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How Did the Church Get So Phony?
Rev.2:4
I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp stand from its place.
I know that that verse is a pretty strong verse to start out a message with. Believe me, I am fully aware that you are supposed to start soft and end strong when giving messages. However this verse so encapsulates where we are at today in today’s church, and so speaks to what I want to get across today that I am constrained to use it. You see, I personally am going through a deep and intense paradigm shift in my spiritual life. I also believe and see others going through this same experience. However it is not a shift like we were asked to make 20 years ago. This is a shift that I believe will have global and resounding repercussions within the church world. 20 years ago we were asked to give up and to change our perspective on how God wants to move in this nation and in His church. We were asked to rethink things like shepherding vs. ranching, seeker sensitivity vs. Spirit sensitivity, acceptability vs. foolishness, and rational expository presentations of the gospel vs. demonstrations of gifts and power. The fruits of this change are now evident. We have came to the point in this road where we now have churches that present a cross less, blood less, power less, gospel that caters to the whims of man, rather than stands in awe of a gracious and Holy God. We have converts to this gospel that come, fill the seats, get the first hint of trial and tribulation, and walk out of the back door of these churches, with discouraged and hardened hearts because now they thing they tried Christianity and it didn’t work. There are no disciples being made. Just weakened converts being fed a watered down gospel. No repentance, no dying to self, no picking up the cross, no conviction of sin. And with no conviction of sin, there is no recognition of grace!
Is it no wonder that under the watch of this model and perspective of Christianity that we have seen the rise of paganism? Wicca and it’s proponents are making disciples at an alarming rate. And why not? Their message of 1 tenet of faith is appealing. “Do what you will as long as it causes no harm” Hmmm not much different than some seeker sensitive churches! We have seen the proliferation of hedonism. If it feels good do it! This mentality has opened the doors to pornography, the homosexual lifestyle, rampant materialism, and the greed and abuses we have seen in Wall Street and the banking system. Secular humanism is the new religion of the United States. Man is a god unto himself. There is no higher authority than himself. Thus we see injustice in our streets, with our courts, with how people are treated, and the rise of big government and the nanny state mentality.
How the heck did we get here? What the heck happened? How did we stray so far that now we have no real effect on our culture, our communities, and our very family units? Well again I want to reiterate that I am no expert, nor do I ever want to come off as the man with the answers or worse, a know it all. But I do feel I may have some insight, some perspective that you should prayerfully consider and allow God to speak to your hearts.
1. We left our first love.
This did not happen by a dramatic choice or change, it happened gradually, sort of like what sometimes happens between married couples. Instead of continuing to do those things that caused them to fall in love with each other in the first place, like spending time just together, speaking and sharing their hearts between one another, and spending intimate times between one another. They get caught up in the distractions of life, start taking one another for granted, and allow familiarity to breed a sense of commonness and even contempt. The same happened to us the church! We started to get our focus off of Jesus, and on to the things that are good but not the number 1 priority. The things that surround a relationship with Jesus. Ministry, evangelism, church growth, disciple making, and relationships with brothers and sisters. Now notice that all these things are good things, but not the number 1 priority! Our eyes were drawn off of Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith! Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Here is where the decline started. We became focused on the work of God, instead of Jesus. And so the next step was to start seeking how to do it better. Soon it became a work of man rather than a byproduct of our relationship with Jesus. We started figuring out better methods, rather than letting God draw all men unto Jesus. John 6:44″No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. So we started listening to the world. They said, “Christians are too weird, too emotional, too scary. They said to tone down the expressions of joy, of emotions. They said to get rid of the moving of the Holy Spirit in the main congregation, that those things were only for believers. They said to make coming to Christ comfortable, to change our speech and our vocabulary so that it was not offensive. ECT. ECT. ECT. Pretty soon we were so caught up in figuring out how to win the masses, that we forgot the basic things that make Christians effective. Pretty soon we were in love with ministry, position, numbers, and our own intellect in how we have it all figured out, that we lost our love for Jesus. So busy trying to be so relevant, so cutting edge, so acceptable, that we forgot that it is the foolish things of this world that God uses. Not the acceptable! We left our love, the thing that we cherished the most, the thing that brought us into Christianity in the first place, the thing that truly motivated us to love, to serve, to humble ourselves, to walk away from the world and the things of the world.
2. We dishonored our Fathers.
We have a rich and vibrant foundation of our fathers in the Charismatic and Pentecostal stream of Christianity. From William Seymour to Charles Parham to John G. Lake to Smith Wigglesworth to A.J. Tomlinson to Aimee Semple McPherson to A.A. Allen, Jack Cole, Oral Roberts, Kathryn Kuhlman, John Wimber, and Kenneth Hagin, to just name a few! These men and women were all greatly used to win multitudes to Jesus, to show the gospel is not a theoretical exercise of faith but one that is accompanied with great power. These were men and women who laid the foundations of who we could be today! They were not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation. Romans 1:16
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 2 Timothy 1:8
So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
They were not ashamed of the Gospel, nor were they ashamed that it came with power and demonstrations of the Holy Spirit! However because we forgot that these men and women were after all men and women, we put them on pedestals expecting perfection and when they failed our expectations, not God’s, we then dismissed all of who they were and we dishonored them and what they did for Jesus! No longer did we want to be like Smith Wigglesworth who would pick people up expecting them to be healed, no longer did we want to be like Aimee Semple McPherson and let the power of God fall where whole sections of the congregation would come under the power of the Holy Spirit, no longer did we want to cast devils out like A. A. Allen, nor touch people and have God overwhelm people like Kathryn Kuhlman. It was not acceptable, the world didn’t like it. So when the world came up with bad reports against these dear saints of God, we chose to believe the world, rather than honor our forefathers. 1 Timothy 5:19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Not only did we entertain the accusations, but we believed them! We believed the report of the ungodly! I am guilty of this as are many of you! I did the same thing. Do you not think that the world has an agenda to discredit anything that God would do in this land? In fact, when did we replace the knowledge that when the world was upset with you, that you must be doing something right, with the belief that only when the world speaks well of you, then are you doing it right? Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down. Satan is the accuser of the brethren! When we start agreeing with the world and the god of this world, we align ourselves with him and his purposes. We as the corporate church of God opened the door for Satan to get a foothold in our churches, communities, and nation! Oh Lord, as 1 of those that offended, I publicly and profoundly repent today!
3. We fell into pride.
James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
1 Peter 5:5 Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” We thought we knew better than our fathers of the faith, we thought we needed to cover for their humanity, we thought we needed to be more acceptable, more sophisticated, more, more, more. We forgot that God is not interested in outward appearances but upon the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
It is not the way a man looks, or his ability, or his connections or family lineage. We replaced what God looks at for what man looks at. We traded spiritual authority for positional authority! We did so out of pride. We wanted to look good, not have more of God in our lives, churches, or world. No longer is the criteria for our pulpits whether a man has a deep abiding faith and spiritual walk, now we look for someone who looks the part, who has the ability to manage, and who can attract with charisma. We have turned what is a holy building, a set apart people, a peculiar people, and made it an example of Madison Avenue. No longer do we see men and women of God leading people in a weeping prayer for their communities, broken by the spiritual state of their congregations. No longer do we see men and women of God refuse to bow to the pressure of being acceptable and instead choosing to be a fool for God. We are too good to be fools, but hear what Paul said! 1 Corinthians 1:27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 2:14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
We have gotten so concerned with what others think that we act as if we are ashamed of the gospel. That we don’t want anyone to think badly of us. Oh people! Please let go of this seed that Satan has planted in your heart. Jesus was not ashamed of you when He willingly gave up His life, suffered on the cross for you! Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus not only was not ashamed of you, He accepted and endured the shame of public humiliation by being put on a cross. If He was willing to endure that shame, should we not be willing to endure the shame that the world would try to place on us? Have we become so self conscious that we can no longer die to self and live to him? Live for Him? Here what the Apostles said concerning shame. Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. Philippians 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.2 Timothy 1:8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 2 Timothy 1:12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.1 Peter 4:16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.
Now you need to understand this very important fact! None of the Apostles believed that the gospel was to be preached without signs, wonders and miracles following. It was to be that those things confirmed what was being preached! Mark 16:15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Romans 15:17 Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. 18I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 19by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 1 Corinthians 2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.
Whoa! Do you see that! So that our faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power! My dear brothers and sisters, the very thing our faith needs to rest on, we have eliminated by our pride! Our desire to be accepted, our desire to look good! Can you now see how we got to the place we are today? Can you see why our nation, communities and families are in the position they are in today?
So what do we do now?
We must return to our first love! We must return to where nothing matters except getting to know Jesus. The real Jesus, not the one that religious people try to pawn off. The one that is revealed in the gospels! A long time ago, we used to read the red and pray for the power. We need to get back to that! We need to hear his voice again, see His heart again, to walk as He walked again. We must fall in love with Jesus all over again! Everything else, your ministry, your position, your previous accomplishments must be set aside, and you must once again fall in love with your relationship with Jesus. Even if that means letting go of all those things and spending a season away from it all and just sitting at His feet. Dear brothers and sisters please hear me! The world depends, the very future of our nation, communities and families, depends on you once again falling in love with Jesus alone! Lay down your pride, walk the path of humility, and let God use the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Allow yourself to be a donkey for Jesus. Put down self respect, self consciousness, and clothe yourself with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus thought was so important, he promised to give you as a precious gift when He left. If you will do this, what has happened will change. I know God will give us another outpouring that we cannot contain!
Duke G. Taber
Come find me at www.taberstruths.com
About the Author
Duke Taber is the pastor of the Vineyard Christian Fellowship of Pine Haven Wyoming. He is an alumni of Life PacificUniversity in San Dimas California. He writes a weekly column for the Moorcroft Leader in Moorcroft Wyoming. He has served in churches across Oregon, Nevada, and Wyoming with the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, (Foursquare) and with the Association of Vineyard Churches.
