The testimony of a changed life

                                              The testimony of a changed life

I suppose if we were to ask around, if we were to take a survey of the leaders in many of our churches today, the need they expressed would find common ground. Oh, there may be some divergence from the mainstream but for the most part the need would be the same. Most would agree we need stronger preachers. We need men of God who are not afraid to stand up and proclaim the Word of God without reservation, without watering it down to make it more palatable to the general population. We need pulpits filled with the power of the Holy Spirit of God.

I do not disagree with the need for Spirit filled men in the pulpit. I simply disagree with the notion that it would somehow heal what is wrong in our churches. Before one can answer the question of what is needed one must assess the need. And to me the need is simple, getting the gospel to the lost.

We seem to have come to the place in the local church where we believe that the pulpit is the evangelistic arm of the church. We host programs and seminars designed to bring people into the building so that we can preach to them and see them saved. But is that the purpose of the pulpit?

Forty (some) years ago I was unsaved. I had recently graduated from high school and was living a rather pointless life. I was lost but I didn’t understand my condition. I went to church…as often as my mother forced me to. And so, as a lost individual I would attend church, daydream in the pew, sing the hymns (off key) and go home. Our church, I learned much later, had a very good preacher and a loving pastor. So, why didn’t I hear the message of salvation? Why wasn’t I moved to repent and be born again? If the problem is in the pulpit, then I should have been saved in that church. Because the pulpit in that church had a godly pastor.

I dated a young lady during this same period of time who was also unsaved. We only dated for a brief time but I admired her very much. She was a good person, unsaved, but a good person. We broke up and she went on with life and I continued with my life as well.

About a year or so later, as God would have it, her sister and my brother were to be married. It was this event that brought us together again. When I saw her again, I had hope that we might get back together. I looked for an opportunity to be alone with her. At the close of one evening of wedding planning I discovered she needed a ride home. “Finally,” I thought to myself, my opportunity was there. She accepted my offer to drive her home. Plans began to form in my mind, ways to win her back.

What I did not see was that none of this was by accident. This was God’s plan. Instead of a pulpit with a mighty preacher He gave me a gentle young lady with a new heart. Chris had been born again since my last contact with her and I didn’t know it…yet. As we drove toward her home, she began to tell me how God had changed her life. She said that Jesus died to forgive her sins and mine. She explained that God loved me and wanted to adopt me into His family. Quietly, and only under my breath, I mocked every word she said. I tried to act unaffected by her changed life. But you see, that was the testimony. It was her changed life. Yes, her words had power. But I had known Chris and now I was seeing Chris born again. When I dropped her off at home I had to drive away alone, just me and the Holy Spirit of God.

The next day was Sunday and the ‘mighty preacher’ was silenced in my heart by the memory of the night before. All I could do was to wait for him to finish so that I could walk that aisle and ask “how” to be saved. I have no idea what he preached. But today I can still tell you what Chris said 40+ years ago with a changed life.

Is the need in our churches great preachers, with honed homiletical skills? I don’t think so. We need to get back into society and let them see our changed lives. We, with the evident work of Christ in our lives, must share our testimony. And then as they are convicted by the Holy Spirit of God, we can bring them into a Church family they will feel a part of and enjoy fellowshipping with.

If you ask me which is greater a sermon, or the testimony of a changed life, my answer will always be…The testimony of a changed life

WE MUST STOP SPOON FEEDING THE CHURCH

 

WE MUST STOP SPOON FEEDING THE CHURCH

I have visited several churches. Many have a very nice social atmosphere. There is coffee in the vestibule with a selection of cakes or other snacks to help set the tone of a pleasant welcoming congregation. I suppose there really is nothing wrong with this in and of itself. Except that it helps to mask an underlying problem which has plagued our churches since my youth. The Apostle Paul pointed it out in Hebrews 5:12 "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of mild, and not of strong meat." We have become a church of infants.

There seems to be an innate fear within the leadership of the churches. A fear that says, "If we teach the Word of God with intensity, as we would in a college or seminary setting, the congregation would get up and walk out. They would be overwhelmed and leave our congregation." And so, in an attempt to cater to the immature and ensure the pews are filled we opt for socializing the Word of God, keeping it on an elementary level so as not to lose members. The result? We have many large congregations starving for spiritual nutrition. Most are remaining infants, "For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe" (Heb. 5:13).

The Apostle Peter anticipated this problem as well. In II Peter chapter one he lays out a lengthy description of the believer's current position as well as his need to apply these truths and develop his character. In verses 3-4b we read, "According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: (v.4b) whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises...." He says, look at what we have. God has already given us everything we need as believers. And in our modern churches we stop here. We sing wonderful songs exalting this idea but we stop there. What does this mean? How does it occur? How does it become mine? what does it mean to me in my life? It makes for beautiful lyrics. But they become vain repetitions until we study the Word of God and discover the origin and purpose of these gifts.

And then in verses 4b-9 Peter makes a point of saying that by these gifts and their application in our individual lives we become the saints of God we were meant to be. We become temperate, virtuous, knowledgeable, kind, and loving… but only as we learn what the Word of God teaches. When we fail to study as we ought, when the preachers and teachers fail to feed the flock, Peter says in verse nine that we become blind and even forgetful of how our salvation was ever obtained. We simply must teach the Word and stop entertaining in fear of losing members.

In II Peter the Apostle goes on to say something I find fascinating. It seems to go against the prevailing wisdom of our day. In verse twelve he says, "Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them..." He says he is going to continue to teach what they already know over and over again. Do you think he was afraid of losing members? The remainder of verse 12 says that it is this which will establish them in the truth, or provide them with a firm foundation. But now look at verse 13, "Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance." As long as I am alive, as long as I have flesh and in fact (v.15) until the day I die I will continue teaching these same principles so that you will have them when I am gone. I will teach them over again with my last breath in order to shore up your faith.

Why does the church feel a need today to provide flashy preaching, to find ways to entertain the congregation? Why are the preachers not preaching and teaching with an eye toward establishing the believer in the "faith once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3)? Is the gospel of Jesus Christ no longer valid? Is the Word of God no longer a comfort (I Thes 4:18) to the soul? Does the preaching of the cross need enhancing to become attractive to this new generation? NO! We are moving away from the Gospel of Christ with every new idea we introduce. Our ideas and efforts are taking time away from the actual teaching of the Word. If we were to take time, time that is needed, to actually dig deep into the Bible and teach it as it was intended to be taught, we would not have time for all the nonsense we see in the churches today.

We need fire in the pulpit, fire produced by the preaching of the Word empowered by the Holy Spirit of God. The church in America has become anemic. With all of our activities and social emphasis we simply do not have time for anything more than a gentle spoon feeding.

Christian, open the Book and study it. Church, Pastors and teachers, stop spoon feeding the Church.