Looking for God in all the Wrong Places

In the twenty-three years I’ve spent in ministry, I have witnessed the church chase one fad after another. Many of these fads came on the scene touted as the new big deal; the thing that was going to ignite the great revival and restore the church to her place of prominence in the culture. Countless movements, methods, and ministry models have quickly sprung up. They gain traction for a while. Then, just as quickly, they disappear. Some of these movements, like Promise Keepers, have been well-intentioned and have helped people. Some, like the “Bible Code,” are, well, off-the-wall. We have been Purpose Driven, Seeker Sensitive, Emergent, and Liquid. We have prayed the Prayer of Jabez and have asked What Would Jesus Do? We have bought enough books on “End Time Prophecy” to fill the Valley of Megiddo. We run from seminar to seminar, from guru to guru. We possess enough books, tapes and seminar notebooks to fill a library. Yet the church continues to lose attendance and relevance at an alarming rate. Still, we keep running after the next best thing.

In doing this this, we are announcing to the world, “we are out of bullets.” Our tank is empty. The world understands this, we don’t.

2000 years ago a preacher was deeply concerned about his congregation. They were a group of Jewish believers who were coming under increasing pressure to leave their newfound faith in Christ and return to their old ways. They were holding on, but their resolve was weakening. The preacher crafted a sermon to help point his congregation in the right direction. He begins the sermon by reminding his congregation, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son,” (Hebrews 1:1-2 NKJV). The message is still relevant. The Son is the ultimate messenger with the ultimate message.

The writer of Hebrews brings his reader face-to-face with the exalted Christ. The Son is fully able to meet every need of the Church and her people. “Christ is the answer,” is often thrown as pat advice by folks who don’t know what to say. But, the truth is Christ is the answer, the only answer. What the church needs is not to run after the next fad, but to run back to Christ.

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 NKJV)

Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. (Malachi 3:7 NKJV)

 

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