When I get together with other pastors, or other hungry Christians, we often sit around and moan about the state of God's Church in our community. To a person we all talk about revival and "the good ole days"; but almost to a person we also aren't sure that God's people are willing to do what it takes to get there.
I was reading about the completion of the Tabernacle du ring Moses' reign as the leader of Israel, and it reminded me of the hopes and dreams we had in my own church just a few short years ago. I'll expand on that in a minute.....(but don't you love that picture on the right? That's God's house of worship right smack dab in the centre of the community. You don't see that so much anymore. More and more of our communities today are forcing their churches to build on the outskirts of town "if you please".)
In Exodus 35 and onward we read about the construction of the Tabernacle, that great house of worship where the power and presence of God resided. They brought their gold and silver and ram skins dyed in bright red. They brought their brooches and earrings and ornaments to be melted down for God. Then they made an Ark and a Showtable and the Lampstand of pure gold and great craftsmanship. They built a courtyard out of huge brass pillars, then decorated them with silver and other kinds of ornaments. And they gave the priests the very best clothes that they could make. AND ALL OF THIS WAS DONE FOR THE LORD THEIR GOD!
Then Moses tells us in Exodus 40 that "a cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the Tabernacle." (40:34,35)
Twelve years ago my church embarked on an expansion project for our house of worship. The pastor at that time had promised that if they build it "the people will come". So for five years they planned and prayed, and in 1999 the work began. A new sanctuary was constructed; new office space, and new Christian Ed rooms were put in place. A whole new wing was erected for the edification of God's people, and for the glory of the Lord. And then they began to wait.
But the glory of the Lord didn't fill this place. And, while a few curious people came to check us out, there was very little growth in the first five years of our brand new occupancy. And as leaders (I was on the scene by then) we gathered together to try to figure things out. I think we all knew what the answer is: our people needed to repent of some things and get serious about their walk with God.
You see, even back in Exodus, before they built the Tabernacle a fundamental change had to take place in the hearts of those Israelites. "You are a stiff-necked people", God had said (chptr 33). "I'm not going with you into the Land of Promise. You'll have to go alone." But Moses pleaded with the Lord for another opportunity for His people to repent, and he challenged them again to get serious about their faith and about the way they walked with the Living God.
Friends, putting up a new building, or a new worship team, or hiring a new pastor isn't going to be the answer to God's absence from your church. You have to have repentance! The Apostle Peter made that absolutely clear when he said:
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ." Acts 3:19-20 And we've preached that in our churches -- I know we have, we've really tried. But, in the end it seems that most of us much prefer the world. Too many of us just aren't ready or willing to give up our baubles and trinkets in order to serve our Lord.
And so we go to church, and He's barely there. There's no Shekinah glory over our "tabernacle" as we walk up to the front doors. There's no sense of His holiness; no heart-thumping expectation as we go through the doors. All too sadly, for most North American Christians about all we've got left is our music, our building, our sermons, and our fellowship. Few of us would say that we've been overwhelmed by God at church.
So we mourn and grieve and we whine and we complain. But, in all honesty,when push comes to shove (and more and more pastors are pushing) we just can't do what it takes to invite God's Shekinah glory back to church.
In the end, it seems, for most of us the world still comes first in our hearts! Which explains the utter absence of God at many church services in Canada today. "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone (or any group of believers) loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him (or in his church)." 1 John 2:15
Labels: worldliness, worship |
