Evangelical Reformation

By church, I refer to the evangelical church, which currently is the cutting edge of the American church. Ultimately I speak of the individuals that comprise that church and the leadership that formulates the culture of those individuals. How are we doing?

I named this blog Evangelical Reformation because of my conviction that the church is not doing okay—that just as the church during the time of Martin Luther needed reformation, so with the evangelical church in America.

The facts supporting this position are compelling:

• We are losing market share. George Barna provides statistics demonstrating that we are precipitously shrinking. Mega-churches, best-selling books, and other factors camouflage this decline.
• We are losing our identity. George Barna provides statistics demonstrating that we act more like the secular world all the time, in some cases outstripping the world in our worldliness.
• We are losing our marriages. George Barna provides the statistics demonstrating that the rate of marriage breakup among evangelicals is the same as or greater than that of secular society.
• We are losing our children. George Barna provides statistics demonstrating that our children are buying into secular relativism and that once they leave high school they tend not to return to church. Why should they return if they do not believe that the church is the guardian of the truth but only one perspective among many.
• We are losing our effectiveness as salt and light. George Barna provides statistics demonstrating that we are losing the culture war. We don’t need George Barna to tell us that. The designation “post-Christian era” means that we are losing. Listening to the news on any given day should remove any doubt.
• We are losing our compassion. Our indifference to the plight of persecuted brothers and sisters around the world displays our self-absorption.
• Worst of all, we tend to be blind to the devastating symptoms above, believing that we are okay. Just as the AIDS virus disarms the immune system, so our spiritual immune system is failing to activate our defenses.

We tend to see ourselves as we do our congressman. While Congress has been destroying this nation across the past several decades, congressmen and women have continued to get reelected.

How has that happened? The answer resides in the rationale that while Congress is bad, my congressman is okay. Likewise, though the church in America may be failing, we tend to think that we are doing okay.

Economically our nation has reached such crisis that the Tea Party movement is in the process of replacing congressmen who have created this disaster with candidates who promise more responsible fiscal decisions. I hope they do.

Wouldn’t it be a blessing if we had an evangelical Tea Party that was as sensitive to our spiritual plight as the Tea Party is to our impending economic doom—and if that spiritual Tea Party would promote changes needed to precipitate an evangelical reformation? It is that hope that keeps me posting to this blog.

What if Congress Feared the Lord??!

For those who think that fear is always bad, think about how different the “stimulus package” would be if Congress feared the Lord.

What if Jesus, clothed in His majesty, was seated at the committee table as bills were being formulated or at the front of the House and Senate when they were being debated and voted on?

According to Rev. 1, the scene would look like this. “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.” (Re 1:12-16 NIV)

When He walked into the room, they would probably not need a gavel to call the session to order. The response of the Apostle John is recorded in the next verse, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” (Re 1:17 NIV) I would say that this response conveys some fear, wouldn’t you? If the apostle closest to Jesus at the Last Supper, the one who stayed near Him at His trial and at the cross, responded with such dread, how much more might those who have substantially more reason to fear?

Imagine the scene in the Senate if Jesus walked in at the beginning of the session on the stimulus package!! Sen. Barney Frank suddenly remembered another meeting that took precedent. However, he got trampled while trying to get through the door and ended up in the emergency room.

As the senator arose to introduce the bill for the funding of abortion, the flaming eyes turned toward him and a quavering voice was heard saying, “Mr. Chairman, we have decided to send that bill back to committee.”
The sponsor of the pro-homosexual bills could not be found. A colleague reported that he had to use the restroom.

By this time, fear of the “Presence” in the front of the room had cleared heads and focused minds to the awareness of their ethical responsibility to make decisions for the benefit of the country and not their self-serving agendas. This led to the tabling of the political payback bills such as those funding ACORN.

The “pork” bills began to be introduced, but when the a senator began to list reasons why these were really for the benefit of the country, it appeared that Person in the front of the room was about to stand to His feet. The debate stopped immediately and the remaining 52 senators, just one over the quorum, unanimously voted down the bill.

It was now 9:30am, and it appeared that all of the discussion on the stimulus package ready for discussion had been addressed. Senator Harry Reid looked anxiously over at the glorified Christ and asked nervously, “Do you plan to be joining us tomorrow.” His burning gaze turned toward Senator Reid as He pronounced, “I plan to be here every day.” Senator Reid wilted under the gaze and with the all his remaining strength mumbled that the committees had a lot of work to do and that the session was adjourned.

The reality is that Jesus is at every session of the Senate and House. But because the members of Congress cannot see Him, most do not fear Him. Just think of the difference that it would make if they did. That would provide that ultimate stimulus for our nation.

Have you ever thought of what it is like to be in combat? Perhaps you have had that experience. However, most have not. Imagine what it is like to live in an area inhabited by enemy soldiers possessing the weapons, training, and intent to destroy you.

Living in that environment would alter our demeanor. We would act with greater seriousness and intensity.

This sobriety and intensity is found especially in a leader, who has responsibility for the welfare of those under him. He must maintain an attitude that gets their attention, make them aware of danger, and that motivates them to carry out orders.

“Would you mind bringing some ammunition with you, that is, if its not too much of a burden,” is going to get people killed. Running out of ammo in the middle of the battle because in was inconvenient to carry would spell disaster.

Jesus lived in a combat environment. Scripture tells us that His enemies were looking for a way to kill Him, and they would succeed. More sobering yet was the fact that Jesus had to die to win.

The battle He was fighting was not with the Jewish leaders or the Roman soldiers, both of which would participate in His death. Rather, He was engaged in a cosmic struggle with Satan and the forces of darkness for the souls of human beings.

He asserted that He was meek (Matthew 11:29), but, as previously noted, meekness is not gentleness or mildness, nor was that His demeanor. Rather, He conveyed the intensity and directness of a leader in combat.

As such, He was no Mr. Rogers. His interaction with His disciples resembled that of a Marine Corps drill sergeant. He knew that the welfare of His disciples depended on their attentiveness and obedience.

Scripture often reminds us that we are also involved in warfare. Scripture refers to us as soldiers and calls us to fight. We, too, are also dealing with matters of eternal life and death.

This being the case, living in a combat zone as we do, it would be dangerous to think that gentleness and mildness should be our normal operating mode, as many evangelicals do. Mr. Rogers cannot be our model. This demeanor does not convey the seriousness of the situation. It does not get people to stop deadly behavior. They does not motivate people to life-saving action.

For example, gentleness does not get done the job of discipleship. “I know that for the last three weeks have talked about the need for you to be in Scripture, and you have not made it yet. Don’t let that discourage you. Maybe you will get to it this week.”

How about, “Friend, do you know that the Devil is out to destroy you. You have failed to get to your Bible for two weeks, now. You had better get to it this week or you could be in real trouble. You are wondering around the battlefield without your steel helmet and your weapon. You are going to get yourself killed. Tell me what is so much more important.”

Sure, there are occasions for gentleness, and we see Jesus convey that quality at times. But most of the time He was tough, and we need to be as well if we are going to develop a mature, effective army of Christian soldiers.

Gentleness and mildness are producing spiritual wimps that are losing the battle with the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We could use an evangelical reformation that will replace gentleness with gumption.