Two years ago Wal-Mart discontinued name brand products supposedly to “…tidy up stores for the wealthier customers
it had won during the recession.” The store is now going to spend the next
nine months aggressively trying to restock and regain the customers they are
losing. I see some similarities between the church and Wal-Mart. Almost all
mainline churches have gone through some deliberate renovations, whether they
have eliminated Sunday School, tossed out hymnals or dressed down to Sunday
casual. They may have gained a new demographic, but they also lost many
faithful and mature members. I do see one big difference between the Wal-Mart
decision makers and church leadership…Wal-Mart knows when to regroup and get
back to their base. Church leadership on the other hand have spent years
justifying their dismantling of the church and implying that their actions were
God-led. I can see where it would be a little difficult for them to now go back
to the basics and sell people on the idea that God has somehow changed His
mind.
1 comment:
Gail;
-----It could be quite easy for church leadership to go back to basics and sell people on their minds having been changed. Of course, the Bible speaks of the changed mind in terms of transformation. And that transformation is an outcome of a sincere repentance having been sparked by humility.
-----That the sense of humility is the taking of a back seat is another slight of hand by the Deceiver. Humility is the taking of the place to which one is the best fit and performing in that place for the benefit of everyone such performance effects. Thus Christ is humbly seated at the right hand of the Father, not just in His submission to the Father, but also in that His power and authority best places Him there for the benefit of all who cry out for righteousness. It would actually be arrogant of Him to take a back seat to anyone else. God needs not to change His mInd.
-----So, Jesus always was entirely humble, and He did not need repentance from sin. But we are sinful because we are also arrogant. We try to take places not meant for us and try to do things which do not benefit everyone they effect. If there is any life of love in us, then we have at least some humility causing in us a constant dual about where we are and what we are doing. It is only natural that we are going to do some wrong. If there is life of love in us, then some repentance will be just as natural. So generally speaking, the people showing the least repentance are the more arrogant.
-----Christ is the head of the church, and the church, in addition to being glorious, would act gloriously if it were to follow His headship. Through John Christ spoke to the Church at Ephesus, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then from what you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Rev 2:4-5) He did not say, “Remove your lampstand from you.” They would still have their lampstand, but it would be out of place. The Spirit of God is the seven torches before the throne, (Rev 5:5). The torches and the lampstands both burn oil, a symbol of the Spirit, and both produce light, a product of the Spirit. Christ’s headship of the church is through the Spirit, and the church would perform love for everyone it touches if that headship were in its place. But early in church history church leaders perceived the headship to be theirs, and the church’s performance stopped effecting love for everyone and began effecting theology instead. So the Spirit having been removed from its place by the arrogance of church leaders effected the removal of the church from its place to love everyone it encountered. The rest of church history testifies.
-----Repentance from this abandonment would lead to a transformation of the church’s effects and a demonstration of its humility. How the church could focus both upon reaching out to the lost and meeting the needs of the saved simultaneously is beyond the limitations of man’s understanding. The church having been pried from arrogant, meddling fingers would serve whatever need it contacts through multitudes of minds led by the Spirit into love, rather than serving selected needs through just a few minds presuming they alone know the Spirit’s directions and were themselves given the church’s steering-wheel. The understanding of the lampstand in its place will only follow the doing of it after a transformation is brought by leadership’s repentance through choosing humility rather than arrogance.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
Post a Comment