(This is where I should include a picture for my post…but the Amazing Gospel does not need me to include an inspiring picture. It can stand on it’s own.)
This is not meant to be a church-bashing post. I am questioning the gospel I’ve seen and experienced over almost 40 years as a Christian because it does not appear to be the same Gospel I read about in the bible. I’m feeling no need to question church leadership, but I am certainly feeling compelled to question my own Christian convictions…maybe this will lead you to a deeper reflection as well.
Luke 4:31-32 And He came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and He was teaching them on the Sabbath; and they were amazed at His teaching, for His message was with authority.
Picture the Scene:
While Jesus is preaching in a synagogue in Capernaum, a demon-possessed man began shouting at him. Jesus rebukes the demon and it throws the man down to the ground before coming out. Luke 4:36-37 goes on to describe the reaction of the people:
Luke 4:36-37 And amazement came upon them all, and they began talking with one another saying, “What is this message? For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits and they come out.” And the report about Him was spreading into every locality in the surrounding district.
Can you imagine how we would respond today if this type of event took place in our church service? Imagine your lead pastor getting up to preach the Sunday morning sermon. Suddenly, you’re startled by the loud shouting coming from somewhere within the sanctuary. Order is immediately gone as people scramble to understand what is happening. Designated security swoop in to quash the disturbance, escort the person out, and bring order back into the service. Then the lead pastor directs his attention to the shouting person and says “Silence! Come out of him in Jesus name!”
“What…?”
Your head goes back and forth from the stage where your pastor stands, to the area where the disturbance first began in the crowd. Finally, you lock in on the person as he’s being tossed to the ground…by no visible person, followed by a hideous shrieking sound. Within minutes, the person creating the disturbance is seen sitting calmly on the floor surrounded by people.
What just happened? What are you thinking/feeling? What words would describe what’s going through your mind as you witnessed such a thing in your local church?
In Luke 4:37, it says, “report about Him [spread] into every locality in the surrounding district.” I can only imagine how word would spread today with internet and other social media…but a question that drives me is this:
What is taking place within your local church that would cause reports to spread into “every locality in the surrounding districts”? Is anything taking place in your local church on a Sunday morning that would cause news to travel like wildfire into the surrounding area bringing unbelievers into your church just in time for the 6:00pm Sunday service?
Now, before you go running ahead of me to either begin church-bashing, or church-defending, consider this:
I am the Church…
You are the Church…
WE are the Church…
If we carry a mentality of showing up for church to receive, we miss both the opportunity and the responsibility we have of coming to church with something to offer. This responsibility falls on no one other than ourselves…not on our pastoral team…it falls on the Body of Christ to walk the walk Jesus commanded us to walk…so I encourage you to reflect…not deflect responsibility, and to listen to the still small voice within. I will do the same.
This is just one scene from the Gospel of our Lord Jesus.