“Provoking Christian Insights” series

Part 15

“The Word of God in an evermore secular world”

The church that you and I grew up in is changing. The order of service can remain the same, but the people who celebrate it are changing. Their families are changing. No longer are people in the neighborhood flocking to a Monday evening evangelistic service at a nearby church or in a tent with a “firey Hell and brimstone” speaker. They are more than likely to find such a person on TV or on a laptop computer.

The charismatic renewal services of the 70’s have kept the flow of the Holy Spirit going and going, but tapes that gave way to video cassettes are giving way to CD’s and DVD’s, Ipods, MP3 players and the Internet. Moreover, after the mid-90’s the use of e-mail put us around the world and back in moments. We were just getting used to faxes and now we have high quality receivers and printers at our fingertips. The way of sending information exploded. And, God, who always spreads His Good News through people found His people spreading his news in every new way that came along.

I’ve had more Christian messages sent to me over the computer’s email than I could ever dream up. Right along with those emails I’ve received there have been hosts of “other” more disturbing emails. Right along with messages about God were messages about everything and anything one could possibly think of and more.

Knowledge is increasing just like the Bible says it will. With that knowledge are questions about our faith and the numbers of other faiths we only heard about years ago. It grows more important for us to keep the story of Jesus in the forefront of the barrage of information that people encounter every day. We need to access what God is doing so we can get more people into the presence of God.

Instead of just introducing Jesus to yet-to-become-believers, I find myself defending my faith to people who ask: “How old is the world? Is it: 5,797 years old (Jewish Calendar)? 1.3 billion years old (Recent magazine cover), or 13.7 billion years old (scientists calculation)?” A person who doesn’t believe the world is as “young” as the Jewish calendar will have a hard time believing the Old Testament creation story. Believing, without proof, that Jesus is God’s son and came to earth to save man from his sin, and give him eternal life, is about unbelievable to someone who has been to a secular school or university.

Jesus said “The way is narrow, and few find it.” I suspect the “Way” is too narrow for most. Yet, Jesus commanded us to “go into all the world and preach the gospel.” And when the gospel has been preached, at some point, Jesus will come again to receive the true believers to Himself.

Our church is erecting a new sign on the highway that will even broadcast live video feeds from inside the church to passersby. We do everything possible to get people to come to the church and before God. How many people will the new sign bring in off the road? We don’t know, but we do know that this is how the world learns and we must give access to what God is doing by joining the current form of communication.

God on TV isn’t going to fully replace the church. It’s just more fun to hug people in person. No ordinary teacher or professor is going to lay hands on you and pray for you the way it is done live and in person before God. Receiving the Holy Spirit’s touch may come in front of your TV set, or even in a public place, but receiving God’s presence in the same room with other Christian is an experience that will seal your belief.

Your pilgrimage begins with hearing and believing that Christ is who He says He is

Right now, we need to pray for every person we know who needs to know Jesus in a personal way. We need to be filled with the concern about how many of our friends are going to go to Hell. We need to pray that our friends will be filled with a touch from God to draw them close and open their eyes and ears.

When someone asks us “How old is the world?” we need to be able to answer the question in such a way that the seeker will believe that we believe what we are talking about. The truths of the Bible have come through in tact. We need to be able to express that on an academic level to people who have been taught away from their Christian roots. We must equip and challenge rather than defend and excuse.

What is going on now is historic. We are moving past the transition from agricultural to industrial, to technological realms never experienced, or even dreamed of by prior generations. Sci-Fi stuff is becoming fact. We, the church, must move with, and beyond, the time of a world that has wisdom but doesn’t know the power of God.

So what do we do?

Evangelism is still the key to winning souls through communication in all types of media and especially face-to-face. Web sites produce head-on connectivity. People we haven’t met can find us on the web. Now this doesn’t promise that anyone is going to view your website and come running to your church or group. But, it puts you out there. You can even use My Space, or like sites, to form relationships.

People aren’t as regular in coming to church as they used to be. There are many reasons for this including busy schedules. Years ago the local church was the center of all religious activity in community. Today, people travel to all manner of worship and religious music events. Besides that, many secular events are now scheduled on what was once “church day” and faithful Christians don’t feel as guilty when they “skip” as they once did.

Small groups help and are very effective in getting people to get together and be regular in attendance. People today get spiritual guidance from various sources. One thing for sure … its better when God is in the house. If you feel you are losing your “sheep” its time to build a better “pen.”

Pastor Ken Damon used to put in the church bulletin that we were “equippers.” Our job is to provide equipping to build believers and teachers to go outside the church walls. It means that we make a place for people to connect, learn, and worship where the power of God is present at every gathering.

No matter how much we try the growth we achieve will still be Lord’s. But the aroma we raise will be pleasing to God. And our church will be a safe haven of worshippers and prayer warriors growing in Grace.

Let us openly invite the presence and power of God into our lives that we may serve Him daily.

INSPIRATION: “Sink your roots ever deeper into the soil of God’s Word. Hold fast to His teachings, bask in His light and be watered by His love. He is working His perfection in you, and one day you will be able to see the results,” Stephen Hill.

Write: croneis@earthlink.net