2 Timothy 3:1 – “But
know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.”
We
are living in perilous times. The
Apostle Paul prophetically wrote the headlines that dominate our news today. The Church must make a choice. Are we going to be a people who have a form
of godliness and deny its power, or are we going to be a supernatural people?
Our mandate is
clearly defined in the scriptures. Jesus
commanded us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. In Mark 16:15–18, “And He said to them, ‘Go
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and
is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And
these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if
they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands
on the sick, and they will recover.’”
The problem is
that the church has become a sub-culture within the greater culture. In the news media we are referred to as “the
Evangelical vote.” We are not called to be a sub-culture, but to impact the
culture around us. In Acts 1:7 the
Thessalonians referred to Paul and Silas as those “who turned the world upside
down.” The questions for us today: Are
we going to socialize or evangelize? Are we going to entertain the saints, or
are we going to reach out to those who are lost and in need of Christ?
We learn in John
4:35, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the
harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for
they are already white for harvest!” My question is, where is the burden to
reach those around us who are lost and without Christ? Where is the passion to gather our God
ordained harvest?
We measure
success in the church by the size of budgets, the number of activities that we
offer families, and the size of our congregations. We can build multi-million dollar facilities,
but can we impact our city and the culture of our region? People shop for churches and ask what can you
do for me? Our church programs are
consumer driven to attract people.
The problem is
that most of our church growth is transfer growth. People are drawn away from churches for a
number of reasons. I believe the Church
must examine everything we are doing, and ask the following questions:
1) How does this fulfill the Great Commission?
2) How does this help us equip people to share their faith
and to live an overcoming life?
3) How does this reach the next generation and what are
we doing to teach them to impact their world?
My question today
is, are we going to socialize or evangelize?
Do we exist to entertain the saints, or do we exist to equip the saints? The Apostle writes in Ephesians 4:11– 13, “And
He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some
pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the
faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure
of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
The purpose of
the Church is to equip people for the work of the ministry, to become strong in
the Lord and the power of His might, to enable the believer to experience God,
establish a relationship with the Lord, and to become a witness for the Lord.
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