s obvious something went wrong as it always does when humans are involved. We can be grateful that we serve a merciful, patient God who continually accepts our cries of repentance. Not only does He forgive us our sins but many times revival follows heartfelt repentance. But we must remember He is not slow but patient.
God told me the church malfunctions because: 1. It does not look after my people. 2. It does not believe that I can do the things that I say I can. 3. It breaks the things that matter to me. The word malfunction means to crash, breakdown, fault, failure, defect, flaw, collapse, impairment, glitch (google) all words we do not want to ascribe to the church. I can hear some of you saying that “His grace is sufficient for us” and that is definitively true but that does not give us the license to stop growing and maturing. We are called to be “a bride without spot or wrinkle” (Eph 5:27) His grace is for the things that we cannot change and He tells us if there are things that we can change. So let’s explore what God is saying to us through His word and how we can find a way to repair what is broken.
1. It does not look after my people.
The Scripture that I was given for this statement was Revelation 2:4 “But this I have against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first''. As I have said before I love what the church is doing but sometimes we go astray especially when we get too busy. If we look at the story of Mary and Martha we see that Jesus praises Mary because she has chosen the good portion. (Luke 10:41-42) We are turning into a church that has so much to do on a Sunday that we forget the most valuable commodity-people. We think that all our good works somehow makes us indestructible. Jesus gives a solemn warning to us in Scripture when people on that day will tell him that they have done many things in His name, But God’s prerogative is for us to know Him. (Mat 7:22-23) And if we know Him we will automatically be drawn to His people and the lost.
God is concerned about the “lost sheep” inside the church! People that have said the prescribed prayer and do church activities but still feel unfulfilled and directionless. We introduce them to religion and send them on their way to play church. “If anyone hates says ‘I love God’ but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom He has not seen.” Another issue is how we treat the newly saved. We cannot let people say a prayer and think that everything is going to be “cool”. A newly saved person is as deep in the battle as anyone else and needs to be discipled. This should not be a choice but a part of joining a church if I may call it that. I have never heard of a newly born baby that says it does not need milk or it chooses not to have its milk now. The mother and the baby cannot go home until the baby has “latched”. You cannot send a baby home that has not learnt to feed. So too we cannot allow people to serve who have not learnt how to feed first. We are setting them up for disaster because they are the prime targets of the enemy. Jesus told the disciples “Follow me”-who are the newly converted following? I understand that someone has to stand at the door, pack a chair etc. The problem is when these activities take precedence over, especially spiritual matters. We are believing God for great revival and this is exciting but no revival comes on the terms of man.
Revival is a God-ordained move for those who are hungry for Him not for activity. Revival is for those who allow God to change our schedules. Revival costs something. (Mat 16:25)This is a call to fix our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. For the time being, I leave these words for your consideration. Stay in touch for the second instalment. I bless you in the mighty name of King Jesus. Amen