Acts 25:19 Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.
I’m having a bad wolf of a day. For those of you who watch Doctor Who, you know that that means I’m having a feeling of impending doom. I don’t mean on a personal basis or at a congregational level. I just feel that our Western Church has become so progressive that it is heading for disaster. We’ve strayed too far from our traditional roots and scriptural foundations and my biggest fear is that the Holy Spirit will abandon us to our own theological deceptions and idolatrous ideologies.
“Way to go, preacher!” I can hear some of you groaning. You were looking for an upbeat spiritual nicety that would tide you over the weekend. Instead, you get the bleating heart of a pastor who feels like he’s in the wilderness and has outlived his usefulness.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not feeling sorry for myself. I’m feeling sorry for the Church and the next generation. From what I’ve read in the Book of Revelation, an apostate generation is one of the crucial signs that we’re heading into the End of Days. I can’t seem to shake this off and I feel perplexed because nobody wants to hear, read, or accept another doom and gloom message. Life is meant to be fun and church is meant to be happy. The world doesn’t need a clerical killjoy or pathetic prophet.
And yet the world needs to hear the Truth before it’s all too late. The world needs to know the Way before it loses itself. The world needs to find the Life before it starts to finally die.
Almost two thousand years ago, the Apostle Paul faced his accusers who rejected his message and the fact that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. Sad to say, Paul would face the same kind of people in today’s world, but this time they would be part of the Christian church that he helped to establish.
Perhaps you can excuse these thoughts as the morbid ramblings of a person who is dealing with his own issues about his own mortality. You’re free to think that way and reject the message. But before you do that, honestly ask yourself this question: is the Church progressing or declining?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, we claim to be Your Church and yet we refuse to be claimed by Your Word. We say that we are Christians, but do we truly let You in our lives? We follow our own ideas and create our own paths, expecting You to catch up with us and condone our ways. Will we leave it too late? Will we be ready for Your Return? In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
John Stuart is currently the pastor of Erin Presbyterian Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. If you would like to comment on today’s message, please send him an email to pastor@erinpresbyterian.org.
Today’s image is one of John’s abstract drawings called “Crossing Over.” It depicts the passing of a soul from this world into the next. If you would like to view a larger version of the image, please click on the following link: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/75/208654420_3eab83b2de_o.jpg
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