Take me out to the ball game

Saturday June 16th I made the trip to New England baseball “Mecca”. I had the opportunity to attend a Boston Red Sox game. It was really a Father’s Day gift to my Grandfather, he’s always wanted to go to a Sox game. Aside from dealing with the traffic, “cultural detours” (wrong turns), and crazy Massachusetts drivers, I had a really good time. As I sat and watched the game something interesting also occurred to me… I was at church! I wasn’t really at church in any kind of traditional sense of the word but Fenway Park was clearly a place of worship. Think about it, the people in that stadium are there to worship. They have their own praise songs. They even have a fellowship time (7th inning stretch). I realized something else as I sat and watched… There are those who attend games, and then there are those who are disciples of the game. I’m not really a baseball fan, in fact my wife had gone out to by me a Boston cap a couple days before the game so I would have something on my noodle. I looked (at least on the outside) very much the same as everyone else who was there. All the while I felt disconnected because on the inside I knew that I wasn’t a follower… I was simply a spectator! This got me thinking about the Christian church. How many of us are spectators, and how many are truly followers, disciples of Jesus Christ engaged in His mission to reach the world with the good news? Part of me wants to believe that we are fulfilling the great commission, but when I step back and see the condition of the Church in the West, it’s like I hear God say to me, “Can these bones live”? The church is dying in the West because she cares more about the institution than the organism. She is more concerned to set up a monument than to be part of a movement. The organizational structure has become more important than the life giving, grace living community. Pray God that the Holy Spirit would be poured out upon this State, and this Nation that these dry bones would stand and be clothed in flesh once again. Amen

Brief Overview of Our Enemies Strategic Plan

As I survey the landscape of Western “Churchianity” several things seem to stand out. Things like pride, materialism, apathy, divorce, etc. have become extremely prevalent within the body of Christ (even normal). However, these I believe are symptoms of a larger issue. To address something like apathy for example would be like treating a cancer patient with Tylenol because they have aches and pains, and ignoring the tumor which is the root problem. The enemies most effective attacks do not come from the outside but from within. I believe the real malignancy is our loss of identity as Sons of God “saved by grace alone”. This issue is so critical because it deals with the recognition of the degree of depravity with which humanity has been cursed. When people understand that they are indeed sinners who are worthy of eternal punishment and torment, they intrinsically understand the value of God’s grace and mercy. When we forget who we are in Christ Jesus (and who we were outside of Him) apathy, pride, materialism etc. become part of the “Christian” experience. The enemy whispers in our ear that we “chose” God, and that He’s pretty lucky to have us. The truth is that it’s not that we loved God but that He first loved us… We need revival, but it cannot be a revival of legalism and behavior management. We must have revival centered on grace, where our realization of the LOVE of God moves us to action. The church has become stunted and rendered impotent because of her desire to be “free”. Her longing for independence has brought her into bondage to the outside culture. Gone by are the days when the church could speak from a position of authority. We have squandered our inheritance on a bowl of potage. We have left our first love, neither hot or cold we risk being vomited from the Lord’s mouth. All of this because we love autonomy more than grace, we want to believe that we are saved of our own choosing. If only we grasped a fraction of the truth.
There are a number of different ways the enemy works to achieve this end. Probably one of the most effective ways to accomplish this result is through distraction. For example, instead of putting the cross at the center of our theology, we might replace it with eschatology (study of the end times). This subtle invitation to explore “the deeper” things of Christianity cause us to lose focus on the most important aspects of faith. This isn’t to say that doing a study on end times is a bad thing, but I know of people who are consumed with it and they don’t know anything more about when Jesus is coming back than when they first started the “study”. This kind of obsession is a waste of time and derailment of purpose. Our objective as believers is to make disciples of all nations, not to devise charts which date the arrival of Antichrist.
Are you abiding in Christ and being conformed to his image? Is there anything in your life which distracts you from your mission to make disciples? Do you recognize your own sinfulness apart from Jesus? The enemy is subtle! We are sent out as sheep among wolves, be as wise as a serpent but as gentle as a dove.