Why
The “Church” Is Failing To Impact Its Culture
I want to be brief so
that the implications of why the “church” is failing to impact its culture can
be disseminated properly. It is without
question that the IC (Institutional Church) is failing in its God-given purpose
… that purpose being to equip our converts to become mature disciples/saints of
Jesus Christ.
The question then is …
why is the IC failing so badly?
The question is rather simple, but at the same time, very
difficult for those caught in the throes of regurgitated Christianity to perceive
… much less understand.
The church is failing
to impact its culture because the church is spiritually and physically obese. Over 75% of our church leaders (that’s what
we call them) are obese physically … and I believe this is true because the
root issue is that they are obese spiritually.
Let me explain. Also … over 68%
of professing believers are also obese.
The Bible says we are
to glorify God in our BODIES and in our SPIRITS because they are His and we
have been bought with a price … that price was the blood of Jesus Christ. Failure to understand the significance of
that passage leads to spiritual obesity, gout, and debility.
One becomes spiritually obese by taking in more spiritual
nutrition than they are exerting. The
symbolic meaning of this is found in the Bible when it compares spiritual
health to running, or physical health:
1Co 9:24 Know ye not that they
which run in a race run all,
but one (some of the many who are running)
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.
There are many “keys” to this passage that relate spiritual health to
physical health. The 1st … we
all (believers) run in a race (the race of life), but only some of the many who are
running will receive the appointed prize at the judgment seat of Christ
…the others will be found
naked and ashamed … primarily because of their spiritual obesity.
2nd … We are to run to obtain the prize given at the
judgment seat of Christ. There are five
to be awarded, and they are available to all believers; however, only some will
obtain these prizes … why? Primarily, we
are failing because of our spiritual obesity.
Also of note … the five crowns
every believer can obtain define our purpose on this earth.
3rd … A believer that strives (disciplines himself in all
things) for the mastery is temperate in ALL THINGS (yep … that includes
physical and spiritual things.
What does this mean: it means that over 75% of our spiritual
leaders are not striving for the mastery as should a healthy follower of
Christ. The question then becomes: why should we listen to what they say about the invisible spiritual warfare when they
can’t even take a simple fork out of their mouths.
4th … A believer is to run with certainty as they bring
their bodies under subjection. That
means we tell our bodies what to do and not the other way around.
If we can’t bring our bodies
under subjection, the Bible says we have become a castaway.
Castaway in the Greek is:
ἀδόκιμος
adokimos / ad-ok'-ee-mos
(as a
negative particle) unapproved, that is, rejected; by implication worthless
(literally or morally): - castaway, rejected, reprobate.
Did
you get that? Do you understand
that? Is it sinking in yet? If we don’t temper ourselves spiritually and
physically the Bible says we are unapproved, rejected and worthless as it comes
to fulfilling our purpose on this earth.
I trust you are beginning
to understand why the IC is failing to impact its culture. The truth is simple, yet powerful.
Spiritual
and physical obesity is destroying the ability for the church to impact its
culture. The attributes of physical obesity
are easy to discern; however, the attributes of spiritual obesity are more
sinister, hidden and diabolical. I will
address the reasons for spiritual obesity now.
Remember … one should not take IN more spiritual nutrition than they
have the ability to “work off” in actual MINISTRY.
To take IN more spiritual
nutrition than one can “work off” in ministry will lead to spiritual obesity;
this is unhealthy!
Ways people TAKE IN
spiritual nutrition weekly (this list is not exhaustive):
Preaching
(Sunday AM, Sunday School, Sunday PM, Wednesday Night, TV preaching, Radio
Preaching, Preaching on tapes, Preaching on web, Daily Devotions, etc.
That
is quite a bit of spiritual nutrition, and if not careful, one can become very
fat and unhealthy spiritually if they don’t have a weekly outlet for this much
spiritual food.
I
know for a fact that it will take my listeners a good week to digest all the
practical and relevant information that I give them in a 30 minute Bible Talk …
and what good is teaching them when they aren’t able to digest and use the
information properly. As we have
witnessed in our culture … it does very little good!
Ways people are “digesting”
the information they are receiving:
They
teach a Sunday School class, they show up for weekly visitation, they show up
for a work day, they sing in the choir, they are an usher, they put money in
the offering, they sing in the worship service, they pass out a track.
Well
… while these are commendable things to do … an unsaved person can do all the
above. It is important to understand
that spiritual nutrition is “exercised” off by partaking in actual
ministry. Ministry is sharing the Word
of God with another. And the amount of “exercise”
needs to be balanced with a proper spiritual “nutritional” intake or we will
slowly but surely become an unhealthy believer.
In
closing … I believe the church is failing to impact its culture, primarily,
because its people are failing to exercise off what they are taking in
spiritually on a weekly basis.
We see all the “things” we
are doing and don’t realize we are stuffing ourselves with spiritual food and
not exercising enough in actual ministry that is impacting lives where we live,
work and play with the gospel in a powerful way!
I
am not “calling out” the IC while not having, what I believe to be, a practical
remedy for our failure. I am beginning a
ministry called RU F.I.T. Ministries.
The F.I.T means: F-aith I-nfluencing T-oday where you live, work, and
play with the gospel in a powerful way.
The ministry can be diverse enough for any setting and any age group; it
also has specific spiritually equipping tools which I call “Running Tips.” Each Running Tip is designed to give you the
tools to impact your culture purposefully and powerfully!
Check
us out today at: www.rufitministries.weebly.com
and schedule a meeting. You’ll be glad
you did. Watch our 2 minute videos that
explain each “Running Tip.”
Live
F.I.T!
Mark
Harrell – Habakkuk 2:2
