"Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, 'We are delivered!'" Jeremiah 7:8-10 Yesterday I was challenged in conversation by a friend who got me thinking much about myself and what I do for a living. I am a pastor, a shepherd of men and women. On any given Sunday the number of congregants could range from 500 to 800 people listening to my messages. Experts say the true number of church attendees needs to be counted on a three week basis because people come and go every-other week, but they still would consider themselves to be a part of the church. So lets make it 1,000 souls under my care. I wonder, how many of those 1,000 people have a real walk with the living God? And even worse, how many of them are just "Playing Church?" I know people will pat me on the back and say, "Oh, that is none of your concern. We really like you, just keep doing what you are doing." But what if what I am doing is just confirming people in their make believe? Am I being paid only to put on a show each and every Sunday like a performing monkey; or are people really growing and becoming more Christ like? Is there real community going on? These questions really matter to me. I have given my life to it...for cryin' out loud! If it is just a show, wouldn't it be better to shut the doors and send everyone home? God even asks this in the book of Malachi 1:10 when his people are offering skinny, sick and diseased animals for their offerings instead of the best of the flock, "Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my alter in vain! I have no pleasure in you...." I would hate to find out after serving most of my life in the ministry, that my effort and the people who have sat week after week under my teaching, are just "sound and fury signifying nothing." JEREMIAH'S DIATRIBE Over the summer I have been meditating on the book of Jeremiah. For some reason it has always resonated with me. Maybe it is because Jeremiah was a cry baby like I am, and like me he wasn't liked much...whatever it is, this depressing book has always spoken to me. Simply put, Jeremiah is a book about certain judgment coming to God's people. Time and again he tried to speak to them, and yet because of their stubborn and rebellious heart (5:23), they wouldn't listen. Jeremiah pleads in 6:16-17: Ask for where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, 'We will not walk in it.' 'Pay attention to the sound of the trumpet!' But they said, 'We will not pay attention.' Poor Jeremiah had it rough, no one wanted to listen to him or change their lives. Talk about playing church, the people of Israel were masters at it. And as a result they were judged by God. Eventually, the nation of Babylon invaded and destroyed the city of Jerusalem. If you want to read how bad it got, just read the book of Lamentations: "Jerusalem sinned grievously; therefore she became filthy; all who honored her despise her, for they have seen her nakedness; she herself groans and turns her face away." (Lamentations 1:8) It was bad. THE 4 PART PLAY Jeremiah tried to warn them. And in chapter 6 and 8 he describes the people's problem with clinical precision. On the outside they might say they were God's people, but if you were to do a close examination, there were four qualities and habits that unmasked their hypocrisy. Under the microscope of God's probing eye, he came to the conclusion that these people were only play acting. As I go through them, ask yourself, is this true of me? Part 1: Finding No Pleasure in God's Word (6:10 & 8:9) God wants a relationship with us, so he has spoken. The Holy Scriptures are his message to us. They are written down so everyone has equal access to the heart of God. Like a love letter from a far away land, the Bible is God's written communication to those whom he loves. If you love him, you will want to hear from him. But for the people of Israel, they had zero interest in his words. As a result, they didn't get to know him at all. In fact in verse 12:2 Jeremiah says, "You are near in their mouth and far from their heart." That is the epitome of play acting. "Oh sure I know God, I am a Christian, I go to such and such a church. But the Bible is so....well....boring!!" How do you know you are play acting? The word of God is not in your heart. Part 2: Everyone is Greedy (6:2 & 8:1) God wants us to find our satisfaction in him. To really enjoy him. But this was not so for the people in Jeremiah's time; they ran after everything else but God. They wanted things, they wanted pleasure, they wanted power. In fact, God was so saddened by this that he uttered one of the most tragic verses in all of scripture in Jeremiah 2:5 "What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me?" In other words, God is asking his people, "What is wrong with me? Why don't you want me?" The answer is simple: Shiny things are more important to the play actor's heart, (ie: wisdom - riches - power), than knowing the person of God (9:23)? Are you the person who goes to church only to put on a show? Francis Shaeffer said the true sickness in the heart of most American Christians is their desire for 'affluence and personal peace.' "I want to be rich so I can be left alone." Is that true of you? Part 3: Declaring Peace when Trouble is on the Way (6:14 & 8:11) God is angry at sin - - but when you are play acting, everything, including warnings about sin, becomes a joke. We come to church for a show, not an encounter with holiness. Go on YouTube and look at the most popular praise music; doesn't it seem like it features beautiful, cool, young and sexy people who are great at acting holy, rather than finding truly holy people who can bring us into the terrifying presence of God. Even that phrase, "terrifying presence of God" makes most people nervous. "God is not terrifying, he is a nice guy." Who wants to play act when it could become dangerous? So we reshape the one we are worshiping into a romantic lover, a source of power that we connect to through tears and warm emotion. God is no longer Jehovah. Jesus has become to us a 'guy in skinny jeans' adorned with the latest cool hair cut. Messiah? What does that even mean? Part 4: No Shame (6:15 & 8:12) When you are only play acting, it doesn't matter what part you play. You are wearing a mask, so the lines you say, the scenes you act, are merely theater. They don't mean anything. In Jeremiah's day, life became a game. People experimented with life, and when they sacrificed children to the flames of idols, or had sex under spreading trees, who cared? To each his own. Well...God cared and he still cares. Listen to the language of Jeremiah 2:12, "Be appalled, O heavens, at this: be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the Lord." Sounds to me like God really takes our lives serious. In our unblushing world of today, Christians are still experimenting. They actually think reality is theirs to mold and shape in any form they want. They even have made church to be a place of expanding experimentation. To prove my point I will mention one little phrase that epitomizes our lack of shame, "Love Wins." It can mean whatever you want it to mean, and in our arrogance we are expecting God to approve whatever we do. And all decisions are baptized with the play actors favorite word, "Love." But this love is a shameful type of love. A love that has no respect for the feelings of God. These four stages go in order, if you find yourself in stage one, be warned, stage 2 is coming. If you find yourself in stage 4, be terrified, there is nothing left but judgment. In simple terms, stop the act. It isn't working on God. He is not amused. THE STAGE I personally believe the play acting that is going is being performed on a universal stage. It is not something that only happens in mega-churches, and liturgical churches. It happens in a human's heart. For Israel, God was speaking to a whole nation of people. It wasn't the Mosaic System that was the problem, it wasn't the temple, it was the habits and expectations that characterized people. It was what was taking place in their heart. Listen to Jeremiah 17:9, "The heart is deceitful (play acting) above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it." Now that summer is winding down and the beginning of the new work year is gearing up, I will try to do a better job as a pastor. I will try to do more than keeping the gears, pistons and wheels of a large church going. I do not want to be to the one who only declares, "The Show Must Go On." I am not here to play an organ grinder. I believe I have been called by God to speak to people's heart. As we all prepare to get back to normal life, the more important question is this..."Will you personally stop the act. Will you once again listen to God?"
1 Comment
Mark
8/17/2015 05:10:30 am
Thank you Chris, that was a good read
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