The Great Disconnect

All you have to do is hang around a church long enough and you’ll see people come to Jesus, be really excited, get involved serving the Lord, and then after a while they begin to fizzle out in their passion for the Lord and His mission. They become discouraged, discontent, and ultimately disconnected.

At Open Arms Community Church we’ve been doing a series of messages on “Growing Closer To God”. Last weekend we addressed the role of prayer, the week before that the role of Bible reading, and this coming week the role of Community.

Whether out of emotions or just plain laziness, we can watch “the great disconnect” slowly begin to take place in the life of a Christian. It’s not an overnight thing. It’s like the song by Casting Crowns called “Slow Fade”. We don’t fall away from Jesus in a day. It takes time and little backward steps, small compromises here and there, and the next thing you know we don’t feel or hear Jesus anymore, we don’t have the passion and compassion we used to have. The love has grown cold toward the Lord, my church family, and the lost.

How does it happen?

As I mentioned it could be emotional. I may have some negative feelings (offense, depression, unmet expectations, etc) that cause me to become focused on me and how I feel and less on the Lord and what He thinks and says.

It could also be busyness. I may be so overloaded and busy in my schedule that I just “don’t have the time” to read my Bible, pray, or go to cell group or church, or even if I have the time, I’m so worn out I “don’t feel like” going today. Then today turns into next week, next month, and pretty soon, not at all.

It may also be laziness. I don’t have the desire and self-discipline to get out and do. This has a lot to do with an indifferent attitude toward the things of God (a lack of the Fear of the Lord). We don’t value the things of God as of first importance. We would say that they’re important to us, but by our actions we see that doing what is easy and self-gratifying is more important.

There are three areas where “the great disconnect” can start and if not dealt with it will take over all three.

First, time with God in his Word (reading our Bible). If we become slack in connecting with God in his Word then we will be spiritually malnourished. Jesus said, “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4). If we are not feeding on God’s word faithfully you can easily understand the negative effect; go try to function every day, doing all you do, with just one meal a day (or week) for a year. It won’t happen. This is one area of “the great disconnect”.

Second, time with God in prayer. As the Word of God (Bible) is food for our spirit, prayer is like breath or water to the body. The Bible uses symbols of air and water for the Holy Spirit. What happens if our body/flesh doesn’t get air or water? Spiritually speaking the same result takes place to our spirit/relationship with God if we do not spend time in prayer (which is simply communication/conversation with God… a breathing/drinking in of His presence and power in our life). You can see how without this area being strong and healthy, without drinking/breathing in enough we will suffer weakness, disorientation, and even death.

Third, time with God’s people (Community). Community, sharing life together, is no easy thing. It’s hard. People let us down, hurt our feelings, demand time and resources from us. People are weird and do things differently. Community is tough, but it is where God teaches us, stretches us, and molds us beyond our self. We learn to see things we didn’t see before, and even things we’ve seen before we learn to see differently. We learn to love differences, we learn to forgive and be patient, we learn to think of others and sacrifice to bless and help others. There is so much that Community accomplishes in us.

When my son, Mike, had a broken leg the doctor told us that after a certain point in the process of healing he would need to start walking on the leg while it was still in the cast. The doctor said that this would strengthen the bone because of the pressure. That’s kind of what Community is like. It puts pressure on us (broken people) to help us heal properly, healthy, and strong. God doesn’t want us to just get a little bit of healing. He wants us to be functional.

Lastly, fourth, is time in God’s work/mission (ministry/mission). Unless we’re serving the Lord we’re serving ourselves. Unless we’re involved serving the Lord we will loose our passion and compassion. We may feel pity toward people and their circumstances, but we will not be inclined to get involved in helping and being part of the solution.

Let’s face it ministry/mission is not easy. It’s hard work, it’s difficult, it’s sometimes painful, it’s inconvenient, and it regularly costs something, but it’s here that God helps us experience life to the full, life beyond me. It’s hear that I find true life, a life worth living. It’s in these hard and difficult places that I grow and am stretched and become so much more than I ever would just living for me/self. There is something about giving of my time, energy, talent, and money that changes me, grows me, in a way that nothing else will.

You can’t separate any one of these components. They are all important.

What is the fruit of “the great disconnect”?

Usually people who become disconnected from God, His mission, and His people become discouraged, disgruntled/bitter/critical, cynical, self-absorbed, skewed in perception and perspective, and begin to get so disoriented to God that they have a hard time finding their way back if they ever do at all. They often end up laying all blame on others (the church people, the church leadership, all Christians, etc.) and rarely ever take any kind of personal responsibility for their condition and thus are rarely inclined to take the necessary steps and make the necessary changes and sacrifices to restore themselves into right relationship. The fault is always everyone else. The weird thing here is the lack of common sense… how come it’s the people that do/give the least that scream the most? And it’s those who have the most that give the least?

We begin to fall prey to satan’s strategies to get us to be so consumed with ourselves that we miss all that God wants to do in and through us, thus widening the gap.

Remember, satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1Peter 5). I learned some time ago that lions can’t distinguish the individual parts of a group/herd, so they will stalk a heard keeping their eye on the blob (herd) and watch for an individual animal to become separated/disconnected from the group, and then they will attack that single animal rather than the whole herd.

Change starts with a single step. We have a gracious, merciful, and compassionate loving heavenly Father who is very forgiving and runs after us with open arms. God wants us to see our condition and what got us there and make the changes to walk right with Him.

It will not be an overnight fix, but it can start now, with a simple prayer and decision.

If we stick it out, our testimony will be one that can be used to encourage others who have fell prey to “the great disconnect”.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/986696/the_great_disconnect.html?cat=34

Getting Serious

We just finished a series called BECOMING A SPIRITUAL BLACKBELT where we emphasized Spiritual Maturity.

We discussed the 4 key disciplines that are necessary to build upon a persevering/unwavering commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives. The application of these 4 key disciplines will cause us to grow and mature, but a breakdown in any one of these disciplines effects the whole experience. It is important to understand that you are only as mature as your weakest area.

In a nutshell the 4 disciplines were 1) Growing in the knowledge of God, 2) Application of the knowledge we gain, 3) Prayer, and 4) Community.

Here’s the breakdown:
1) Growing in the knowledge of God – If you don’t know it you can’t do it! How do you know what you believe or how you should behave?

2) Application of the knowledge we gain – The experience is in the doing, not the knowing. So, get busy applying/obeying those commands of loving one another, serving one another, telling the Gospel to others, tithing, giving generously, correcting, staying sexually pure, taking a Sabbath, and so on.

3) Prayer – talking to God and listening to God talk to us. Maintaining lines of communication and tapping into the supernatural side of life.

4) Community – We can’t do this alone. We need one another to instruct, encourage, hold accountable, correct, rebuke, and pray for each other. No one knows it all. No one can do it all. We need each other. No ONE of us is as smart or as strong or as productive as ALL of us!

All that said… the question is… what do we do now?

The answer: Get Serious! No playing games with God. Notice these scriptures:

Hebrews 2:1-3 1We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. 2For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, 3how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?

Hebrews 3:12-14 12See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. 13But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness. 14We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

Hebrews 10:23-31 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 12:1-4 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

2Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

2Peter 1:5-11 5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

How serious do these scriptures come across regarding the subject of living out our faith sincerely, whole-heartedly, passionately, zealously, eagerly, without compromise?

When you read these scriptures do you sense a seriousness about it? Do you sense an urgency? Do you sense that your faith/relationship with God/doing God’s will should be a priority in your life? I sense that this is a BIG deal!

To the Baby Christian/New Believer these may seem scary or intimidating… don’t let them be. While these can warn and encourage you (the new believer) to take your faith seriously, these are actually written for those who have claimed to follow Jesus for some time and should be mature in their faith. But, new believers should also hear this message and take their faith seriously from the start so they do not fall prey to satan’s strategies to keep them ineffective in their knowledge of God.

So many of us believe whole-heartedly the truth of God’s Word when it comes to Jesus and salvation, but we seem to stop there. We stop reading or listening. The truth is there is more to the Christian life, more in promise and more in responsibility.

We’re told we will all be held accountable for what we did and didn’t do (in thought, word, and deed) in life with all our talents, time, and wealth.

It’s not always that we’re off sinning doing something wrong/immoral. We may simply be NOT doing what we should. Or, we may be doing something that is simply different/less than what God has called us to do. This too is sin.

If we’re constantly busied by pursuing our own selfish ambition, or by working to make that extra buck to buy that extra unnecessary thing then how will we have the time to fulfill God’s commands of being a faithful follower of Jesus, a Godly Spouse, Godly Parent, Faithful Friend, and Faithful Witness? We won’t! Something’s got to give! We cannot do it all!

We will have to decide what is most important, what is the biggest priority. We can always tell what is most important because that is what you are most serious about. You invest the majority of your time, energy, and money into what matters most.

You can say it’s God and family, but what does your schedule and check book say? How much time are you really giving to spending time with the Lord? How much time are you giving to serving the Lord? How big of a giver are you? How much time do you spend with your family? How serious do you take the commands of God? How serious are you at following God’s instructions and commands? How seriously do you pray for the lost and look for the opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus with those around you? When is the last time you led anyone to Jesus? How easily do other things distract you and cause you to stray from faithful pursuit of God? How easy is it to get you to compromise in your commitment to the Lord in time, giving, obedience, morality, serving, etc? How quickly do you gossip or speak negatively/critically of others?

Many people walk around declaring their belief and commitment to the Lord, but you can tell what kind of tree it is by the fruit that it produces. Loyalty, commitment, faithfulness are three words that some would say to look for and they’re right, but it’s not just these three words… it’s WHAT they are loyal, committed, and faithful to! Is it God and his ways and his purposes and his priorities or is it something of this temporal world?

So what do we do? Get serious! Determine not to be nominal. There are rewards to gain or loose. There is a judgment day to face. There will be an account with our Heavenly Father.

How many times have we ditched God for something less important? How many times has God placed us among sinners to be a light and we never told them about Jesus?

Let’s do what we claim to be! As a follower of Jesus… Follow!

We can say, these other things came up, but the reality is… we do what we want to do. If we want to go to church, nothing can keep us from it. If we want to be at cell group, nothing can keep us from it. If we want to tithe, nothing can stop us. If we want to tell the lost about Jesus, nothing can keep us from it. If we want to be stingy, gossipy, dishonoring to God, work excessively, be materialistic, lie, steal, stay home and watch football, commit adultery nothing will keep us from it. We do what we want to do!

What do you want? What is your priority? What is most important to you? Is it Jesus or the things of this world? Don’t fool yourself, because you’re certainly not fooling God or anyone around you.

1John 2:15-17 15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

BALANCE

We hear it everyday. Live whole heartedly for Jesus! Be passionate for Christ! In fact it is written, “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11

But we’re also told that Jesus came to give us life to the full, and that we’re to enjoy life, and that following the teachings of Jesus is “easy and light” compared to the teachings of other religious leaders.

So, why are so many Christians worn out, burned out, miserable people with no joy or fulfillment? Why do so many feel so wasted and wanting to quit?

One word… BALANCE. This of course is an over simplification.

The truth is there is a balance to it all, but I must say something before I talk about the balancing aspect of the Christian life… most “Christians” are not following Christ, and this is reason #1 why they are all of the above descriptives.

I do not say this lightly, nor do I say it condemningly. The truth is most American Christians have bought into something Jesus didn’t come to offer… Religion. The truth is most American Christians approach living for Jesus (True Biblical Christianity) for something far less and harder to live (a religion).

See, God never intended for us to add a new set of believes and new set of religious and moral behaviors to our pre-existing way of life. He always intended for our life to be completely changed.

It’s this religious approach (adding a few religious and moral behaviors to a pre-existing lifestyle) that has ruined so many of us. We honestly can’t figure out how to do all Jesus told us to do and still keep up the other lifestyle too. It wears us out and kills us. We think, “Jesus lied when he said his yoke (teachings) is easy and his burden is light.” But, we’re wrong.

Jesus’ teachings are easy to live out when it’s your lifestyle, not just a religious addition to your present lifestyle.

So, this is reason #1 why so many people feel so badly about their experience with Christianity.

But, reason #2 is imbalance, though this is less experienced than #1, but it does happen.

People get so focused on serving Jesus, being passionate about the mission, studying God’s word, winning people to Jesus, serving people, and so on that they miss Jesus’ M.O. (Method of Operation).

Jesus did say he lived to do the Fathers will solely, but we also know that while Jesus and many other Bible characters took following God seriously they also enjoyed life.

Part of this was learning to find joy no matter where you are and what you’re facing… Paul talks about this in 1Timothy 6. So, it’s a mindset/attitude.

But, there is also the reality that everything they did was done in the context of community (sharing life together).

We see much of their work for the Kingdom of God being done as a group, so there is a sense of community among the workers. We see much of the miracles of Jesus taking place as he was going about his business from one day to the next. It’s interesting, but it’s not the norm that Jesus sought out the sick… they sought him out while he was in their town.

It was in the midst of an open-air seminar that Jesus turned around and performed the miracle of feeding the multitudes. It was in route on a business trip that Jesus calmed a storm and healed a woman with an issue of blood. Peter was hungry, waiting on lunch, and talking with God when he had a vision and was told to go witness to the non-Jew Cornelius. Paul was in a shipwreck on his way to trial when he survived a snake bite and then healed many island people. David was simply bringing some supplies to his brothers, who were at war, when he ended up killing Goliath. Moses was simply shepherding his sheep, just like normal, when he encountered the burning bush. And on and on it goes.

The balance we have to find is one where this supernatural spirituality is lived out in everyday life. We are human beings and meant to rest and laugh and so on.

So, two things… 1) Stop living a Christian religion where God is simply an addition to your already busy and hectic lifestyle (usually contradictory too) and 2) Start renewing our mind with God’s truth and begin to see and live things from his perspective.