This Sunday Churches will be filled all around the country with people who are in love with……… themselves. They will set in the pew through a service of apathy and put on a fake front. They will hear a message they have heard several times and not be moved. They will think more about the cake they made or the outfit they are wearing more than they will the suffering and the cost of salvation. It is Easter Sunday the day of remembrance and it is so fake with so many. Do I sound negative? Well I am describing my own experiences in the past, but not any longer.
Did you know that according to recent research by AIG (answersingenesis.com) 2/3 of all kids under the age of 18 who regularly attend Church will quit going to Church once they get to college? Now think about that for just a moment. If 2/3 of our kids quit when they get to college every year for the next 18 years how many of these kids will be in Church when they become adults? Why is this happening?
As with all problems in our society sin is the underlying issue. In order for us to change this downward trend of the American Church we have to identify what is happening and the nature of the sins.
Problem#1: Too many Churches are dead. Now I am not a Church basher I am a proud member of the Bride of Christ, but I have enough sense to recognize foolishness. So many Churches in our country are not seeking God and do you think your kids know this? Kids today know about sex before they are old enough to ride most rides at an amusement park, so don’t think for a minute they don’t recognize lame Church services. What is wrong with the Church? The People are the Church. If you are not excited and fired up about the Church then you have a sin problem. You may say “oh no you don’t understand how it is”. I do know and I have been there. Your Church isn’t the problem you are. How many people go to the Church they go to because they are just use to going there? How many people just show up? How many times have you went to Church and did not read God’s word one time throughout the week? How many times have you went to Church and did not pray one time for the service during the week?
You see our kids know that there are a lot of folks pretending. This only describes the apathy in the Church that kids are being raised up in. There are plenty more issues.
Problem#2: Bad preaching and teaching of the word of God. There are several different reasons why people go to Church, and I am afraid that the Preaching is not #1. However there is nothing that will keep people in the Church like the Preaching and teaching of the Word. I love worship and it is important after all we are created to worship the Living God, but the Bible does not say blessed are the feet of those who lead in worship but rather it says those who bring the Gospel.
Today many kids are not being fed God’s word. They are getting what my mentor Pastor called sermonettes. Most kids today have no idea how to defend the faith. When they go to college and they cannot explain how all men came from Adam yet the Bible teaches incest is a sin they feel helpless. How many of our High School kids can explain why the word dinosaur is not in the Bible. That is a question that no professor will even ask because they would discredit their own knowledge and philosophy because they know that word was not invented until the 1800’s. In other words over 200 years after the KJV was translated. Unfortunately our youth are not being equipped with God’s word and to make matters worse their parents at home are not helping most of the time because they don’t have a passion for God’s word either.
You see God’s word has been discredited in so many pulpits. The belief today is “don’t offend anybody but instead encourage and love that is what people need”. Do you think Satan minds what Rob Bell is teaching? He teaches nobody is going to Hell. This is what people want to hear. However if we neglect in our Bible teaching Churches how to defend the faith and know what you believe in then we will lose our kids. We have to teach God’s word to young people in a way that they will know and be prepared to be mocked and criticized. One time I was out knocking on doors and I visited a family that had come a few times. I knocked on the door and the Husband answered the door. I said man we sure enjoyed you guys visiting us awhile back and we would love to have you and your family back. He said “well to be honest with you I like you and the pastor ok, but my wife cannot stand you!” I have always been the charming kind of guy. The issue was his wife was lost and I preached that lost people when they die go to Hell. I have been mocked and criticized, but I have never suffered for Christ. Our youth need to be prepared and so trained that they will stand for God to a point they desire to suffer!
John the Baptist was so radical that he called Herod a coveting wife stealing adulterer who was going to face the judgment of God. Jesus was such a rebel that he told the men who ruled over the Jewish religion (Pharisees) that their father was Satan. Peter was so extreme that he told all of Israel at one of the largest festivals of the year that they were murders and was responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. John wrote about the apostates and described them as liars and workers of the antichrist. Notice I didn’t even use the Old Testament.
Problem#3: Christ is not the priority. When Jesus was being beaten and humiliated the scripture tells us that he did not get angry or despise those who beat him and laughed. When they whipped him to the point that his intestines began to come out of his gashes in the abdomen and his faced was swollen to nearly twice the normal size and he walked down the Via Dolorosa carrying the cross he did not stop loving. Why? Because you were the priority! The Bible says in Heb 12:2 that the only thing he despised was the shame. He despised the shame of sin, but he loved you and me. That same scripture said the he endured the cross because of the “joy to come”.
Our young people today do not see Christ as the priority in many Churches. How many times have you been to Church and somebody say well we got a “good crowd” or “there ain’t many here tonight”? When I hear that stuff it just irritates me. We are sending the wrong message. The purpose of Church is not to see how many show up, but rather to recharge and equip for spiritual warfare. Has anybody read Ephesians 6? If I have 5 teenagers at my next meeting some people will see that as a disappointment, but not me. I see it as an opportunity to teach. I would love to have 500, but God is in charge not me.
But the Church system itself is only a byproduct of the people who make up the Church, and here is the key I think. Too many kids are being raised that self-sacrifice is not essential in the Christian walk. If you are not sacrificing then you are not serving. Jesus said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:23-27 ESV) This is not the mindset that our young people are learning, but instead they are learning to take care of themselves. Sports, school, work, and hobbies are more important than Church to so many of our young people. They learned this from somebody.
The good news is we don’t have to stay in this condition. We can keep our kids in Church and train them to be future Church leaders. To do this we have to get real with God and submit our time to him. We have to live in righteousness so that Christ is honored and our testimony is assured. We have to sacrifice and miss out on worldly things so Christ is always the priority. We have the greatest gift of love in our Lord. He is worthy of our time. May we pledge our whole life to him!
Praise him this Easter!
Jesus Saves,
RR
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