by Jacob Ninan
The messages we hear from many preachers are so inviting, such as, "Come to Jesus and be healed," "Jesus will make you prosperous," "Jesus will make your biggest dreams come true," "Come to Jesus and and He will answer all your prayers," etc. So, many people think this is a good bargain. They think that if they just say yes to Jesus, they don't have to go to hell, but they can enjoy themselves on earth and later in heaven, and Jesus will be there to take care of them, protect them from all harm, etc. For the small premium they have to pay, of 'accepting Jesus' and perhaps getting baptised, the returns are plenty.
Peter's first evangelical message was this, "And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, 'Be saved from this perverse generation!'" (Acts.2:40). Where do we hear this message today? Hardly ever these days. Many popular preachers give pep talks or motivational speeches and try to make people feel good and optimistic. People, of course, like to hear what they believe are encouraging messages which give them a 'positive' outlook on life, and think they have found the right church or group. This is like a cancer patient who has little time left going to a doctor who has a winsome personality and who assures him that everything is going to be just fine! This doctor may become very popular in the short time, but he will be soon exposed when his patients begin to die!
"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever" (1Jn.2:15-17). God does not want us to love the things of this world, and He wants us to be saved from the perversion that is growing all around us. But when we look around, without trying to find theological excuses, what we see is the church becoming more and more influenced by the world. Instead of standing as light and salt of this earth, we have allowed the world to be our guiding standard. Occasionally there have been revivals in the past that made a big impact on society, such as shutting down pubs and such businesses. But on the whole, over the years, the church has been seen to be capitulating to the world.
The standards of the world are increasingly becoming acceptable inside the church. Modesty of dressing has given way to virtually fashion shows on Sundays, separation and divorce have become casual, premarital sex has become the way to get to know each other before deciding to get married, 'Christian' people live in together after finding fault with the arrangement called marriage, abominations such as homosexual relationships have become occasions to show acceptance and the love of God, worship times become shows with electronics and talent taking major roles, going after dreams or bucket lists has become goals presented by preachers, young people in the church too aim for big money or going abroad rather than godliness, church life and ministry have become compartments of life while people live for making money, travelling abroad, tasting different cuisines and drinks, corrupt practices in business and tax-evasion have become acceptable, Bible illiteracy has taken hold of a large percentage of people in the church, scheming and political moves go on behind the scenes in some places and very openly in other places, etc. Instead of judging the world according to the standards of the Bible, church people now modify the interpretations of the Bible to fit in with the trends in society, etc. Of course, this is not a full description of the sickness that is affecting the church. Can we say that the church is really shining as a light in the midst of darkness and drawing people after Jesus?
What is the root cause of this decay, or, where did the church start the deviation that has led us to this state?
It is actually well known, and in that sense nothing new to bring to our attention. But nevertheless, it is at the root of the problem. Familiarity with the Gospel has made us stop addressing the fundamental essence of the Gospel, and turned us to be occupied with the peripheral issues. Many of us are unable to see what has happened, because we are sincerely busy with our little ministries and imagine we are serving God! But we will be shocked to see that in following our little ministries or the special tasks we believe God has entrusted to us, we have forgotten the big picture and the real reason for the Gospel. It is a shock when I put it simply because it is something everyone knows! But the sad thing is that even though everyone is aware of it, no one wants to talk about this elephant in the room!
Let me mention it simply, because it is so obvious that it doesn't have to be proved with quotation of different Bible verses or interpretation of Hebrew and Greek words. The whole world lies in darkness because it has turned away from God and gone after its own pleasures. Each one of us was born in sin and we have lived in sin according to our sinful desires. It is this sin that has caused every problem that we see around us, whether it was our own personal sin, the sin of other individuals like us around us or the collective sin of humanity. Therefore everything comes under the wrath of God and each of us individually comes under His judgment. We know, in theory, that it was to deal with sin that Jesus came into this world and died in our place. He wants not only to forgive us, but also to deliver us from the power of sin in our lives and transform us to become like Him. This is so obvious that everyone knows it, but has actually moved away from our focus.
This is at the root of the Gospel. When we attract people with offers other than this, we are responsible for beginning their deviation right from the start. When we put such people in the church where deliverance from the power of sin in our daily life, in our thoughts, motives, words and action, is not the underlying focus, we can keep them occupied with ministries, gifts of the Holy Spirit, social projects, Bible studies, prayer meetings, exercise of their talents, etc. We don't have to think much about where that will lead to, because we can observe the result all around us in reality.
People say that a focus on sin is morbid, uninteresting, unexciting, boring, negative, depressing, discouraging, etc. But unless sin is being dealt with, we will not be able to address the root of our problems, and the results will only be, at best, superficial. At the same time, if this Gospel Jesus came with is not followed, not just in terms of evangelical preaching, but also living it out in daily life, it will only lead to problems, even if externally ministries seem to be growing in the short term. It is like a doctor treating a wound with an ointment and bandage without first cleaning up the wound thoroughly. If sin is left at the root, it will obviously affect everything about the tree soon.
If we can do our ministries following the big picture of the Gospel, if everything we do is on the basis of the big picture of the Gospel, then Jesus would not have died in vain concerning us. But otherwise we can be those who stand before the Lord and tell Him about what all we have accomplished for Him, only to hear Him say that all that was wasted (Matt.7:21-23). What was the problem with these people who thought they had a lot of results to show? They were practising sin all the while. Even if it does not come to this kind of total rejection from God, is it not possible that all the ministry we did, all the sacrifices we made and all that we hoped would give us recognition before God gets burned up (1Cor.3:11-14)?