Coconut
Member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
- Messages
- 4,663
Leave The Church
"I want to use this discourse to encourage you to leave the church. Matter of fact, if you don’t leave the church there could be dire consequences. Your resistance to leaving the church, I believe, represents an act of disobedience to the command of Jesus Christ for us to leave.
In Matthew 13 the Lord shared some parables involving the sowing of seeds in a field. When He had sent the crowds away the disciples of Jesus Christ asked Him to explain the meaning of the parable of the wheat and tares. He went on to explain to them that “…the field is the world” (V.38).
We know that the Great Commission given to every disciple of Christ is simply this; “Go into all the world [field] and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) On another occasion Christ spoke of the harvest field, saying in John 4:35, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”
In spite of the expressed will of Jesus Christ that we focus our attention and effort on the field, which is the world, has anyone noticed how much of our time and resources are being spent on the barn [church]? How much of a typical church budget is designated for maintaining the barn and preserving what is already gathered into the barn compared to what is allocated for working in the field? How much time is spent in the barn compared to the time spent in the field? How much effort is devoted to enticing those in the field to come into our barn compared to the effort we put forth to go to them in the field?
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that time and money spent on a church isn’t a wise investment, for it plays an important and vital role in strengthening our fellowship as the family of God. What I am questioning is whether there is an imbalance that exists in our regards to our responsibility for the harvest.
Where do we really serve the Lord? Is it by attending church, or by leaving church and going out into the harvest field of this world to interact with those who need to receive a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a real, relevant, and relational way?
Have you noticed how much emphasis the Bible places on meaningful acts of kindness to the poor and needy in this world? In 1John 3:17-19 we are asked, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.”
I commend the congregation of Peoples Church in Surrey, BC where I was privileged to serve for a few years. Every month they received an extra “benevolence” offering that was used to help people in need, both within the church and in the community. It might be as simple as a bus ticket needed to get home, or helping someone in a difficult circumstance pay their utility bill, or in many cases presenting someone with a grocery store gift card so they could feed their children.. We also got involved with Night Shift, a ministry that made sure that street people got at least one solid meal a day. We would prepare meals in our kitchen and load them into a mobile kitchen and be on the street serving this basic need in our community.
Paul in writing to Titus told him in 3:14, “Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.” James emphasized the need for good deeds in James 2:15-17 when he wrote, “Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”
Jesus Christ met people at the level of their need. It is my conviction that we must spend more time identifying the needs of those who are in the field. Once we have identified the need and ministered to that need, the good deed that we have done will bear witness to the love of God we want them to experience.
So, I encourage you to leave the church and go out into the field and see firsthand that the harvest is truly ripe and ready to be harvested. You serve God by serving others. The needs of those in your neighborhood, workplace, and marketplace are many. If someone comes along with the wisdom to identify the real need and minister to it, that person is going to take notice and open their heart to the message of God’s love for them."
- David Curtis
'Leave the Church', dlcurtis's blog message on Netlog
"I want to use this discourse to encourage you to leave the church. Matter of fact, if you don’t leave the church there could be dire consequences. Your resistance to leaving the church, I believe, represents an act of disobedience to the command of Jesus Christ for us to leave.
In Matthew 13 the Lord shared some parables involving the sowing of seeds in a field. When He had sent the crowds away the disciples of Jesus Christ asked Him to explain the meaning of the parable of the wheat and tares. He went on to explain to them that “…the field is the world” (V.38).
We know that the Great Commission given to every disciple of Christ is simply this; “Go into all the world [field] and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15) On another occasion Christ spoke of the harvest field, saying in John 4:35, “Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!”
In spite of the expressed will of Jesus Christ that we focus our attention and effort on the field, which is the world, has anyone noticed how much of our time and resources are being spent on the barn [church]? How much of a typical church budget is designated for maintaining the barn and preserving what is already gathered into the barn compared to what is allocated for working in the field? How much time is spent in the barn compared to the time spent in the field? How much effort is devoted to enticing those in the field to come into our barn compared to the effort we put forth to go to them in the field?
Don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that time and money spent on a church isn’t a wise investment, for it plays an important and vital role in strengthening our fellowship as the family of God. What I am questioning is whether there is an imbalance that exists in our regards to our responsibility for the harvest.
Where do we really serve the Lord? Is it by attending church, or by leaving church and going out into the harvest field of this world to interact with those who need to receive a witness of the gospel of Jesus Christ in a real, relevant, and relational way?
Have you noticed how much emphasis the Bible places on meaningful acts of kindness to the poor and needy in this world? In 1John 3:17-19 we are asked, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence.”
I commend the congregation of Peoples Church in Surrey, BC where I was privileged to serve for a few years. Every month they received an extra “benevolence” offering that was used to help people in need, both within the church and in the community. It might be as simple as a bus ticket needed to get home, or helping someone in a difficult circumstance pay their utility bill, or in many cases presenting someone with a grocery store gift card so they could feed their children.. We also got involved with Night Shift, a ministry that made sure that street people got at least one solid meal a day. We would prepare meals in our kitchen and load them into a mobile kitchen and be on the street serving this basic need in our community.
Paul in writing to Titus told him in 3:14, “Our people must learn to do good by meeting the urgent needs of others; then they will not be unproductive.” James emphasized the need for good deeds in James 2:15-17 when he wrote, “Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.”
Jesus Christ met people at the level of their need. It is my conviction that we must spend more time identifying the needs of those who are in the field. Once we have identified the need and ministered to that need, the good deed that we have done will bear witness to the love of God we want them to experience.
So, I encourage you to leave the church and go out into the field and see firsthand that the harvest is truly ripe and ready to be harvested. You serve God by serving others. The needs of those in your neighborhood, workplace, and marketplace are many. If someone comes along with the wisdom to identify the real need and minister to it, that person is going to take notice and open their heart to the message of God’s love for them."
- David Curtis
'Leave the Church', dlcurtis's blog message on Netlog
