A Spiritual Chernobyl

No doubt a number of you remember the terrible tragedy some years ago in the Ukraine, when the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl energy plant caught fire. Millions went about their everyday business as usual, cooking, working, and going to school, unaware and uninformed that an unseen but deadly element was unleashed all around them. Something was happening that was changing the atmosphere and the essential conditions for life. Thousands were affected, and many died all the while unaware of the slow poisoning that was taking place.

In some respects, I feel that that something very similar is happening around us. No, I do not mean that some nuclear reactor is leaking radioactive poison into our air. I do mean though that something very real and equally deadly is loose in the world and yes, even in the church.

I want to direct you to four major concerns this morning. These four areas of concern are foul and poisonous spiritual pollutants that are having a dramatic and deadly impact on many today.

1.         Worldliness

Much has been said about this pollutant down through the years. I have heard worldliness used as a umbrella term to cover everything from the kind of car a person drives to the length of a ladies skirt. I eventually came to see worldliness as being anything that we didn’t particularly like or approve of in or on others.

·         If a person didn’t like long hair on men, he would simply justify his dislike by calling it worldly.

·         If he or she didn’t like television, he or she would again justify the dislike by saying that the medium was worldly.

In time, the term came to be a sort of catch-all phrase.

The truth of the matter is though, worldliness does have a definition. John wrote in 1 John 2:15-17: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”

John is not talking about this globe that we call earth. Nor is he speaking of humanity that lives on the earth. John 3:16 certainly declares the fact that God loves the people of the world.

The term “world” as used here means all that men think and do that ignores God and is contrary to His will. It is summarized again by “the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does.” As you can see, it is much broader than previously thought.

When I say “group hug”, I dare say that everyone here knows what I mean. In like fashion, the term “the world” speaks of “group speak” or “group think”. In other words, most everyone basically thinks the same way and/or speaks the same way.

Today, worldliness is marked by – in general terms:

·         An emphasis on the here and now, rather than the eternal;

·         Mankind, rather than God;

·         Self-deity, rather than Almighty deity;

·         Me;

·         Things;

·         That which is created rather than the one who creates;

·         Self-determination, and

·         Pleasure.

·         Worldliness holds that everything is relative; there are no absolutes.

The late Dr. Corliss Lamont wrote in his definitive book The Philosophy of Humanism, "For humanism the central concern is always the happiness of man in this existence, not in some fanciful never-never land beyond the grave; a happiness worthwhile as an end in itself and not subordinate to or dependent on a Supreme Deity, an invisible King, ruling over the earth and the infinite cosmos." The writer described worldliness.

Think with me of some of the ways that the world influences us today:

·         Advertising;

·         Movies and television;

·         Education;

·         Music;

·         Styles and fads;

·         Philosophies;

·         Political agendas;

·         A certain bias in the reporting of the news;

Can you see how the influence of the world has permeated each of these areas?

Have you been affected? Has the world influenced you; compromised you? To help you answer, let me ask you a few questions:

·         Has your views on morality (homosexually, living together outside of marriage, adultery, sex before marriage,) changed in the last few years? If so, have you become more tolerant on these issues? If you have, you have been influenced by worldliness.

·         Do you believe in moral and ethical absolutes? If you don’t, you are in danger of becoming worldly.

·         Is Jesus the only way to heaven, or do all good people go there regardless? Worldliness holds to the doctrine of Universalism – everyone ultimately makes it in. Have you been moved by this philosophy?

Worldliness overtakes a person bit by bit. In time, though, our values and assumptions are completely rearranged and redefined for us.

James 4:4 warns, “You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” In ringing words the Apostle James declares that God's people must make a clear-cut choice between God and all un-Christlike attitudes. If we belong to God, then friendship with the world system must go.

2.         Powerlessness

Recently my wife and I spent two days in Chicago celebrating our wedding anniversary. We had a great time. Anyway, while there we got off into a rather rough area of town. It looked as if everyone had a little prison in which they worked or lived. Bars were on the windows and the doors of both houses and workplaces. It was a scary place. Anyway, one of the things that struck us while there was the number of churches that we saw. It actually got to the point of being ridiculous. I do not mean to exaggerate, many blocks in this particular area of town had at least one and sometimes two churches per block and this went on block after block. They were little store front missions with names like “First Church of the First Born of the Fire Baptized Second Millennium.” The names of the places nearly stretched across the whole front of the church. Anyway, with such a proliferation of houses of worship, how can one explain all the taverns, the crime, drug dealers, and seedy looking characters that were as numerous as grapes on a vine? The church is certainly there -- in the world, but obviously the world is not making its way to the church!

Now, I ask you:

·         What impact are these churches having?

·         How are these places affecting the culture that surrounds them?

·         Why aren’t they better able to provide answers to the perplexing problems of:

o        child abuse,

o        teen pregnancy,

o        drug addiction,

o        alcoholism,

o        AIDS,

o        homelessness, and

o        divorce that are no doubt rampant in those neighborhoods?

Why isn’t the faith community as a whole better able to address these issues? Pray tell me!

Leith Anderson, in his excellent book, Leadership that Works, writes, “In the United States, approximately 102 million people attend worship services each week, How do you think this number compares to professional sports attendance?  Professional baseball, basketball, and football games in the U.S.A. draw 94 million fans per year. That means that more people go to church every week than go to professional sports all year. Sports attendance equals about 2 percent of church attendance.” Think about it!

I want to challenge you this morning not to ask: “What is wrong with the world?” for that diagnosis has already been given. Rather, we should ask, “What has happened to the salt and light?" With the numbers, the money, the potential for such influence, the question begs to be addressed, WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE CHURCH IN AMERICA?

What I really find interesting here is, Christianity is not dead, nor does it even have a cough. Some 200,000 people a day are turning to Jesus. Christianity is literally taking Africa and South America by storm. Millions of people, in fact large portions of whole countries on those continents are turning to the Lord. Within the last month over 160,000 members of the Assemblies of God held an outdoor rally in a city in Brazil. Many received Christ. The culture there is being changed by the influence of the church.

What is the difference? The church is different. In short, the saints are seriously devoted to prayer, they spend extensive time in worship and fellowship, and seem very confident in what God can and will do in the normal scheme of things. All to often, by way of contrast, the church in America is steeped in self‑confidence, pride, and spiritual apathy. It has a form but it has lost the power!

Frankly, we must seek God's renewing grace and power in our lives, our churches, and our Christian organizations, if our culture is to be changed.

3.         Spiritual Isolationism

I may seem strange that I go from taking about having a church on every corner to talking about the church being isolated, nevertheless, both points are true.

After two years of being in church, the average saint has few if any real friends who are unsaved. Really. One reason it is so hard to lead people to Christ today in America is due to the fact that we simply do not know any sinners. Millions around us do not know the Lord and yet they are untouched by any witness.  

We are isolated little islands of Christianity at work, at school, or wherever.

·         Many Christians join together over lunch for a Bible study.

·         Young people met before or after school for their prayer groups.

·         The ladies meet together for a Bible study or some other Christian thing.

·         Preachers do whatever preachers do with other preachers.

We are isolated from the very souls that Jesus called us to reach! We have worked hard at  shielding ourselves from the pollution or compromise of those who are in the surrounding culture.

What a contrast to Jesus Christ. John 1:14 tells us that “The Word (Jesus) became flesh and dwelt among us.” He came down from heaven for the express purpose of mixing it up with the people of the world.

Do you realize that not one of His disciples were “saved” (as we understand saved), when the Lord called them? After three years of serving with the Lord Peter still was having a battle with flesh!

Jesus purposefully ministered to a rich but wicked tax collector, an woman who was living with a man, another woman who was caught in the act of adultery, some blind beggars, and some foul-mouthed fishermen. He turned water into wine at a wedding, He ate with pagans and tax collectors, He went fishing with the Sons of Zebedee – otherwise known as the Sons of Thunder. 

Listen to Luke 14:16-23. I love this parable: “Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, "and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, `Come, for all things are now ready.' “But they all with one [accord] began to make excuses. The first said to him, `I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.' "And another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.' "Still another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' "So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, `Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here [the] poor and [the] maimed and [the] lame and [the] blind.' "And the servant said, `Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.' "Then the master said to the servant, `Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel [them] to come in, that my house may be filled.”

Two things stand out in this story. One, the excuses. This was to be a lavish feast. Anyone should have felt honored to have been invited. Yet, one by one those who had been asked to attend bowed out. One had bought some land. Another had to test his new team of oxen. And the third one claimed that he had just gotten married. There is certainly nothing wrong with owning a farm, examining purchases, or spending an evening with your wife. But if these good things keep you from enjoying the best things, then they become bad things. The excuse-makers were actually successful people in the eyes of their friends, but they were failures in the eyes of Jesus Christ.

Next, the master ordered his servant to go out and invite the street people to attend the meal.

These people had no excuses.

·         The poor could not afford to buy oxen;

·         the blind could not go to examine real estate; and

·         the poor, maimed, lame, and blind were usually not given in marriage.

This crowd would be hungry and lonely and only too happy to accept an invitation to a free banquet.

But the message of this parable applies to all lost sinners today. God still says, “All things are now ready. Come!” Nothing more needs be done for the salvation of lost souls. The feast has been spread, the invitation is free, and all are invited to come.

God still wants to see His house filled, for “yet there is room.”

·         He wants us to go home (Mark 5:19),

·         go into the streets and lanes (Luke 14:21),

·         go into the highways and hedges (Luke 14:23),

·         and go into all the world (Mark 16:15)

with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

He calls us to the exact opposite of isolationism.

This parable was the text of the last sermon D.L. Moody preached, “Excuses.” It was given on November 23, 1899 in the Civic Auditorium in Kansas City. Moody was a sick man as he preached. “I must have souls in Kansas City,” he told the students at his school in Chicago. “Never, never have I wanted so much to lead men and women to Christ as I do this time!”

There was a throbbing in his chest, and he had to hold to the organ to keep from falling, but Moody bravely preached the Gospel; and some fifty people responded to the invitation. The next day, Moody left for home, and a month later he died. Up to the very end, Moody was “compelling them to come in.”

God does not see our culture as something to be avoided, but to be entered, challenged, and transformed. I hate to say this, but it is nonetheless true, the error of some of our forefathers in the faith was that they taught the church to withdraw, to stand aloof, to isolate themselves from the very ones Jesus called us to reach! It was fine to go to Africa, but it was taboo to go be with sinners in America! 

The Apostle Paul noted in I Corinthians 9:19‑23, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.  I do all this for the sake of the gospel….”

In short, he was willing to mix and mingle with anyone who needed the message of Jesus Christ. Anyone!

I want to challenge you today to break out of your comfort zones and take the gospel to the streets, the school, the workplace, the mall, wherever!

4.         Busyness

Picture in your mind Chicago or New York or Los Angeles. That was Ephesus – one of the three greatest cities of its time. It was a commer­cial and religious center, as well as a wealthy seaport. The Apostle John addressed the church in this city in Revelation 2. It was a church that had lost it’s first love.

G. Vernon McGee describes the city thusly: "The temple of Diana was there, which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, being the largest Greek temple ever constructed (418 feet by 240 feet). There were over 100 external columns about 56 feet in height, of which 36 were hand-carved.  It was built over a marsh on an artificial foundation of skins and charcoal so that it was not affected by earthquakes. The doors were of cypress wood; columns and walls were of marble; the staircase was carved out of one vine from Cyprus.  The temple served as a bank of Asia and was the deposi­tory of vast sums of money.

It was also an art gallery displaying the masterpieces of that day. Behind a purple curtain was the lewd and crude image of Diana, the Goddess of Fer­tility. She was many-breasted, carried a club in one hand and a trident in the other." Human mutilation and temple prostitutes made this place and this city one of the most evil, wicked, vile places on earth.

Marilyn and I visited this great city in Turkey just last year. The place, though now reduced to ruins, still holds evidence of it’s former grandeur.

Ephesus had a church -- a Pentecostal church, a church that had known the move and the power of God.

Paul enjoyed a great revival here. In fact he lived and preached in Ephesus for 2 years and 3 months.  Timothy and the Apostle John also ministered here. Tradition tells us that these two, along with Mary, the mother of Jesus, were buried in Ephesus.

History goes on to tell us that ten years after the death of John, the Roman Emperor sent a man to Ephesus to investigate whether to perse­cute the Chris­tians there. The fellow wrote back that "Christians had be­come so numerous that the heathen temples were almost deserted."

The Bible points out that this was a BUSY CHURCH. Revelation 2:2 notes “I know your deeds, your hard work...” This church was into church growth, potlucks, programs, evangelism and social awareness. Get the idea? It was again busy.

It would have fit in very well with the church of today. Many churches in the year 2001 are simply judged on the bases of their "busy-ness:" 

·       Does it have enough sporting activities?

·       Does it have social programs for the poor?  Elderly? Latchkey kids? Etc.

·       Does it have a daycare?

·       Does it have encounter groups?

·       Does it sponsor ski trips to Colorado?

·       Does it have Tupperware parties?

·       Does it have two of this and does it have three of that?

IN SHORT, IS IT A BUSY CHURCH?  IF IT IS, IT'S A GOOD CHURCH!

Back now to the Church in Ephesus. Revelation 2:4 begins, “Yet I (Jesus) hold this against you, you have forsaken your first love.” Jesus had a problem with this assembly!

Because of their loss of love, their busy-ness was to NO AVAIL!! It was just so much wasted effort! YOU SEE, IT IS TRAGICALLY POSSIBLE TO BE SO BUSY WORKING FOR CHRIST -- OR FOR THE CHURCH -- THAT ONE FORGETS THE CHRIST OF THE CHURCH!

Hear me, please:

·       The Bible never once specifically calls for pot-lucks in the church --

     but it talks a lot about prayer meetings.

·       The Bible never alludes to ski trips to Colorado --

     but it stresses loud and clear “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together....”

·       The Bible never calls for the church to put together a ball-team –

but it does tell the us to “go into all the world” and tell everyone about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Don't get me wrong. I'm obviously not against these matters of fun and fellowship. They have some sort of place in the total scheme of things in the church.  BUT BUSY-NESS IS NOT NECESSARILY ordered of God! Satan will endeavor to get us to be so busy with the lesser things that we no longer have the time, strength, or desire to do the main things!

Do you realize that one definition of the word Ephesus, according to the classic The Book of Revelation, by Clarence Larkin, is to "LET GO," "TO RELAX."

Although there was much to be commended in this church, it none­theless had lost:

·       The freshness,

·       The enthusiasm,

·       The spirit of its early devotion to Christ.

·       The church lacked passion.

·       It was devoid of flame!

·       It had re­laxed and set­tled into the lap of ease.

The Lord's rebuke is strong!  The church at Ephesus had not just slipped into a minor mistake or two. The language of the text indicates that they had forsaken or abandoned their first love!

THE TRUE FEELING EXPRESSED HERE WAS THAT THEY HAD, IN FACT, ABAN­DONED JESUS, THE CHRIST! THE CAUSE HAD BECOME MORE IMPORTANT TO THEM THAN THEIR LORD. They had substituted THE WORK FOR THE SAVIOR.

Well, I must bring this to a close. I have really shared with you some serious matters that have been upon my heart. I appreciate you letting me lay open my heart to you. I trust that my concerns about:

·         Worldliness,

·         Powerlessness,

·         Spiritual Isolation, and

·         Busyness

are all the more your concerns too.

Each of these matters can be a terrible poison that cripples our effectiveness and saps our spiritual strength.

The prophet Jeremiah said it so, well: “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13) Let’s seek Jesus this morning.