Church: The Reason You (Should) Remain - Stephen

No one buys a home in a neighborhood simply because of the cookies the neighbor might welcome them with. 

No one makes their child go to school because of how well the Math teacher relates to their culture. 

And no one goes to a sporting event only because the stadium might be full of other fans on that given day. 

Needless to say, no one chooses any other community based upon the same reasoning many choose their churches. 

 

 

Many Christians today seem to believe that the problem with our modern world is their lack of concern for the church. You’ve probably seen the articles, the social media posts, or maybe even the unfortunate rant from a pulpit. But I disagree. I don’t believe the problem of people leaving the church is simply too little concern for the church but sometimes too much. 

 

Here’s what I mean—I think many people, Christians included, are too concerned with their church and what they offer them. Too concerned with the ministries provided. Too concerned with the size of the crowd. Too concerned with the budget for big and entertaining events so that their family never becomes so bored on a Friday night that the dreaded board games get dusted off and dad cheats his way to a Monopoly win just like old times. (Pardon the personal illustration.)  

 

These things are not wrong in-and-of-themselves (besides the cheating, of course), but they are things given very little concern in Scripture. Our community of believers has no Scriptural example if the things listed above are what we find ourselves primarily seeking. An inability to pinpoint the true purpose of the church has led many to misunderstand where contentment in one should be found. 

 

So, what is it that we should make the priority? The same things the disciples of Jesus did. 

 

Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

[John 6:67-69]

 

Some of our neighbors and friends who attend church might be shocked by the fact that Jesus would even ask this question. “Don’t mention leaving,” they might say, “because our schedule of events is packed so full that that thought never crosses their mind.” 

 

But I don’t want you to read these verses to focus on Christ’s question that day about the disciples leaving. I want your focus instead on the reasoning Peter gave about why he was staying. 

 

It is interesting to note that Peter did not choose to remain with Jesus because he might lose out on a miraculous event. He doesn’t stick around because he would miss out on time spent with the other disciples who had become his closest friends. And he doesn’t even say he is staying because he likes how popular Jesus has become with the people. He simply gives two answers that can be summarized like this: (1) Jesus’ words bring eternal life and (2) He is the promised Messiah, the Son of God. 

 

“But,” you might say, “Peter is speaking of being faithful to Jesus here. What does that have to do with you or I and our concern for other things within our church communities?” Good question. Let me answer it with another question—does your church community faithfully proclaim the words of Christ and is Christ faithfully exalted as the true and living Son of God there?

 

If your answer is in the affirmative to both of these, your response to leaving that church should be similar to that of Peter before Jesus that day— “Where else can we go? This community proclaims the words of eternal life and declares Jesus as the Son of the Living God.” And if you’re wanting to add anything else to your answer let it be this: “What more do I need?” 

 

In pre-marital counseling, one of the things we discuss is the most common reasons for divorce. Among those reasons is financial debt.[1] This causes me to pose the question to every couple I counsel, “Do you know the difference between a need and a want?” The answer to this is important because many times debt will mount up when we get those two things confused and the lines between them blurred. 

 

Anything beyond Peter’s answer that day must be categorized as “wants” in a church, not “needs.” Peter remained. He remained faithful to Christ. He remained faithful to the calling upon him. Sure, he stumbled at times, but he never completely walked away. Why? Because he knew and was clear on why he was staying. Are you?

 

May it not be the programs no matter how helpful they seem. 

May it not be the people no matter how close they have become. 

May it not be the popularity no matter how exciting it makes you feel. 

For all these things are liable to change.

 

But may it be the One who is supposed to be exalted in and through all of those. 

May He be enough. 

May He be the reason you remain. 

And, if He is, He will also become the only reason you ever choose to leave. 

 

Let us hold fast the confession of [our] hope without wavering, for He who promised [is] faithful …. not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as [is] the manner of some, but exhorting [one another], and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

[Hebrews 10:23, 25]

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[1] “Reasons for Divorce: Top 10 Reasons Marriages End,” https://www.couplescounselingchicago.net/reasons-for-divorce-top-10-reasons-marriages-end/

 

For All These Things - Ron

We haven’t done themes on The Middlings in a while, but last month all of our posts dealt in some way with identity. Last week, Ben’s post dealt with Christ being the Way, Truth, and the Life. This post points to that same ultimate truth. 

 

For the wind and the winter of our discontent,

For the race and the runner and the dark places we went.

For the loved and the left out and for all those between,

For those stuck in victimhood who refuse to be weaned.

For a world brokenhearted lashing out and zealously reckless,

For those tearing down values while erecting numb sadness.

For the spaces where hope used to shine free and bright

For the corners and alleys where the law is called vice.

For the parents whose minds are full of decay

For the children who are stuck being raised in this day.

For the politician whose lies meet frenzied applause,

For the leaders feigning concern while sharpening claws.

For modern cities ridden with violence and crime so copious,

For the skylines that portend these nightmarish dystopias.

For the awakened left wondering where we went wrong,

For the blind who ignore truth and follow along.

For the hearts that are torn, and the families destroyed,

For the confusion that reigns in our young girls and boys.

For the vociferous crowd triggered by gender distinction,

For the evil who prosper off of gender revision.

For the trans guy or girl and the terms we make up,

For the millions of people worshipping the corrupt.

For the darkness that’s spreading, For the light that’s retreating,

For the mind-numbing stupidity and the sheep who are sleeping.

For the conservatives whose answers involve shifting the blame,

For the Christians who are simply just playing the game.

For the hoodwinked enraged and alarmed at the climate,

For the influencer spitting fear because he knows people buy it.

For the charlatan pastor specializing in scratching our ears,

For the pastor faithfully preaching though nobody hears.

For those who sit in the pew with a hardening heart,

For the millions of people falling apart.

For the teachers indoctrinating with a godless theology,

For the misguided attempting to bring about a theonomy.

For the worn out and wounded and those losing their faith,

For the ones stood against the onslaught of zealous hate.

For the racists and supremacists who divide us to conquer,

For the ones who take advantage and abuse those two monikers.

For all those held captive by a flawed judicial system,

For the few who are searching for actual wisdom.

For all who are asking, “Am I alone? Am I all right?”

For those left wondering “Am I insane? Am I alive?”

For the ones in the know about the real question:

“What does it take to stop waging war with
“All I thought I wanted,” and “All I thought I needed?”

The answer is in the Word, but it largely goes unheeded.

The truth of the matter is humanity is enslaved,

And we can’t on our own “fight the war that we made.”

 

The quotations at the end of this poem – or whatever it could be called – come from the song, “The War We Made,” by the band Red. As I finish typing this post this morning, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are experiencing real-time ramifications of this constant war. But it isn’t truly a war of Hamas, or Iran, against Israel. That’s how it is expressing itself this morning. It is the story of man’s battle against God and to overthrow His power and authority in our lives and world. The true evil behind the world is “spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

 

But we cannot fight this war of our own making.

 

Christ has provided, and is, the means to stop the war waging in and around us. “The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). And Isaiah 25:8 says, “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”

 

For all this and more, Christ is the answer, as He’s always been.