| “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” |
| —Romans 12:10 |
I wish to begin today’s blog post, by sharing with you an experience I had recently. This late-into-the-night experience in my dreams no doubt came about because over recent months I have become deeply concerned about the unfolding fate of the Evangelical churches in the United States of America and the effect these churches, as a whole, are having on the Christian Spiritual Formation of those who attend worship services. My concern is in the broadest possible sense and not necessarily confined to the dear fellowship at the church I currently attend. Please let me share with you what I experienced:
Recently, in the wee hours just before dawn, I fell into a deep sleep and began to dream. In my dream, I found myself conducting an interview with a devoted saint of God, whom I shall not name. For those of you not familiar with my use of that term “dear saint of God,” I’m referring to a senior individual who has spent his entire life serving Christ and His Kingdom. This dear man began his devotion to Christ in his early teen years. To write a biography of the places he has served and the lives he has touched—all to the glory of God—would take pages and pages and pages.
I was particularly interested, during my interview, to ask him a certain question about his view of the Evangelical Christian churches found across the United States of America today. Now in his late 90’s and twenty years older than I am, this man has seen many changes flood through the Evangelical churches over the years of his life. I wondered, as I carefully considered what I would ask him, how he might respond to this issue I felt was worth exploring:
I asked him, “What do you see as the major issue or major problem facing Evangelical churches in the United States today?” He looked at me quizzically for a moment, but did not hesitate to voice his answer.
“I wish the Evangelical churches would keep their promises without exception,” he replied in the raspy voice of an elderly man.
“What do you mean when you say: ‘keep their promises’?” I asked.
“Very many Evangelical churches today,” he began his answer, “have created a very forthright, even strong, narrative of what they offer to the world. They make significant promises about many aspects of life. Based on their reading of Scripture, and particularly on the words of Jesus and the Apostles, they promise fellowship, freedom from a host of things that might trouble people. They promise peace, joy, a sense of belonging, a strong sense of warmth that comes from shared values, and an opportunity to grow in grace. They also promise rewards for service to the Kingdom, including efforts to help the poor, minister to the needy, and efforts to help raise those who have fallen.
“But then,” he continued, “when a person comes into the church, and begins to look for those promised qualities within the church, he or she often finds almost the exact opposite in play. Instead of a sense of oneness, a person finds the church divided over issues and broken into distinct cliques.
“Socialization may often take place, but rarely true biblical fellowship. Instead of delivering an atmosphere that fosters deeper Christian Spiritual Formation, many Evangelical churches depend on a spiritual high created by an emotional rollercoaster not unlike the feelings one receives at some major public event.
“Instead of consistently creating a safe place where wounded people can find solace, the Evangelical church would rather hold occasional forays out into the secular world where they can make a targeted evangelistic “attack” through some “service project,” but without the kind of long-term commitment that it takes to really meet people’s needs.”
He continued: “It becomes almost a ‘bait and switch.’ The Evangelical church makes lots of promises, in some cases even well-meaning promises. But, in the end, it all boils down to a slick advertising campaign with very little substance to back up the claims.
“I wish Evangelicals treated each other better,” he said. “I wish they loved more deeply. I wish the major disciplines that directed their lives were Bible reading and prayer.
“I wish they would think deeply about spiritual things and show the same enthusiasm for what God is doing in the world that they show for their favorite sports team or televisions program.
“I wish Christian parents would be more interested in the spiritual lives of their children than they are in creating what the secular world describes as ‘well-rounded children who grow into well-rounded adults.’
“I wish parents would purpose to create such strong church youth groups that those groups would easily outshine any programs offered by secular organizations. I wish the church activities would take precedent over school activities and sports activities.”
He continued: “I wish that, when parents consider the education of their graduating high schoolers, they would investigate the numerous academically excellent Christian colleges and universities where the young adults will receive a Christ-centered education, rather than purposely steering their children to Ivy League schools, or secular institutions, where their heads will be filled with Christ-less knowledge.
“In short,” he concluded, “I wish the Evangelical church would keep all the promises it makes without exception. If it would, if it did, if we did, we would build a United States filled with devoted servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“The entire society would be better for it, if Christian people lived truly Christianly 100% of the time. If the claims of Christ were truly lived out by millions of people, Jesus would surely draw millions more to Himself. And, wouldn’t it be something, really something, to be a part of that?”
He continued to hold my gaze for a moment. He sighed and just the hint of a loving smile gently lifted the corners of his lips. Then, he stood, turned, and slowly shuffled away down the hallway from which he had first come.
As he walked away, I remember thinking that I will likely never actually have a real conversation with this man I admire so very much. But, after reading many of his books and listening to countless interviews, I’m not at all certain that my dream-state imagination falls short from what he might say in answer to my question.
Suddenly, I heard the honking of a loud horn. As I tried to see from where the honking was coming, I began to realize it was the sound of the alarm clock on the bedside table. As I woke, I thought about what I had experienced. But, then I realized it was only a dream.
Yes, it was just a dream. But, I can’t dismiss the thought that sometimes a great deal of truth is revealed in our dreams.
Now to today’s Scripture passage that prompted my desire to interview this beloved saint. You likely know that the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome without ever having the privilege of visiting them until much later in his life. In this Book of Romans, as Paul’s letter is called, he outlines the theology of Christianity with amazing clarity. He conveys so many important lessons that hundreds of books have been written about what Paul wrote in these sixteen chapters.
Paul reminds the new believers of the foundation for their growing faith that came from the Jewish heritage. And, in chapters 9, 10, and 11, he writes directly to his fellow Jews. In those same chapters, he reminds the Christians that they have been grafted into the line of David and become joint inheritors with Israel of the promises that God first give to His chosen people.
I confess that the Book of Romans is probably my favorite epistle. Along with the motion picture we know as the Gospel of Luke and the X-ray vision given us by the Gospel of John, the Book of Romans connects Christianity to its Jewish roots in an extraordinarily important way. But, Paul also writes very practically in this book. Notice these simple sentences found in Romans 12:10:
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
These sentences offer a message to the Church. Just imagine, if you can, what our Evangelical churches would be like if every person connected to a particular church was lovingly devoted to every other person connected to that church. Now, imagine if the people in every church in every branch of Christianity, from Roman Catholicism, to Greek Orthodox, to mainline Protestant, to Evangelical, to Pentecostal, to—well every particular flavor of Christianity in between—were lovingly devoted to each other and to all of the other Christians all over the world. Why, we simply cannot even begin to imagine what that would be like.
At the beginning of this new day, let’s remember that as far as we may have come, we have much further to go in our walk with God. He waits patiently for us to understand more and more about who He wants us to be. Let’s continue to encourage one another. Let’s love one another. Let’s look with His eyes of love on the needy world around us. And, let’s be devoted to one another in love. Then, the world that would become our world would truly exist—and not only in my dreams.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, August 24, 2018
