Epidemic in the Church - Spiritual Obesity

What is Spiritual Obesity?

I am turning 51 on March 9^th.  I am a product of the evangelical Fundamental movement that was responsible for thousands upon thousands of people making decisions for Christ in the 70’s through the 90’s.  I grew up in the throes of that movement, going to their Christian Schools, leading churches, and Bible colleges.  I know first hand and in an intimate way how the fundamental evangelical movement went about “equipping” their people for “full-time” Christian ministry.  The history I just shared with you is why I am so passionate about what it means to be spiritually obese, and why we are producing, in large part, unhealthy believers … if believers at all.

As I watch the local and national news each night I can’t help but think how and why our culture has become so Godless so quickly.  If we, evangelical believers, were doing such a fine and dandy job, how is it that a Muslim who doesn’t even love our country became president when there are 75,000,000 professing believers in America. 

Source: Christianity is the most popular religion in the United States, with around 73% of polled Americans identifying themselves as Christian in 2012.^[1] This is down from 86% in 1990, and slightly lower than 78.6% in 2001.^[2] About 62% of those polled claim to be members of a church congregation.^[3] The United States has the largest Christian population in the world, with nearly 247 million Christians, although other countries have higher percentages of Christians among their populations.

All Protestant denominations accounted for 51.3%, while Roman Catholicism by itself, at 23.9%, was the largest individual denomination. A Pew study categorizes white evangelicals, 26.3% of the population, as the country's largest religious cohort;^[4] another study estimates evangelicals of all races at 30–35%.^[5] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the fourth largest church in the United States, and the largest church originating in the U.S.^[6][7]

It is very clear that something has gone wrong with our “equipping” of the believer for the work of the ministry once a person has made a “decision for Christ.” 

 

Eph 4:11  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 

Eph 4:12  For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

 

Eph 4:13  Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

 

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

In short, and I could expound for awhile on this subject, I believe it is because we TAKE IN MORE “SPIRITUAL NUTRIENTS” THAN WE EXPEND.  Why and how do I say this?  Listen to the heeding of the following passage:

1Co 9:24  Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

1Co 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

 

1Co 9:26  I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

 

1Co 9:27  But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

In verse 24 it says that “one,” which is those of the many, will receive the prize (which means many of the many will not receive a prize … the approval of our savior as to a life lived faithfully according to His purposes).  What is the prize?  It is being able to stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ ready and able to present Jesus with the proper “elements” of success … gold, silver, and precious stones.

 Verse 25 implores us to be “temperate” (which mean disciplined) in ALL THINGS.   This is important because the context is about RUNNING A RACE.  The “race” we are running is life … and it is compared, by God, to running a physical race.  This is important to understand if we are to get a handle of what has caused spiritual obesity to become epidemic in our churches.

Verse 26 says to run the race of life as a successful athlete runs a race … with purpose.  Not as one that beateth the air (swings wildly while hitting nothing).

Verse 27 tells us the necessity of “bringing our body into subjection” (to make our bodies become efficient and productive for the cause of Christ while on this earth in our physical forms).  In fact, it says “I keep under my body” … which means that we get under it and make it disciplined in EVERY WAY.  If we don’t discipline our bodies we are castaways … meaning … well … I’ll let the Greek explain it to you:

Castaway: 

ἀδόκιμος

adokimos

ad-ok'-ee-mos

(as a negative particle) and G1384; unapproved, that is, rejected; by implication worthless (literally or morally): - castaway, rejected, reprobate.

While believing we are doing well for the cause of Christ, if we don’t bring our bodies into subjection, we become unapproved, rejected and worthless.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want people to look at me and not listen or take heed to what I say because I can’t control my appetite.

 

That, of course, is one type of obesity …. Physical obesity … and it is important to our discussion.  But I’d like to close with the aspect of the problem of spiritual obesity.  Spiritual obesity happens the same way as physical obesity happens.  It happens by taking in more “spiritual nutrients” than one give out in actual ministry.

 

It is important to understand that one can serve without ministering, but one can’t minister without serving.  Our goal is to take what is a service (what we do without impacting people with the Word of God) and make it a ministry (what we do with the Word of God).

 

 

So … If you were to look in a mirror and see a spiritual reflection of yourself, what would you look like?  Here is a guide to help you deal with that question honestly:

 

Question 1:  How many times do you intake spiritual nutrients weekly as it pertains to hearing the Word of God preached?  This includes Sunday School, Sunday AM worship, Sunday PM Worship, Wednesday PM Meeting, messages listened to on TV, Radio, Internet, Daily Devotions, etc. 

 

When you stop and think about it that is a lot of nutritional intake spiritually.  That is quite a bit of spiritual food to assimilate properly and efficiently.  That brings us to the 2^nd question … how are we assimilating all of that spiritual nutrition in actual ministry (sharing the Word and impacting lives weekly)?

 

Question 2:  In what ways are you purposefully sharing the Word with others on a weekly basis?

 

Hits to the core … does it not? 

 

That is what I mean by spiritual obesity.  I believe we are TAKING IN far more than is necessary to maintain a healthy spiritual balance.  Most of us, if honest, when looking into a spiritual mirror, would see a very obese person looking back at them.  To be healthy we must have a balance when running the race of life efficiently!

 

I believe we are losing our culture because we are an OBESE CHURCH.  We take in and take in and take in while giving out very little in purposeful ministry where we live, work, and play.  It behooves the church to realize this and begin purposefully equipping people to impact people with the Word of God where they live, work, and play.

 

 

Marks of Spiritual obesity:

 

1.  Withholding your giving and attendance to get rid of a pastor.

2.  Arguing about physical things pertaining to the facilities.

3.  Arguing about whether to have a choir or ensemble to lead worship.

4.  Complaining about how long or short the pastor speaks/preaches, teaches.

5.  Every Sunday’s dinner is Roast Preacher.

6.  Complaining about the style of music in the church.

 

I think you get my drift.  Those who are not spiritually obese focus on what is necessary and essential to doing the work of the ministry as efficiently and purposefully as possible, giving little attention to “side items” (those should be left to the church leadership to take care of as God leads them.  That’s what you voted them in to do anyway, did you not).

 

Let’s make the decision today to Get FIT with a Faith the Influences Today where you live, work, and play.

 

Live OUT LOUD!

Mark Harrell – Habakkuk 2:2

Take-A-Ways From De-Flate Gate

Take-A-Ways From De-flate Gate – Part I

Wow!  There are so many take-a-ways from this season’s Super Bowl soap opera surrounding De-flate Gate that I am going to make this a multiple part blog, just so certain truths can be given an opportunity to speak.  The passage I want to use for Part I is:

Proverbs 15:22  Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.

Proverbs 15:23  A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!

In a world where anyone can say anything (have proof or not) and have the masses follow along blindly speaks volumes as to why it is important to be able to think for oneself.  It is important to pause for a moment and consider the actual evidence in full before jumping on the proverbial bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it.

I have made my thoughts very clear as to how this subject should be approached on this blog and in other places.  For those thoughts refer to this blog and follow certain facebook threads.  To begin, the above verses provide us some wisdom as it relates to dealing with accusations and other such situations that occur regularly in real life situations.  Let’s take these two verses apart and attempt to internalize their meaning as it relates to this subject and life in general.

“Without counsel purposes are disappointed.” – The word “counsel” in the Hebrew means consultation and the word “disappointed” means to defeat, break up or violate.  And the word “purposes” mean contrivance or intention. So, the verse mean to this point …

Transliteration: “without consultation, the contrivances or intentions of people are broken up or violated.”

The next word in this verse is incredibly important, for it notes a change in the direction of thought … “but….”  The Hebrew word for “counselors” is different here than in the first word counsel of this verse; it means – advise, deliberate or resolve.  And the word “establish” means to confirm.  Therefore, the second part of verse 22 means –

Transliteration: “but (considering the situation at hand, and not running to a conclusion) from a plethora of people who are going to advise you with resolve in a deliberate manner, every situation will be confirmed.”

There are also some important bits of wisdom and truth found in verse 23.  I will list the Hebrew meanings of these words below and then tie a bow on Part I:

“joy” –                                     means glee, gladness or pleasure

“answer” –                              means reply

“word” -                                  means by implication in a matter

“spoken in due season” -        means duration, in sense of perpetuity

“good” -                                  means gracious, joyful, kindness

So, following the context of these verses, when confronted with what to say when responding to life situations, verse 23 means:

Transliteration: “a man hath gladness and pleasure by the reply of his mouth when he implicates himself into a matter when he looks at all the evidence to make a decision; this brings and shows graciousness and kindness and gives reason for joy.”

I hope this brief exposition of a few verses as it pertains to a current event allows you to understand why we need to be slow to wrath and think issues through before we speak.  I trust we will remember these truth each day where we live, work and play.

Live OUT LOUD!

Mark Harrell – Habakkuk 2:2