And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I
have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of
sacrifice. 2 Chronicles 7:12
What a novel idea! The
house of God is a house wherein those coming yield to the One whom they claim
to worship. The house of God was not
built to please those who came to worship.
It has been and always will be a house wherein those who come to worship
please the One who is worshiped. And,
the most significant thing we can do to worship the LORD is to surrender our
hearts to His perfect will.
Several years back, I sat in a discussion with Christians of
several different generations. A
question was asked regarding the condition of our respective ministries. Most remarked how it was getting more
difficult to keep younger people interested in the things of God and how
membership of the younger generations we declining. Almost all agreed the trend was common. All except for a few. They observed that their younger generation
was growing. The cause? Generationally attractive music. One comment was how loud and awesome the
music was. What are churches are doing
today is feeding into the narcissistic entertainment driven generation by using
the same methods. My wife and I were
coming back from our home state after a funeral and went through Akron and
Canton, OH. On the side of the
interstate was a huge church building.
It had to be close to 260,000 square feet. Absolutely massive. My wife, as she loves to do, kicked in her
internet sleuthing skills and we learned this so-called church is into fog
machines, stage lighting, and solid rock ‘Christian’ music. The house of God has become a house of
entertainment. Not a house of sacrifice.
Gone are the days when the people of God would come to an
old-fashioned altar, confess their sins, repent, and surrender their lives
afresh to live in the word of God. Gone
are the days of surrender to the mission field.
Gone are the days when men surrendered to serve the LORD with their
lives and instead, seek a career in sacred things. There used to be a time when a line would
form if the body of Christ needed something done. Volunteers would be abundant. Gone are the days of two-week revivals
because it too inconvenient and interferes with our sports or binge
watching. Gone are the days when the
Holy Spirit could stir the church to revival because we have taught the people
of God that salvation and worship is all about them! No wonder our teens leave our churches when
they become adults. While they were in
their youth groups, they were entertained and it was all about them. In adulthood, they are required to
sacrifice. If we want to see revival
again, we must rethink church! The house
of God must be about sacrifice. It must
be about yielding. It must be about the
LORD and not about us!
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