God Has No Grandchildren

The other day my wife and I went for a coffee in a building that was once a church. The coffee shop is situated where the foyer used to be and the rest of the building is now converted into apartments. That night on TV we watched a home renovation program, with one of the best of the renovations being that of a former church building. A couple of days later on the Internet my attention was drawn to yet another renovation, of yet another former church building! There’s nothing new here of course; the renovation of former church buildings into beautiful homes has been going on for many years all across the globe.

“A sign of the times,” has been my usual thought or comment about this, leaving it at that. But this time it was, “So this is what happens when Jesus Christ ceases to be Lord in this place.” Yes, it can take some decades for a church building to be turned into something other that what it was originally built for, but happen, it will, in the cities and in the towns. When Jesus Christ is no longer taken seriously by people claiming to be Christians, He no longer takes them seriously either, so He leaves and eventually the doors close. As He once said it to the people of Jerusalem, He will say it again to the people of the church, “See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!” Matthew 23:38-39.

Less than 200 years ago church buildings were among the first to be erected by this nation’s (Australia) pioneers. Why so? Most of them personally knew God. At some point in their lives they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, they believed it and embraced it. In other words, upon hearing the gospel they knew intuitively they were included among the all of Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In addition, they knew intuitively: For the wages of sin is (spiritual and eternal) death Romans 6:23a. That’s the bad news! The good news is they turned to God, became justified freely through His (God’s) grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus Romans 3:24, and received the gift of God… eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord Romans 6:23b.

Essentially, eternal life is God’s life – eternal in quality: And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent John 17:3. But equally so it is eternal in quantity: Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. John 6:47. It was this possession of and experience of eternal life that motivated our pioneer settlers to erect a building for public worship to God first. God was real to these people; He had first place in their lives. Humbly they bowed before Him in worship, they sought Him for His promised guidance, safety, wisdom, knowledge, insight, and understanding, which they received in abundant measures. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you Matthew 6:33.

Granted, not every pioneer in the community embraced the gospel of Jesus Christ, or worshiped the biblical God, but they benefited much from those who did. Law and order was adhered to, respect for people and property was habitual, aid for others in need was quickly addressed, everybody knew right from wrong, good from bad; all because of the Spirit of God’s influence over the community. Dishonesty, laziness and silliness were not the “luxuries” they are today. Back then they came at a cost that few people were willing to pay because they knew they’d be ostracized if they tried it on. Rare were the people who thought it a “human right” to demand from others what they were not willing to put in an honest day’s work for themselves.

Not only did the pioneers give God first place in their lives but they encouraged their children to do the same, knowing God has no grandchildren. In other words, they impressed upon their children the importance of developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ for themselves because such a relationship is not developed by “riding on the coat tails” of their parent’s faith or anyone else’s faith. Not every child took their parent’s advice there and then, and others didn’t take it at all, but while each lived under the roof of faithful parents they remained beneficiaries of the blessings of God in any case. Later in adulthood, those who did develop a relationship with Christ, giving Him first place, gave witness to that reality in their community just as their parents did.          

When bad times and sad times came to town or to the nation, their witness to the community, whether verbalized or not, was always, “God is still in control.” When non-believers looked into the eyes of those Christian people they saw faith, not fear; they saw hope, not despair. They may not have openly admitted that but lying awake alone in the middle of the night with their own fear and despair, they knew what they had witnessed earlier stemmed from the light and life of Christ, not mere formal religious practice. Trust in the LORD with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths Proverbs 3:5-6. The Christians who daily responded to that call and promise never capitulated to fear and despair.

Fires, floods, disasters, economic downturns, depressions, personal tragedies and war – whilst the pioneering generation plus those of their children and grandchildren were not spared the heartache and suffering from some of those things, their confession remained as always, “God is still in control.” As it was for God-trusting Israel of old, so it was for Christ-trusting Christians of old. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand Isaiah 41:9-10. By the way, it was not simply words written with black ink on white paper they were trusting in here, as is a common accusation; it was the living and powerful God confirming the promise personally to each one as they read it.

Fast forward to today. Those buildings that were once churches, why are they not so any more? There are a variety of reasons but primarily, Jesus Christ is no longer given first place in the lives of the majority of the people who attend them. It doesn’t happen over night. Through the generations spiritual decline is gradual, not swift; it can take up to 50 or 60 years for a church to die. How does it die? One answer: The ever increasing blessings of God get taken for granted by the people. With that, the Scriptures of God are taken less seriously, the people no longer have the ability (or the desire) to spiritually discern truth from error, which then opens the church door to charlatans, false teachers and all kinds of wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing, both male and female.   

Another answer: Earlier I mentioned God has no grandchildren. The “grandchildren” will kill off a church. What do I mean? They have no living faith of their own. They operate their “Christian” lives out of what was once the living faith of parents and grandparents but which have now, for them, become dead church traditions and rituals. The result? That which was once diligently sought for in prayer to God is now taken for granted and even viewed as a human right. Take employment, housing, clothing, food, health, medicines, education, communication and transport for example: all of these are essentially blessings from God but because they’re available to all (including the dishonest, the lazy and the silly), they’re not viewed as coming from God, but from human cleverness.

Granted, some of the pioneering communities are not what they formerly were in population size or, they’re no longer in existence for one valid reason or another. But for every one that’s not, there are plenty more that are. They have grown in size, some of them now becoming suburbs of larger towns or cities. What about the church buildings there? Where Jesus Christ is given first place in the people’s lives the blessings of God are as real and plentiful as those of the pioneering settlers. Where He is relegated to another place other than first place, the “grandchildren” are calling the shots and it’s only a matter of time when that building’s doors will close. It will be put up for sale, purchased and bulldozed or, turned into a residential home and/or a coffee shop!  

When Jesus said He would build His church and the gates of hell would not triumph over it, He was referring not to physical buildings but spiritual buildings. The church is always people – “called out ones” – Christ ones, and there have only ever been a few of them in every nation in every generation – a remnant. So when we see or hear of church buildings closing their doors today, hell’s gates haven’t triumphed over those who belong to Christ, only over the “grandchildren” and rightly so. Is there any hope for the “grandchildren”? Yes, plenty, if they humble themselves and turn to Christ. God has no grandchildren. But as many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God John 1:12-13.