WHAT DO YOU HEAR GOD SAYING TO THE CHURCH?

Recently, I was with a group of Apostolic leaders who met for a brief time of reflection about issues facing the church today. The question was raised, “What do you hear God saying to the church?” Below is a partial listing of some thoughts and comments.

• It is time to get serious about the effectiveness of the local church. We are loosing ground. Congregates are over involved and under committed. We must get back to the Biblical basics of the Great Commission and the Great Commandment.

• Pastors and leaders spend too much time talking about their experiences and too little time teaching and applying the Word. There is also too little time spent in prayer. Overall, too much time is spent on non-spiritual activities.

• 9/11 should have been a wake up call, but instead we are complacent. The illnesses in the world are the same illnesses we see in the church.

• America is no longer a nation under one God. There are many religions that are a part of our society. The church does not sense any urgency to convert others to the God of our Fathers.

• There should be an effort to pray for our leaders. They are becoming more and more fearful of being politically correct instead of people of character and integrity.

• Preachers are preaching what people want to hear rather than the Word. They are influencing followers to stray from the truth simply by not preaching the truth.

• There is no longer any Biblical worldview in our churches. The worldview in the church has become the same worldview as we see in our society.

• We must quit being so selfish – it’s not about us. What is negotiable about fulfilling the Great Commission? We must get rid of any barrier that hinders accomplishment of the Great Commission including selfish attitudes that the local church should serve me. Why don’t pastor’s lead congregations in achieving the Great Commission? Because too many people in the pew believe the purpose of the local church is to meet their needs, not the needs of a person who doesn’t even attend.

• The local church must stop having an environment that rewards non-Biblical behavior. Too often people become leaders because of their tenure or influence rather than their Biblical effectiveness. Other times carnal behavior is not challenged because of the fear of offending someone who is critical to the churches existence.

These comments come through gifted spiritual people. They reflect what God desires to be heard among his people in the local church. Somehow, through tradition and time, the church has evolved into societies of people whose focus has turned inward rather than outward. Through these comments, we are being challenged to return to our basic roots of Biblical obedience, channeling our energies toward those not yet in the Kingdom of God.

Dr. Kent Hunter believes that the church has been attacked and infected by the “demon of religion.” This demon Dr. Hunter explains has blinded us to the Great Commission; instead it has moved us to focus on denominationalism, traditionalism, and institutionalism. The result is a very dead faith among congregants whose focus turns toward themselves and what they want. When what they want is tampered with or taken away, they become disgruntled, critical, leaders of church splits, or secret champions of slander and gossip. The only winner is the demon of religion.

God has more than this in mind for the local church! Pastors and church leaders in the future must be more than practitioners of diagnosis, prognosis, prescription and strategy of ministry. They must be spiritually tuned into the very heart of God, and willing to proclaim to the local church the sins within the camp. At the same time, they must be gentle teachers of the Word, helping people catch the vision of what God’s local church looks like in our modern society. Our future ministry is more than helping a church grow; it is helping the local church understand and practice the Biblical principles of being the bride of Christ while executing the assignment of being ambassadors for Christ. It is the practice of ‘being’ balanced with the activity of ‘doing.’

My burden is for healthy, growing, and reproducing local churches. But, there is a growing burden for courageous & discerning pastors who are called and commissioned by the Holy Spirit to be carriers of an apostolic movement! The time has come. Time is short, hell is hot!

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