The false church will be revealed in this season of the pandemic. I am not referring to which denomination or non-denomination you agree with. We’ve spent years pointing fingers at who does what and sizing up church walls, church bands, and church preachers for too long now. We measure God by the size of the church, the way it feels or the aptitude of which it stands out among the other churches in the area.
The false church will be revealed in this season.
Almost 14 years ago, Wade and I stepped foot in the church again. We went because we were told our whole life that was what we were supposed to do. Now that we were married, we better go to church because that is what good, southern families do on Sundays. You then go out to eat. Take a nap. Do some yard work if time allows (unless you have kids) before the work week begins. This is how Wade Nagy and I began our marriage. Every Sunday we traveled the long mile to get to the Baptist Church. Dressed in our Sunday’s best, we met my parents who were always faithful to save us the pew that had our name on it. You know, because at church, no one is allowed to sit in your seat.
This was our normal pattern until the Lord hit me over the head. Literally.
The choir had just finished singing and all were seated. I leaned over to put my hymnal under my seat and for some reason, I forgot about the pew right in front of me. I nailed my head so hard on the downward swing that the sound of head meeting the wood seemed to ring louder than the cry of any organ. As I rubbed my head, Wade and I got the laughs. The kind of laughs that you try so hard to contain but yet your whole face turns red, tears stream down and if you look at each other, you know you will absolutely bust. Yea, those laughs. I believe I even snorted during the message. I had to get up and leave at one point in order not to disrupt the peace.
This was the day we realized that the church was simply a place to go on Sundays.
For years, we attributed this moment for the kind of church it was. Too boring. Lacked power. Unwilling to change. Fill in the black. Any excuse will due when you don’t want to be there. And although changing churches was the beginning of our new passion to find the Lord, this move inside of us had nothing to do with switching churches.
This move of God was a tangible act of seeking more.
Over the course of several years, Wade and I would attend, visit and join many different kinds of churches. We would even go back to the baptist church that I once hit my head on the pew and find a deep sense of awe and excitement for the Lord. Finding God wasn’t the result of finding a new church. Finding God was found in the act of asking where He was.
We are living in a day when God has taken us away from our walls of comfort and hiding. No longer can we point our fingers and say that the building down the street is doing it all wrong. The days of disputing spirit-filled, spiritual gifts, speaking in tongues and whether hymns or praise music are God’s favorite are over. At least for now. God has stripped The Church down to it original purpose, its truest identity and in bare form by placing each member in the context of their own home.
It is in this place of rawness that the church will be defined.
Will we worship and praise God when no one is watching? Will we show up for church each week (each day) when there is zero accountability for being there? And lastly, will we sing over our families, read scriptures and actually stand up declaring the goodness of God within the walls of our own homes? These are decisions that we as a church must begin to make. This is the season where God reminds us of what The Church really is. The Church is us and without us, we just have empty buildings, meaningless alters and instruments without sound.
God created The Church to be a body of believers who display His humility, love, and power to others who are lost.
The debating is over. The division and argument of whose church is better are over. The need to scramble up members and move from church to church in order to find a more meaningful service is over. God is found in the move of our hearts, not buildings. He is found in the seeking, not in what denomination we choose. God is found within us.
I look back on those youthful years of switching churches and I see it differently. God knew we needed a tangible move to open our eyes and seek Him more. He knew we needed to see other churches, other people and get outside of routine and mundane to awaken our spirits. But it had nothing to do with the church itself. The problem was our hearts, not the church we belonged to.
How is God positioning your heart during this season? Are you taking this as a free opportunity to vacay from the church? Do you see this as a get out of jail free card and no longer do you have to find yourself in a stuffy building each Sunday? Or are you celebrating and having church within your home, regardless of building, music or those around you?
The false church will be revealed in this season.
Some of us are going to come back to our buildings, refreshed, renewed and ready for a move of God. That’s because we are a Move of God. And this season is revealing that to you. You are realizing that you don’t need a pastor to pray for you all the time. That you can actually lead your family in prayer. You are realizing that you have a message deep inside of you. Words for your spouse, your kids, and your struggling co-workers. You are realizing the Power that lives deep inside of you. You are realizing that The Church is made of people. That the building is the house for Community to come together and house all of His strengths under one roof. You are being reminded of what The Church really means.
For others, you are lost without the church building.
You ignore the online streaming and take this as a free vacation from your normal Sunday routine. You go through the motions normally or heed to the nagging of your spouse to get dressed early on Sundays, but this is your free pass to skip out. This extra time, you plan to use wisely with household chores, extra sleep and avoiding the pastor at all costs. Which is something you’ve become pretty good at even on a typical Sunday morning, but now it’s much easier. However, you feel the void. You feel the urge and although it’s still somewhat easy to ignore, you know something is missing.
The false church will be revealed in this season.
Either we will heed to the Holy Spirit or we won’t. We will clothe ourselves in sheepskin and pretend we are good, southern going, Bible-belt Christians or we will truly be The Church. This defining moment is happening in our homes, RIGHT NOW. What we are doing with our time matters. Time is no longer an excuse. Getting dressed, being late, wrassling kids or broken down cars is no longer an excuse for why you cannot get to the House of the Lord. Disputing who is holier, what Gifts are for today or whose theology is correct is no longer valid.
Today, every church in America is on the same playing field. Stripped down to embody the Believers that make up the Church. A Church that very much resembles the First Church we see in Acts. No walls, no lights, no pews with our names on it. The Church is taking place in our homes, among our families and lead by us.
When this pandemic is over, which side will we rest on?
Will we continue to show up dressed for the part, but inwardly we talk deceit, division, and discouragement against God and His people. The kind of people that would rather debate theology or criticize the church next door of how they are getting it all wrong. Or will we show up stronger than ever before? Are we genuine sheep that are guided, surrendered and heed to the instruction of The Father? Do we encourage other churches, other pastors and admit that we all need to grow in some way closer to the Lord? Will we open our church doors excited and united to all be together again? Will, we lay down our different ways of doing things and realize that collectively we are all needed as His Church in order to reach the diverse world we live in?
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This season will define us either way. What we are doing now matters. I want to be the kind of sheep that is willing to go and do whatever God asks of me. I want my heart to be surrendered and pure. Willing to serve and honor Him even when no one is watching. The Church will be defined in this season. The buildings may be empty, but the Church is very much ALIVE.
“Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves.
Matthew 7:15 Good News Translation
