God has been impressing on my mind that many disciples are just playing at church. This daily devotional looks at what that means and what God really wants.
Nuggets
- Too many times, we are not committed to worshiping God the way He wants us to be.
- God has laid it on my heart that He wants vibrant, growing churches.
Something has been running through my head since Sunday. Before I went to bed Sunday night, God told me, “People need to quit playing church.”
God woke me up Monday morning saying the same thing. “People NEED to quit playing church.”
How Do We Play Church?
“Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice” (Ps. 51: 16-17 MSG)
Too many times, we are not committed to worshiping God the way He wants us be.
How do we play church? Let me count the ways.
The most common play practices are just showing up on Sunday morning for the hour the church service is and think that cuts it. It doesn’t.
If that is all we are doing, are we really listening to the sermon? Are we taking notes? Do we meditate on it that afternoon, let alone any other time during the week?
Or are we just putting in an appearance?
Are we just going through the motions — playing church?
Do we know what the pastor is talking about? When he preaches on The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like parable, do we know the story?
Do we know what it means to pray without ceasing? Do we know what it means to rest in God?
Do we know what it means to submit to God?
If we don’t know, do we ask to meet with him to get clarification? If we are too embarrassed to do that, do we Google it?
Are we just playing church?
Are we attending church every Sunday or just when we feel like it? (I am not talking about those who can’t make it for illness. I am talking about those who decide not to come.)
Are we part-time members or committed members?
Do we make it to Sunday School? Same questions apply. Are we part-time members or committed members?
Are we just playing church?
What happens when business meeting comes around? Are we even going? Do we know what is happening in our church?
When we are asked a question, do we know what it means? If we don’t, do we care enough to ask for clarification?
Or are we just rubber stamping whatever the leadership is proposing?
Are we just playing church?
What Does God Want?
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ …” (II Pet. 3: 18 ESV)
God has laid it on my heart that He wants vibrant, growing churches.
No, that doesn’t mean growing in numbers. Yes, God wants more and more people to turn to Him.
But that isn’t everything.
God wants us to be growing in our faith. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ …” (II Pet. 3: 18 ESV)
We don’t do that when we let the Pastor Steve-types run the show. It isn’t the Church of [fill in your pastor’s name].
It is the Church of God.
God gives us free will. Free will is the ability within us to make decisions, which determine actions that produce character.
When we talk about that, we usually say that is where God allows us to decide whether we want to follow Him or not.
But I realized this week that the salvation decision isn’t the only one God wants us to make.
It does say decisions — plural — doesn’t it?
So, yes. God wants a group decision on the Sunday School curriculum. He wants a group decision on how we want to be a praying church.
God wants a group decision about how we are going to be a family workshopping Him.
To sit there and … crickets … is not what God wants. He doesn’t want the Pastor or the Sunday School leader to just step in and make the decision.
God wants us to question and grow. He wants us to take an active part.
Why? Being a disciple is not a passive exercise. We are to be active.
What argument do worldview people use for a reason not to come to church? Their think their ability to make decisions will be taken away.
No, they get to make decisions.
But isn’t it taken away since we leave the decisions to the Pastor Steve-types? If we have already abdicated decision making to the pastor, it has been taken away from the worldview person who does attend.
That isn’t good.
Making the Connections
Why am I making such a big deal of it?
God does not want our relationship with Him to be one-sided. We can’t be passive in worshiping Him and taking care of His house.
Look at it this way. One of the end-time signs is “… many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another” (Mt. 24: 10 ESV). I’ve always thought of this as they would stop coming to church.
Maybe not.
What if their feet come, but their hearts and minds don’t? Isn’t that just as much falling away as the other?
Won’t the end result be the same? “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt. 7: 21 ESV).
How Do We Apply This?
We have to genuinely turn to God.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
Father God. We want to actively seek You. We don’t want to be a nominal disciple that says we love You but don’t change our hearts to be like You. We want us to be committed, growing disciples. Amen.
What do you think?
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