What is the Message “Up in Front?”
A number of years ago, I read a book that disturbed me and challenged me at the same time. The book was written by individuals who had left the church I read about in my Bible and had either joined with various religious groups or had given up on religion entirely.
My spiritual journey had taken me in the opposite direction as was the case with these people. I had left a religious group composed of sincere and well-intentioned people, but who wore a name not found in God’s Word for His people. These people whom I loved then and love now also believed and practiced some things for which I found no biblical authority.
My journey took me to a group that appealed (appeals) to the New Testament as the exclusive authority for all that is done and taught religiously. Since Jesus promised to build His church (cf. Matt. 16:18) and since He is its head (cf. Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:18), I am humbled and honored to be a member of the church which does have a biblical name. That name, of course, can be found in Romans 16:16 wherein we read “…the churches of Christ greet you” (ESV).
As already stated, the authors of the book I read went in a different direction. I was interested in knowing what caused them to do that.
As I remember it, I found the typical responses. I remember reading about such things as hypocrisy, “church politics,” lack of love, lack of involvement, and a host of other things. While all of those saddened me greatly, I was, unfortunately, not surprised to read some of these indictments (which, by the way, existed in the first-century church, too).
It may have been a quarter of a century since I read the book, but I am still challenged by one comment in the book. The word picture presented by the author is still as fresh in my mind today as it was when I first read it.
This person told how the former place of worship had information in the front sharing the attendance and contribution. This was in contrast to the current place of worship. It had a huge cross literally hanging over the head of the preacher. The author’s comment on this was that the emphasis of one group seemed to be on how they were doing while the message of the other group was on what the Lord did.
As I type these words, I’m thinking about what the people with whom I worship have in front of them as I preach. To their left, they see a list of song numbers–what we are going to do or have done during that period of worship. On their right, they see that board that reports on our attendance and contribution–how we are doing. Behind me, they see a baptistery–a reminder of what they need to do or have already done.
It is my prayer that the man in the middle of all of this (me) is, in the words of Paul, focused on “…Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). Paul left little doubt about what people saw when he preached. He identified the people of Galatia as those “…before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified” (Gal. 3:1, NASU).
The spiritual journey of every individual needs to lead to the foot of the cross.
———-
To Receive Every Post via Email for Free, Click Here
Photo background credit: Jimmy Baikovicius on Creative Commons
