What’s Missing from Christianity?

Just before he was about to preach his message, a Christian man shared how he had been rushing to get to the service.  In relation to the near 200 kilometer drive, he said, “I set the cruise control on my car at 120 kph, ran a couple of lights, but I made it in time.”   In the group, it was not difficult to observe smiles and nods of approval for such commitment.  On the way home from a Bible study, a pastor ran a red light.  He was pulled over by the police and given an on-the-spot fine.  Continuing on with the journey he justified it with some Christian-speak rather than admit his culpability.  In his sermon, another pastor spoke of driving his car with non-roadworthy tires but, “service for the Lord” was the higher priority, “amen?”

A Christian accountant talked of some ways in which one can minimize payments on the annual tax return.   One did not have to be an accountant or even a Christian to know that the “ways” suggested were questionable.  A Christian home renovator was replacing rotting floor boards in a home.  There was plenty of evidence that there was or had been termite activity in the floor joists.  When pointing out that this should be checked further, he said, “Don’t worry about it, there’s only so much you can do.”  A Christian panel-beater with a penchant for forcing his doctrinal hobby-horse down the throat of anyone who would listen also developed a reputation for high priced but low standard panel-beating work on people’s cars.

A Christian lady once asked, “What’s missing from Christianity?”  Her question was based on some thoughts not altogether dissimilar to the accounts given in the above two paragraphs.  Today one of my responses would be, “Reality.”  There was a time in my own life when I regularly broke driving laws and, I took “advice” from accountants on “ways” to keep my tax payments to a minimum and, I sometimes short-changed for self-gain.  Although they never sat under Bible preaching, none of those behaviors came as a result of influences from my parents either.  I never witnessed deliberate road violations nor  heard them condoning or endorsing dishonest practice of any kind.

But since turning to the Lord and discovering His true nature and character, reality became the objective of my life.  I thank God for reality.  When I read the gospels and look at Jesus, that’s all I see.  I notice there’s not one shadow of compromise with Him.  Nowhere do I see Him making excuses, justifications or apologies for anything, regardless of how much it hurt or was going to cost Him.  I am wondering, how come in all the years I sat in churches I never heard a sermon on this?  Yes, I have heard preachers skirt around the issue as they addressed certain aspects of reality, but I’ve never heard one pry it open and get down to the guts of it and stay with it till liberating change becomes evident in people.

As a Christian, I have often heard that the pathway to spiritual maturity is a long, drawn-out process as according to Isaiah 28:10.  Whilst this is true, I’m wondering if the process could be sped up considerably by laying aside “milk” teaching in exchange for “meat” teaching as according to Hebrews 5:12-4.  For example: go into most churches on a Sunday and the sermon will be on the gift of salvation and the need to receive it through Jesus, “for there is no other way to God, amen?” “Amen” is the response guaranteed to come back.  What’s the problem with that?  Problem number 1: those people have been sitting in their church for 40 years listening to that sermon and they’ve already got that deal!

Not only have they got it, but they feel smug about it. Why? Because each time they hear  the message they know that God is speaking to someone else, not them. Problem number 2: They do not become 40 plus years-old mature Christians who are now themselves teachers.  They remain 40 plus years-old immature babies, “unskilled in the work of righteousness” Hebrews 13:13.  Then there is the other type of Christian who does get some meat teaching.  The only problem is he hears the same message week in and week out too.  When he first heard it, it came from the Holy Spirit and it was as eye-fillet steak.  Years of conditioning have now turned it into hamburger mince … and he doesn’t even know it!  Why not? Because the Holy Spirit has moved on but his preacher and he haven’t .

An opinion only.  It is my belief that when a church gets stuck in a doctrinal rut (whether it be milk or meat) the spiritual senses of the people gradually become dulled to the point of being desensitized.  In other words, they hear the biblical word of God to their situation and tick off what they’re doing correctly, feeling smug about it.  They nod their heads to what they should be attending to next but quickly justify to themselves reasons for not attending to it.  Example:  Every biblical Christian knows that to be obedient to the word of God, we must obey the laws of the land.  That covers road rules and taxes.  Every biblical Christian knows that dishonesty in business is no longer part of the deal, so that covers short-changing, over-charging and shoddiness.

What’s missing from Christianity?  Answer: the desire within many Christians to personally want to know more of God for themselves.  As mentioned in other posts in this blog, the second-hand word of God is what most people settle for, happy to have it coming to them from the pulpit or home-group leader….they do not seek the God of the word first-hand.  The result of such always means compromise of the Scriptures somewhere along the way.  Compromise of the Scriptures means the Holy Spirit is guaranteed to go missing from such Christianity.  If He does, it then becomes Churchianity … which means the milk has gone sour, the meat has rotted and stinks to high heaven and the body (group) is food-poisoned.

Hebrews 5:14 tells us, “solid food belongs to those who are of full age….who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”  Full age means ‘completeness.’  Does that mean those who seek maturity never compromise the Scriptures at any time?  No.  It means that when we do so, we are to be so sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s conviction, that we will quickly agree with Him that it is sin, then ask Him to deliver us from it.  This may well mean a drawn-out process to spiritual maturity, but it will not mean that we boast of our compromises in the meantime, nor will it mean a continuous practice of shonky business dealings.

Every Christian knows that some days after Jesus left the earth, He sent the Holy Spirit to a group of people who were gathered together in a prayer meeting.  The Holy Spirit came so as to empower that group for the work of witnessing Jesus Christ and His gospel of repentance and eternal life to an unbelieving world.  The Scriptures show us that under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, those people turned their whole world upside down. Those who heard and responded to the message of Christ were getting spiritually, mentally, morally and physically healed from their addictions, perversions and superstitions.  But also, they were getting delivered from their justifications, dishonesties and sneaky little rackets.  The promised spiritual freedom was becoming a reality for them.

What’s missing from Christianity?  Answer: the prayer meeting!  The least attended of all church gatherings is not the Sunday morning and/or evening service, nor the home-group Bible study, nor the church camp, nor the working bee … it is the prayer meeting.  It is remarkable to observe Christians nodding their head and responding, “Amen” to the pastor’s, “Prayer is the engine room of all ministry, amen?”  Yet, most don’t turn up on the night.  The Holy Spirit means very little to a lot of church people.  If that were not true, they would attend those prayer meetings and cry out to receive one or more of His nine spiritual gifts … all of which are deemed necessary for the work of the ministry.

Apart from my initial church experience 24 years ago, I have never heard any preaching or teaching on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A new pastor came to one church we were members of.  He spoke more than once of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit.  I praised God for what I was hearing because for some years in that church a spirit of religion, rebellion, feminism, drunkenness and lunacy roamed freely.  The elders were not awake to the demonic reality when it was brought to their attention.  The new pastor called for a chat one day.  Given that he’d previously spoken about the Holy Spirit, I gave him a list of the above-mentioned spirits.  He looked puzzled.  Nothing further was mentioned.

It seems to me that church leaders can freely talk about the need for us to cultivate the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but they cannot or will not talk about the need for the Holy Spirit to come upon our lives, which is what happened to that first church group when Jesus sent the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit was already within them, that’s why they were praying and the apostle Peter was preaching.  But until He came upon them they were an ineffective bunch with no power or authority to blow the fuzz off a peanut.  Go into most churches today in the western world and that’s exactly what you will witness … lots of talk – little action! … lots of religiosity – little reality!

That is why God’s people have so little godly influence upon people outside the four walls of their churches and … that is why God’s preachers have so little godly influence upon people within them.  Religious influence? Yes.  Doctrinal hobby-horse influence? Yes.  Church-attendance-Sunday-morning-service influence? Yes.  Midweek home-group influence? Yes.  Church tradition influence? Yes. Church camp influence? Yes.  Weekend-away influence ? Yes.  Church seminars influence? Yes.  Church program influence?  Yes ………………. Regular-prayer-meeting influence? No.  If it were any different the world tell us and it would be sitting up taking notice.  What’s missing from Christianity? Answer: the power of the Holy Spirit. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.