Saturday, March 7, 2009

Mary had a Little Lamb: He Didn't Play Well with the Other Sheep

By David Ryser

I was visiting a small-town Pentecostal church on a Sunday morning, and I was trapped in worship hell.  I was convinced that if this song service went on much longer, my head would explode.  The words of the songs were a disgrace; I was embarrassed to offer them up to God.  The singing was lackluster and totally passionless.  I promised God that if He would have mercy upon me and put an end to this agony, I’d do anything--I’d even join a convent and become a nun.

I had no idea that I was mere moments away from having a serious case of theological disconnect.

At the end of the worship time (yes, the worship service finally came to an end; and no, I did not become a nun), the pastor got up before the small congregation and uttered three words I never thought I’d hear in that place:  “God is here.”  I wanted to shout “Where?” and look around to find Him.  I know when the presence of God is in manifestation; not because I am so spiritual, but because I have experienced it enough to know when He is present and when He is not.  The pastor continued, “God is here because we are in unity.”  Now my head was spinning because these people were indeed in unity.  I had observed them before the service, and I would get another opportunity to watch them at lunch.  They loved each other, and there was no strife among them.

The pastor continued, “Where the people of God are in unity, God is in their midst.”

I thought about what this pastor had said for the next two weeks.  I could not deny that the people of his church were in unity.  And God blesses unity in His Church with His presence, doesn’t He?  So why wasn’t He in that service?  (He wasn’t in the evening service, either.  That service was even worse than the morning service.)  I had a serious case of spiritual vertigo from thinking about this, and I needed an answer to my questions.

Finally God spoke one day while I was worshiping Him and thinking about the relationship between unity among His people and the manifestation of His presence in their midst.  He spoke into my heart and said, “They were in unity at Laodicea, too.”

And so they were.  The whole church at Laodicea was lukewarm toward God and in danger of being vomited out of Jesus’ mouth (Revelation 3:15, 16).

I was not accustomed to thinking of unity in a negative way.  The pastor of every church I had ever attended taught the virtues of unity among God’s people and warned against disunity, quoting verses such as Romans 16:17 and Titus 3:10.  Disunity was a sign that God was not present in the church.  I was taught that Jesus always brought unity wherever He was.

Did He?

Not according to the Bible.  In Matthew 10:34, Jesus said He did not come to bring peace to the earth, but rather a sword.  And in the following verses (35-37), He described the kind of division He would bring even within families.  According to Luke 4:16-29, Jesus couldn’t even go to church (ok, synagogue) without stirring people up so badly that they wanted to kill Him.  So which is it?  Does Jesus cause unity or disunity?

The answer is, “Yes!”

You see, unity among people is a powerful thing.  And this unity is powerful whether people are unified for good and righteous purposes or with harmful and evil intentions.  Examples of negative unity abound in the Bible.  The case of Laodicea was mentioned earlier.  The people of Sodom and Gomorrah were unified in their sin.  The people of Noah’s day were united in their wickedness.  The inhabitants of the earth got together for a building project at Babel.  Even old enemies, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, put aside their differences long enough to murder Jesus.

God’s reaction to these instances of unity was varied (vomiting, fire & brimstone, a flood, confusion & dispersion, and etc.), but always disapproving.

When Jesus came to the earth, He was sent specifically to the people of God--the Jews.  He challenged the community of faith to love and obey God with pure hearts.  He exposed their hypocrisy, their sin, and their failure to honor God in their worship and in their lives.  He contended with their religious leaders.  At times this conflict would even degenerate into name calling (Matthew 23:15; Matthew 23:24; Matthew 23:33--among others).  Jesus stirred up controversy wherever He went, but only among those whose hearts were far from God.  Others came to Him with open hearts, received His ministry with joy, and were gathered into the Kingdom of God.

It was not the sinners, but the religious people who tended to reject Him.

It complicates matters that religion plays by its own set of rules.  In Luke 13:10-17, Jesus heals a woman in church, and the leader objects because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  Where in the Bible is healing on the Sabbath forbidden?  Jesus illustrates the hypocrisy of religion by noting they are unable to rejoice at the mighty working of God because of their religious rules.  He also points out that everyone in the place worked on the Sabbath by tending to their donkeys.

(Proving, among other things, that not all of the asses in town lived in barns.).

Not that religion has any problems with violating Scripture…so long as it doesn’t break the religious rules.  When Jesus makes a mess in the foyer of the Temple (where the books, tapes, and other religious paraphernalia are sold to this day), He quotes the Bible as justification for His actions (Matthew 21:12, 13).  The people who needed ministry began to come and receive help (Matthew 21:14), but the religious leaders reacted by plotting to kill Jesus (Mark 11:18).

A true move of God always causes consternation among the religious.

Throughout the Book of Acts, the preaching of the Gospel was often met with hostility and persecution.  In the vast majority of these cases, this opposition was instigated by religious people.  Even church history teaches us that there is no such thing as a move of God that does not stir up controversy and division.  No spiritual awakening, revival, or renewal movement has been wildly welcomed by the current religious system.  Furthermore, those who were touched by the last move of God were usually the ones who most strongly opposed the next move of God.  (For example, Pentecostals were the strongest opponents of the Charismatic Movement, even though this outpouring was what Pentecostals had said the entire Church needed.)

Are we supposed to stop loving God and embracing what He is doing on the earth simply because some church people don’t like it and strive against it?

The good news is that unity among God’s people has the potential to work just as powerfully in a positive way.  When believers unify in love for God, love for one another, worship of God in spirit and in truth, and for the advancement of the Kingdom of God; God manifests Himself powerfully in their midst and dwells among them.

This occurs repeatedly throughout the Bible and church History.

I invite you to take another look at the scriptures that discourage disunity and strife in the church.  I believe you will find these scriptures are always in the context of a faith community where people love God and are worshiping and serving Him with sincere hearts.

Unity among believers should facilitate the life and work of God in the church, not serve as a cover for lukewarmness and sin in the members and leaders.

Of course, no church is perfect.  If God has planted you in a church, love Him with all of your heart and pour out His love on His people.  (Loving Jesus is a virus best spread by contact.)  Be a blessing to your pastor and other leaders.  Support them, love them, and pray for them.

If there is any division in your church, let it be caused by God showing up and overturning the spiritual tables in the place.

Responses to this article are welcomed.  You may contact the author at drdave1545@yahoo.com

No comments:

Post a Comment