Church is Broken

We are continuing today in Exodus Chapters 25 – 30. These chapters contain lots of detail from God to Moses. Please read these chapters as background for today’s discussion.

In today’s focal chapters, God continues to tell Moses exactly how to build the ark of the Covenant (also called the ark of the Testimony in other translations) and the fixtures for the tabernacle. He goes on to give great detail about how to build the tent itself and what the altar for sacrifice is to look like.

Have you ever stopped to think that God already had a plan for how to deal with the Israelites’ sin? God is in the middle of providing the instructions for how they are to live as His chosen people, for how to build his dwelling place, and even goes so far as to describe how the priests will dress. As part of these guidelines, God instructs them to build an altar for sacrifice. God was fully aware as he was giving them his instructions that they would not follow perfectly. He already had a plan in place to deal with their sin.

So often, we believe sin is our only problem. We think, “If I could just stop sinning? Why do I lie about silly things? If I just could control all of the bad things I do, then I can approach God or be considered a good Christian.” But you see, God knows about sin. He knows us. He even provided a solution for sin. God has shown again and again that he is merciful to those who love him. King David was described as a man after God’s own heart, and yet he committed terrible sins. Saul, who later became Paul, killed God’s people before his conversion. And at the end of his ministry, he said that he still struggled with doing things that he didn’t want to do. But the source of our sin is not the sin itself, it is the condition of our own hearts.

Our relationship with God is not measured merely by the presence or lack of sin in our lives. It is measured by our love for him and our willingness to do what he says. Sin is the natural outworking of our unwillingness to do what God says. Below are some questions that we can ask ourselves when we find that we have fallen into sin once again:

• What is it in my life that I am not willing to trust God with?
• What is it that God says about this behavior and why do I find myself doing it?
• What deep rooted insecurity causes me to lash out?
• What fear drives me to lie about little things?
• What selfishness has caused me to take something that is not mine?
• How do I need to trust God with the root of this sin?

Don’t get me wrong. Sin is a problem. Sin separates us from God, it hurts those around us, it can bring disastrous consequences upon us, and eventually it will make us miserable. Sin should be avoided, fled from, and guarded against. My point here is not that we should ignore our sin, but see it for what it actually is. Sin is a symptom of a greater problem. Sin is the fever that the infection brings. We can treat the symptom of sin with our personal will just like ibuprophen will bring down a fever. However, a right relationship with God through Christ is the antibiotic to cure the illness.

So the first question you must ask, and the most important question is, “Do I want to know God?” The inverse of this question is, “Do I want to live my own life and go my own way?” You can only answer yes to one of these questions. There is no middle ground.

Those who have been in church all of their lives may read this and feel almost betrayed by it. They will ask, “Are you saying that it is alright to sin?” My answer is no. But again, we must see sin for what it is: a symptom of the absence of God in our lives. Sin is a symptom, not the root of the problem.

As the people of God, we must start seeing our own wrongdoing, our own selfishness, and our own lack of willingness to change as sin that must be dealt with by God. Those around us who only know the word “Christian” by watching our actions, don’t see any difference between us and them. In many cases the only difference that can be seen is our self-righteousness. We think we’re better than them and they should know it. I have to say, there are times that I still mourn for the hurtful, judgmental, and thoughtless things that I have said, especially when it comes to the things of God.

We should all be mindful of Jesus’ words to the religious people of his day when he said the following in Matthew 23:

Verse 4: They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

Verse 6-7: They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’

Verse 13b: You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Verse 15b: You travel over the land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Verse 23b: You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter without neglecting the former.

I believe that every single Christian in a modern American protestant church should deeply examine their attitudes and actions next to these verses. It is a very painful thing for me personally, and it should be painful for us corporately. The majority modern American protestant churches are radically broken. My own denomination is no exception.

This is a difficult message and a painful message. What is the answer? I can honestly say that I don’t have a 10 step plan to fix this problem for me personally, for my church, and certainly not for all of Christendom. But I know the One who has the answer. He is talking to His people when he says the following is 2 Chronicles 7:14:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Remember that God is not talking to the politician, or to the news media, or to the school administrator, or to the government, or to the business world. He is talking to HIS people in whatever role in society that they find themselves.

If you are new the faith, and especially if you’ve come to a relationship with Christ as an adult in the past few years, this message is not necessarily intended for you. However you have a great responsibility. You have perspectives that the church needs to hear. Share with your Christian friends your perception of God, the Church, and Christians before you came to know Christ. Help them understand the things about the modern church that are off-putting to those who do not know.

Thought Questions

1. Can you think of a time in your life when you said something as a Christian that needlessly alienated someone outside of the church?
2. Is there someone you need to apologize to because of this?
3. Are you willing to make a commitment today to ask God to reveal the things in your life that are hypocritical and then take steps to change those things?

Spend some time today asking God to forgive us, to show us ourselves, and to change us from the inside out.

Related posts:

1. God’s Desire for Relationship: Exodus 19 – 34
2. Bridging the Old and New
3. Listening to God
4. Consuming Fire