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Missing Christians are NO Christians

Published July 17, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: Church attendance, committment, Dedication, Worldliness

emptypews

Here is an article written by Jim Elliff, which I acquired from Steve Camp’s blog, Camp on This. Although written about Southern Baptists, it could easily have been written about any denomination. After decrying the disparity between the number of people on a church’s membership roll and the number of members who actually attend that church’s Sunday service, Elliff makes the following excellent observations:

What do these facts and figures, as general as they are, suggest?

First, they reveal that most of the people on our rolls give little evidence that they love the brethren—a clear sign of being unregenerate (1 Jn. 3:14). It is impossible to believe that anything like real familial affection exists in the hearts of people who do not come at all, or who only nominally check in on Sunday morning as a cultural exercise. Love is the greatest mark of a genuine believer (1 Jn.3:14-19). Attendance alone does not guarantee that anyone is an authentic believer, but “forsaking the assembling,” is a serious sign of the unregenerate heart. The phrase: “They went out from us, because they were never of us” (1 Jn. 2:19) may have doctrinal overtones, but it nonetheless represents many on our membership rolls.

Second, these numbers suggest that most of those who do not attend (or who only come when it is convenient), are more interested in themselves than God. To put it in Paul’s words, they are “fleshly-minded” and not “spiritually-minded” (Rom. 8: 5-9). The atmosphere that most pleases them is that of the world and not God. They can stand as much of God as makes them feel better about themselves, and they find a certain carnal security in “belonging” to a local church. But beyond that, they will politely resist getting involved. They use the church, but are not really a part of it. For some, the extent of what they can take is an Easter service now and then; for others it is an occasional sterile (and somewhat Pharisaical) trip to church on appropriate Sunday mornings as fits into their schedule. But their apathy towards regular and faithful church attendance betrays their true affections. The fact is, you do what you love to do.

Third, the numbers indicate that some people have joined other denominations and our churches have not kept up with their movements—a sign of inadequate pastoral oversight and the built-in deficiencies of the “inactive membership” concept. I’m quite certain Paul never dreamed of “inactive membership.” Embarrassingly, some left on the rolls are dead—physically! It goes without saying that a dead person is about as inactive as one could be! But others, though presumably alive physically, have disappeared without a trace. I believe it was our beloved Dr. Roy Fish of SWBTS who said, “Even the FBI could not find some of them.” Yet, if we want to claim them as members, we are responsible to keep up with them.

All of these people have “prayed the prayer” and “walked the aisle.” All have been told that they are Christians. But for most, old things have not really passed away, and new things have not come. Most are not new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). In too many cases, obvious signs of an unregenerate heart can be found, such as bitterness, long-term adultery, fornication, greed, divisiveness, covetousness, etc. These are “professing believers” that the Bible says are deceived. “Do not be deceived” the Bible warns us concerning such people (see 1 Cor.6:9-11; Gal. 5:19-21; 6: 7-8; Eph. 5:5-6; Titus 1:16; 1 Jn. 3:4-10; etc.).

Jesus indicated that there is a good soil that is receptive to the gospel seed so as to produce a fruit-bearing plant, but that the “rocky ground” believer only appears to be saved. The latter shows immediate joy, but soon withers away (Mt. 13:6, 21). This temporary kind of faith (which is not saving faith, see 1 Cor.15:1-2) is rampant among Southern Baptists. In The Baptist Faith and Message we say we believe that saving faith is persistent to the end. We say we believe in the preservation and perseverance of the saints (once saved, always persevering). In other words, if a person’s faith does not persevere, then what he possessed was something other than saving faith.

In John 2:23-25 Jesus was the center-piece for what turned out to be a mass evangelism experience in which a large number of people “believed” in Him. Yet He did not entrust Himself to even one of them because “he knew their hearts.” Is it possible that we have taken in millions of such “unrepenting believers” whose hearts have not been changed? I say that we have. Our denomination, as much as we may love it, is on the main, unregenerate. Even if you double, triple, or quadruple my assessment of how many are true believers, we still have a gigantic problem. It is naive to believe otherwise.

There are those who would say that such people are “carnal Christians” and don’t deserve to be thought of as unregenerate. It is true that the Corinthian believers (about whom this phrase was used; see 1 Cor. 3:1-3) acted “like mere men” in their party spirit. Christians can commit any sin short of that which is unpardonable.

Undoubtedly, however, Paul did suspect that some of the Corinthians were unbelievers, for he later warns them about such a possibility in 2 Cor.12:20-13:5. A long-term and unrepentant state of carnality, is, after all, the very description of the unregenerate (Rom. 8:5-14, 1 Jn. 3:4-10, etc.). In calling some people “carnal” Paul did not mean to imply that he was accepting as Christian a lifestyle that he clearly describes elsewhere as unbelieving. He wrote, in the same letter: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived” (1 Cor. 6:9-11, etc.). Apparently there were some, even then, who were deceived into thinking that an unrighteous man or woman who professes faith in Christ could really be a Christian!

What must be done? I suggest five responses:

1. We must preach and teach on the subject of the unregenerate church member. Every author in the New Testament writes of the nature of deception. Some books give major consideration to the subject. Jesus Himself spoke profusely about true and false conversion, giving significant attention to the fruit found in true believers (Jn. 10:26-27; Mt. 7:21-23; Mt. 25:1-13, etc.). If this sort of teaching creates doubt in people, you should not be alarmed, nor should you back away from it. Given the unregenerate state of so many professing Christians, their doubts may be fully warranted. In any case, as one friend told me, “Doubts never sent anyone to hell, but deception always does.” Most will work through their doubts, if they are regenerate and if we continue to preach the whole truth. Contrary to popular opinion, all doubts are not of the devil. Speak truthfully the whole counsel of God. You cannot “unsave” true believers.

It is true that there may be some who are overly scrupulous and overwhelmed by such examination. But most who will be affected are those who are too self-confident, having based their assurance on such shaky platforms as their response to an invitation, praying a perfectly worded “sinner’s prayer,” or getting baptized. If they are unregenerate, they may take offense and leave. But if they are truly regenerate, patient teaching and care will help them to overcome their doubts and gain biblical assurance. Such preaching may even result in true conversion for some who are deceived. And don’t forget that the overconfident ones are not the only ones at risk. Quiet, sensitive, insecure people can be deceived also.

2. We must address the issue of persistent sin among our members, including their sinful failure to attend the stated meetings of the church. This must be done by reestablishing the forgotten practice of church discipline. Each church should adopt guidelines that state just what will happen when a member falls into sin, including the sin of non-attendance or very nominal attendance. Such discipline for non-attendance is clearly found in the history of Baptists—but more importantly, in the Bible.

Everyone in the church, including new members, should be made familiar with the biblical steps of church discipline. Jesus said that a person who was lovingly, but firmly, disciplined by the church, and yet failed to repent, should be thought of as “a heathen and a tax collector” (see Mt. 18:15-17). Though David committed atrocious sins, he was a repenter at heart (see 2 Sam.12:13; Psalm 51). Every Christian is a life-long repenter and church discipline brings this out. (See “Restoring Those Who Fall,” in Our Church on Solid Ground: Documents That Preserve the Integrity and Unity of the Church, http://www.CCWonline.org)

Leaders must get into the homes of all our erring church members, seeking either to bring them to Christ, or to reluctantly release them to the world which they love more than Christ. Nowhere in the Bible are we taught to keep non-believers on the rolls. As a side benefit from church discipline for the SBC, remember that when we reduce our membership to what it actually is, we will be amazed at the statistical improvements in the ratio of members per baptism and members to attenders. Of course, statistics are not worth dying for, but obedience to God’s Word is.

We are never to aggressively pluck the supposed tares from the wheat as if we had absolute knowledge (Mt. 13:24-30; 36-43). We might be mistaken. However, loving church discipline is a careful process by which the obvious sinner in essence removes himself by his resistance to correction. The church is made up of repenting saints, not rebelling sinners (see 1 Cor. 5). The slight improvement in the disparity between membership and attendance in the last couple of years is likely due, in major part, to some churches beginning to practice church discipline—a matter of obedience that thankfully is regaining credence among us. Some have removed hundreds from their rolls in this process, and regained some also.

3. We should be more careful on the front end of church membership. In my estimation, the public altar call (a modern invention) often reaps people prematurely. Others will disagree or can perhaps make significant improvements on the traditional “invitation system.” We have used this method in our evangelism because of our genuine zeal to see the lost converted. But in our zeal, we have often overlooked the fact that many who do what our method calls for (i.e. respond to our invitation) may not be converted.

Though sacrosanct to Baptists, careful study should be done related to the historical use of the invitation system evangelistically. For eighteen hundred years the church did not use such a method. It was not until its principle originator, Charles Finney, a true pelagian in his theology, promoted his “new measures.” Earlier preachers were content to let true conviction play a greater part in conversion. They needed no props for the gospel—no persuasive techniques to prompt people to make a “decision.” Instead of relying on a method, their confidence was in the preached Word and the Holy Spirit. Baptist giant, C. H. Spurgeon, for instance, saw thousands converted without the use of an “altar call.” His message was his invitation. We should always offer a verbal invitation in our gospel preaching, meaning we must invite people to repent and believe. But there is no real benefit, while there is much potential harm, in our inviting them to the front of the church and then assuring them that their short walk or tearful response proves their conversion.

We don’t need better methods to get people down to the front. What we need is more biblical content and more unction in our preaching. You cannot beat sinners away from Christ when God is bringing them in (see Jn. 6:37, 44-45). When as many as 70-90% of “converts” are giving little, if any, evidence of being saved after their first weeks or months of emotional excitement, questions should be asked, both about our understanding of the gospel and about our methods. Forget the fact, if you must, that there is no clear biblical precedent for the altar call. Even considering the matter pragmatically ought to make us quit. Though prevalent in our churches for decades, it has not helped us. (See “Closing with Christ,” http://www.CCWonline.org/closing.html)

The dangerous practice of receiving new members immediately after they walk the aisle must finally be abandoned. Also, more careful counsel should be taken with those entering in as members from other churches. And add to this a need for much deeper thinking concerning childhood conversion. An alarming percentage of childhood professions wash out later in the teen and college years. For unconverted yet baptized church kids, the more independence they are granted, the more they live out their true nature. (See “Childhood Conversion,” http://www.CCWonline.org/cconv.html)

4. We must stop giving immediate verbal assurance to people who make professions of faith or who respond to our invitations. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to give assurance. We are to give thebasis upon which assurance can be had, not the assurance itself. Study 1 John in this respect. What things were written so that they might know they have eternal life? (1 Jn. 5:13). Answer: The tests given in the book. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit that we are children of God (Rom. 8:16).

5. We must restore sound doctrine. Revival, I am finding as I study its history, is largely about the recovery of the true gospel. The three great doctrines which have so often shown up in true revival are: 1) God’s sovereignty in salvation, 2) justification by grace through faith alone, and 3) regeneration with discernible fruit. Revival is God showing up, but the blessing of the presence of God is directly affected by our beliefs. God most often comes in the context of these and other great doctrines, preached penetratingly and faithfully, and with the unction of the Holy Spirit.

As an illustration of our doctrinal reductionism, repentance is often forgotten completely in gospel presentations, or else it is minimized to mean nothing more than “admitting that you are a sinner.” Also, “Inviting Christ into your heart,” a phrase never found in the Bible (study the context of Jn.1:12 and Rev. 3:20, the verses used for this), has taken the place of the biblical doctrine of justification by faith alone. The doctrine of God’s judgment is rarely preached with any carefulness. And comprehensive studies of the meaning of the cross are seldom heard. Merely looking over the titles of the sermons which awakening preachers preached in the past would surprise most modern pastors.

On Consecration

Published June 26, 2009 Uncategorized Leave a Comment
Tags: consecration, Dedication, Joshua

Joshua 24:14—28

The key to being the kind of Christian God intends for us to be is found in understanding one old-fashioned word: consecration. According to the dictionary, this is what the word means:

[D]edication to the service and worship of a deity.

That is an adequate definition. As far as consecration in Christianity, it has been said:

Entire consecration embraces three things—being, doing, and suffering. We must be willing to be, to do, and to suffer all that God requires.

By the time we get to verse 14 of Joshua 24, Joshua has recounted God’s obvious greatness and goodness to His people. He has reviewed the nation’s history, and in light of God’s miraculous interventions in the past, Joshua makes a national appeal.

Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. (Joshua 24:14)

This is a shocking thing for the leader of Israel to say. How is that the people of God had to be reminded of their first Commandment? But here, at the end of his career and near the end of his life, Joshua had to admonish the people to worship God only, and to get rid of all their other gods, because, apparently, the people had not stopped worshiping Jehovah, but had taken to worshiping idols in addition.

How could people who had such a glorious history with God still be struggling with false gods after all this time? Achan’s sin of disobedience was not tolerated for an instant, yet this sin of idolatry seemed to go unchallenged for a generation in the Promised Land. God had made a stunning covenant with Abraham that He would especially favor and bless Abraham and his descendants. This covenant had been renewed several times since, with Isaac and Jacob, for example. But if Joshua’s generation was to continue to be part of the covenant, they had to make a choice.

1. Time to decide, verse 15

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.

Man was not created to serve two masters. There is no such thing as a “part-time Christian.” Years after Joshua gave this speech and years before Jesus taught about the futility of serving two masters, the prophet Elijah said this to the people of Israel—

“How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. (1 Kings 18:21)

The question needs to be asked: What in the world is wrong with God’s people? Jew or Christian, it doesn’t seem to matter, we both struggle with putting God first in our lives. Our idols are different looking than those the Jews worshiped, but make no mistake about it, there are idols in the Church of Jesus Christ today. Paul wrote this to the Roman church—

Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16)

Yielding to sin makes us slaves to sin. When we give into temptation, we serve sin; we are not serving God, because if we were, we wouldn’t be sinning! Yielding to God makes us servants of God. This is what Joshua is saying to his people: stop serving the idols, and start serving God! It’s a decision they had to make, and it is a decision we have to make each and every day.

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

2. Determination, verse 15b

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua was calling on all Israel to make an honest commitment; he wanted the whole nation to show solidarity in choosing to serve God. He started with his own family.

We can never underestimate the power of the Amorite fertility God. The Jews were attracted to the cult’s immoral practices, but also as an agricultural people, they were attracted to the cult’s promise of rain and fertile soil. They were able to justify their devotion to a god other than Jehovah. Think of how easily we Christians are able to justify our devotion to things and people other than God. Think about how easily we put, for example, our jobs or careers ahead of God. We put our sleep, our children, our spouses, our homes, our hobbies, and countless other things ahead of God.

Salvation is an individual matter; we stand before God alone. We will give an account to God alone. But at the same time, Joshua as the leader of his household had to lead his household in making the decision to serve God alone. Maybe, among the Christian community, it’s time for leaders of families today to step up and make a commitment to serve God on behalf of his family. That may not be politically correct, but it is Biblical.

Joshua confronted the people with a choice that parallels the choice Christ confronts sinners with today.

It is more than reasonable to choose to follow Christ. Your eternal destination changes from Hell to Heaven, but your quality of life improves when you serve God.
The choice involves life or death; both eternal and temporal.
The choice involves your well-being, spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental.
The choice challenges us to aspire to the best life possible; we want to become the best husbands or wives, the best employer or employee, the best student, and the best citizen we can for Christ’s sake.
We are motivated to achieve great things and be a positive influence on the world around us by the love of Christ.

3. Reflection, verses 16—18

Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God.”

Joshua was a great leader; he made his choice; he set the example he wanted the people to follow. He was willing to give every Israelite the freedom to choose or reject God. His reasoning was sound: he set the example, but Joshua believed that the merits of God’s way and God’s past dealings with the people would be more than enough to influence their decision. In fact, the people seemed almost shocked by their apostasy. When they reflected on their own history, they realized that it was indeed the Lord who had blessed them and made them what they had become. Their success had not been determined by fertility gods or anything the people had done for themselves or had done for them. Their history revealed that all of their achievements nationally and individually had been because of the relationship God had with them. But they needed to remember.

Christians have shorter memories than the ancient Jews did. Consider these verses alone—

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

This was something Joshua’s people never had! But we have the Holy Spirit in us, convincing us of our special relationship with God. And yet, for so many Christians, such a powerful, indisputable witness is more of an inconvenience, as they find ways around submitting to God.

But, Joshua’s appeal brought about the desired response from the people—

Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods!

This response revealed a couple of things. First, the people basically denied the charge of idolatry. Like the child caught with his hand in the cookie jar denying his father’s charge that he is pilfering a cookie, the people denied that they were worshiping other gods, all the while holding the little trinkets and statues in their hands. But secondly, the people claimed that, despite their idolatry, the Lord had always been and always would be the focus of their devotion. There is a word that describes this kind of thinking: schizophrenia, and a lot Christians suffer from Christian schizophrenia. Here is the definition of schizophrenia:

1. Severe mental disorder characterized by some, but not necessarily all, of the following features: emotional blunting, intellectual deterioration, social isolation, disorganized speech and behavior, delusions, and hallucinations.

2. A state characterized by the coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements.

Christians are good at acknowledging God and His goodness and loving-kindness, but inexplicably, stubbornly refuse to be consecrated and devoted to Him. We are prime examples of schizophrenics.

4. Reality, verse 19

Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.

Joshua’s response to the people’s response is really unexpected. After encouraging the people to make the right choice, he told them they would be unable to keep it. He challenged the sincerity of the people. Rightfully, he thought their promises were made far too quickly and glibly. They could not serve the Lord and cling to their idols at the same time because God is “jealous,” and He will not tolerate anything or anybody ahead of Him. It is a dangerous thing to put the person you love ahead of God. Jesus understood this—

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26—27)

The claims of God on His children are exclusive, both Joshua and Jesus knew this and wanted their people to know this. Like the Jews of old, Christians today are good at being enthusiastic about God and the things of God in “the moment.” During a stirring sermon or some evangelistic event we are able to make all kinds of commitments to God; then comes Monday morning and the weekly routine and the promises we made to God evaporate faster the morning dew on the grass.

God is a holy God and sinful man cannot stand before Him. God is a jealous God and will not tolerate our divided affections. God cannot and will not condone “semi-loyalty” and will not tolerate insincerity.

Joshua had been by Moses’ side for years and knew full well how easily the people made promises in the past. This time, he wanted their consecration to be genuine; the people needed to know that compromise in any form was neither practicable nor possible in this covenant.

Conclusion

In Matthew 6:24, Jesus Christ taught that “no man can serve two masters.” Jesus’ brother, James, years later taught the same thing, “A double minded man is unstable in all he does” (James 1:8). What happens when God’s people—Jew or Christian—refuse to live lives of consecration? In the case of Israel, the troublesome practice of “pseudo-loyalty” to God resulted in tragic consequences: they were cut off from God’s blessing. God, the Source of all good, when by His children’s choice is no longer part of their thinking, has no opportunity to do them any good.

For Christians, the time to choose is long past. The state of the Church and the state of the Christian family demonstrates that our hearts are far from God. We pay Him tremendous lip service every Sunday, and we know “God-talk” backwards; we can give the right answers when asked about questions of our faith. But too many of us are not dedicated or consecrated to God, and we wonder why we struggle so much in our walk. It’s time to count the cost, if we would call ourselves Christians and serve Christ with all our heart, mind, and soul.