"We Will Not Listen!"

So, how did the church in America get into the mess that it finds itself in now? Is that a premature question? If you think so, perhaps you are new to this blog. The fact is that churches today resemble corporations more than they do the Bride of Christ. The business world has infiltrated the church. It’s not a hostile takeover; business principles were invited in. Then came business men to run the church. And then, the prophetic voice, the voice of God thru His chosen vessel, was cast out of the church. Why? Because what was being built was more important than what God wanted. After all, didn’t God place these business men into these positions of authority? And aren’t they expected to serve Him out of their SHAPE, which includes decades of surviving, even thriving in the world? And isn’t the prophetic voice really just a trouble-maker, maybe even someone who wants to steal the power of the Leaders?

Now, for better or for worse, this is not a new story. The tragedy is that this is the story of humanity. This is what we do, tell God that we don’t really need His input because we have it all figured out. This is why we deserve His judgment. Paul wrote, “For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1:21). And please don’t try to explain this away by saying that Paul is talking about people who practice homosexuality. That is a Pharisaical understanding of this passage, which uses a specific example to illustrate a problem that is common to all of us! And also don’t think that you can hide in anonymity either. Paul is quite clear in saying this is a collective problem (Romans 1:32). The judgment of God falls on Leaders and the people alike. There’s no deflection allowed.

But there’s good news! Because this is a common condition, we have the biblical example to fall back on. Go figure! God actually provides for us in the Bible with a positive teaching in the midst of a negative example. “Oh, God, Your story is so dark in the Old Testament. It’s such a downer. It really bums us out when we read it!” But I offer to you that it is in contrast to darkness that light can truly be appreciated. Scripture tells us that the darkness blinds us, numbs us to the depth of our depravity, so that we think we are doing good when we are practicing wickedness. But God provides light, if we have eyes to see or ears to hear.

So, look at the story of Judah, the Southern Kingdom. The Northern Kingdom was the “bad” part of Israel, setting up an alternate temple where idolatry was practiced. And for the people in the South, they must have felt pretty smug as they watched God judge their northern cousins by the hand of the Assyrians. But, fast-forward the story about 100 years and you hear the voice of the prophet raised up once again, this time against Judah.

“Flee for safety, people of Benjamin! Flee from Jerusalem... For disaster looms out of the north, even terrible destruction. I will destroy the Daughter of Zion, so beautiful and delicate. Shepherds with their flocks will come against her; they will pitch their tents around her, each tending his own portion.” “Prepare for battle against her! Arise, let us attack at noon! But, alas, the daylight is fading, and the shadows of evening grow long. So arise, let us attack at night and destroy her fortresses!” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Cut down the trees and build siege ramps against Jerusalem. This city must be punished; it is filled with oppression. As a well pours out its water, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resound in her; her sickness and wounds are ever before me. Take warning, O Jerusalem, or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so no one can live in it.” This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine; pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes.” To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the LORD is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it. But I am full of the wrath of the LORD, and I cannot hold it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street and on the young men gathered together; both husband and wife will be caught in it, and the old, those weighed down with years. Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land,” declares the LORD. “From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them,” says the LORD. Jeremiah 6:1-15

Pretty graphic, terrible stuff, right? But then, this glimmer of light before a return to darkness:

This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ I appointed watchmen over you and said, ‘Listen to the sound of the trumpet!’ But you said, ‘We will not listen.’” Jeremiah 6:16-17

Part of God’s perfect provision for the church is the prophetic voice, watchmen. In the midst of the darkness that we call light comes the voice of God calling us back into the light of His redemption. And that revelation? “Ask for the ancient paths!” In other words, “Repent, turn from your futile ways, ways that you have constructed for yourself, and do it My way” declares the Lord.

So, what is the “ancient path”? Do we even remember? Or, have there been too many voices added to the conversation? I’m not saying that everything that the business world has offered the church is evil. I am saying that it was wrong to adopt their ways and label them “God’s way” and worse still to silence the prophet. Next week, I’ll share with you what my small group is doing to rediscover the ancient path and restore righteousness to at least one small part of Christ’s church…