3-13-17<\/p>\n
There are rhythms to all things in life, and in life itself. Cycles. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3, they are called \u201cseasons.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTo everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die\u201d\u2026 Later, \u201cA time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance\u201d\u2026 Condensing the chapter\u2019s long list of dichotomies, Byrd-like, \u201cA time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
To everything there is a season, indeed; we all know this by intuition and experience. But most of us do not notice a huge qualification to this wisdom and poetry\u2026 later in the same chapter:<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.\u201d<\/p>\n
In other words, one thing does not change. Truth is immutable. Truth does not depend upon cycles, nor rely on \u201ctimes\u201d or seasons, nor wait upon our opinions. God\u2019s Word is unchanging; God Himself is eternal. Jesus came once<\/em>, for all.<\/p>\n There have been cycles of reform in the church of Jesus Christ. As inspired by the Holy Spirit, faithful servants of the Word have seen the need for renewed fidelity to scripture, and acted \u2013 often at the peril of scorn, rejection, ostracism, persecution, and sometimes death at the hands of fellow\u2026 Christians.<\/p>\n 2017 marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses \u2013 complaints \u2013 to the church door in Wittenberg, Germany. It is a convenient numerical commemoration, but no less worthy of recognition for it. <\/p>\n Change is not needed in the body of Christ every 500 years. Sometimes it urgently is needed more often, and has been throughout history. Councils and creeds were plentiful in the battles against errancy and heresy. The Truth of God does not need defense in the realm of ideas; but it does need protection \u201cunder this inverted bowl we call the sky, whereunder crawling, cooped, we live and die.\u201d Hence, apologetics and evangelism. And reform.<\/p>\n Every 500 years? Every generation? No, every day.<\/p>\n Some of the greatest persecution of believers has come, and is coming, from fellow \u201cChristians.\u201d Yes, we face opposition from Muslims, the secular culture, governments, the world, the flesh, and the devil; but we also have Error and counterfeit Christianity as foes of our own household. In the Last Days, even the saints will be decieved. And we now are at a crisis point in spiritual history. <\/p>\n God has never needed the dilution, or perversion, of His Word in order to \u201cattract the lost.\u201d Just the opposite. Steel sharpens steel, as Proverbs reminds us! Today, the church in America, in the West, is conforming itself to the world instead of being transformed, instead of having others be transformed by the Holy Spirit to the renewing of minds. It is doomed to failure. Not of God, it is hellish. <\/p>\n In the many stresses of daily life in the 21st century, our paths to spiritual comfort ought to be clearer, not more complicated, than they have become\u2026 easier to embrace, not inaccessible. The church, itself in its blind flailing of good intentions, is a prime offender. <\/p>\n Relativism \u2013 substituting our logic for God\u2019s Truth \u2013 is rife. The contemporary gospel would create God in mankind\u2019s own image.<\/p>\n Religious imperialism \u2013 missions outreach that imposes our sort of Christianity on the third world \u2013 is offensive. And counterproductive: as the spread of the gospel explodes south of the Equator, even outpacing Islam, missionaries from Africa and South America now see Europe and North America as mission fields.<\/p>\n The deadly \u201cworks doctrine\u201d \u2013 holding that we can earn our way to Heaven, or buy God\u2019s favor \u2013 sparked Luther\u2019s outrage but unfortunately did not die with him. Indulgences have new names, and they are not all Romish. Pentecostalism has been perverted by the Prosperity Gospel. \u201cSeed faith\u201d and \u201cfaith offerings,\u201d paired with assurances of God\u2019s material payback, are a stain on the church.<\/p>\n Mega-churches; uncountable \u201cversions\u201d of the Bible; Christian 12-Step programs; retreats and seminars; encyclicals; media ministries\u2026 do you notice a pattern? They all tend to be about selves, about each other. Abstractly, not horrible in such a hurting world. But. How many of them are about God? About meeting, knowing, loving Jesus? This should be the \u201cfirst step\u201d in any \u201c12 Step\u201d program that addresses our challenges.<\/p>\n Our problem \u2013 a sin, really \u2013 in the contemporary church is this: Too many programs, and Not enough Jesus. <\/p>\n The church has become fluent in identifying needs and creating programs to help alleviate stressors. But the Church itself should be discipled in such a way that these programs need not exist! <\/p>\n We are to bear with one another, not reflexively direct each other to a local church’s ministry program. We ought to shoulder each other’s burdens, umbrella each other when we can, in order to protect and love them. We are not only God’s children, but His witnesses as well. What more could we witness to others than the love, care, and protection that a Father offers?\u00a0<\/p>\n In the first century, when the Church was new and exciting and vital, before cathedrals and media ministries, believers met in small circles. Families and extended families. Neighbors. People who knew each other, and wanted to. Brothers and sisters who cared, and served. No microphones and rock bands and back-screen projections or gold-encrusted crowns and robes, or bingo games or mega-anythings\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cYes, but\u2026\u201d missions? Youth trips? Building programs? Let the dead bury the dead. When Jesus looked down from the cross, he looked into our eyes, each of us, mysteriously, separately. He did not say that He came for programs and ministries. He certainly did not die for Denominationalism that parsed His word into irrelevancy.<\/p>\n He came for you, and your soul. You can take it from there\u2026 or, actually, the Holy Spirit can: it is the reason the Paraclete was sent to us.<\/p>\n God sent Jesus to save our souls, and the Spirit to be our Umbrella, our inspiration to overcome the vicissitudes of an evil and false generation. \u201cFor me and my household\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n We have been blessed to visit sites of the First-century church. In Roman catacombs (whose primary functions were as places of worship, not hiding) and Irish fields. The goal of Christian pioneers was to withdraw to intimate fellowships; not to expand so as to boast of unmanageable numbers and programs. <\/p>\n Do you yearn for the spiritual comfort and true fellowship of the first-century church?<\/p>\n