4 Minute Devotions: Running on Empty

I was reading a pastor’s blog yesterday which saddened me. He’s retired and after many years of serving the Church, he just doesn’t feel like going back on Sundays. He’s tired of the old liturgical ways and of Christ being hijacked by evangelical Christians. He feels more comfortable with Islamic and other world religion’s views of Jesus.

I think he’s reaping what he sowed. He’s on the progressive side of theology and has ended up with an empty heart. He’ll protest that the Church has gone to the dogs and that Bible thumping believers are just spiritual thugs, but those are just smokescreens for his unhappiness. He chose the wrong path long ago and he’s ended up in a dead end. I feel sorry for him and wish that he could turn his heart back over to Jesus, the Christ of the Gospels and the King of Good News.

Our faith is not a plaything or leisure pursuit. What we put into it, is exactly what we’ll get out of it. If we kick against the goads, as Jesus would put it, or reject His true words, we end up creating narcissistic gospels that reflect our own feelings, opinions, and ideas which, in the end, leave us spiritually bankrupt, isolated, and bitter.

Luke 12:31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

If, however, we come to the New Testament Gospels as seekers looking to become servants of God, and if we take Christ’s words as being true, then we spiritually flourish through the riches of His grace and find ourselves attached to the real community of faith. At the end of our lives, instead of feeling bitter, we will know the eternal comfort of God and the everlasting joy of Christ. That’s what that retired pastor could have received, but instead of being fed by Jesus, he sadly chose to feed himself until there’s nothing left.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, forgive us when we take You for granted or seek to displace You in our hearts with our own ways and words. Keep us from creating our own gospels and instead, teach us to learn from Yours. Be with us and bless us throughout the days of our lives. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.

That Empty Feeling

Scottish Audio version here

Isaiah 63: 17 Why, O LORD, do you make us wander from your ways and harden our hearts so we do not revere you? Return for the sake of your servants, the tribes that are your inheritance. (NIV)

One of the saddest sights that I see in ministry happens when people decide to no longer come back to church. It happens in every congregation that exists, but for different reasons. Sometimes people fall out with the pastor; at other times they fall out with the denomination; and there are other occasions when they just fall away for no apparent reason at all. They just fade quietly into the background and then they’re gone. Their spirits are empty of God and their hearts are hardened. Whatever faith they once experienced is all gone, used up, and diminished.

In Glasgow, Scotland, there’s a controversy brewing because the Presbyterian Church of Scotland is closing a church building that was built over the site of a sixth century church. People from Glasgow are protesting and citing family connections of their great-grandparents as reasons for keeping the church open. But the sad and realistic fact is this: if the people have stopped going to church, why keep it open? Sometimes the biggest hypocrites are those who are outside of the church who want to keep it open for all the wrong reasons.

A church has a life, a ministry, and a mission to accomplish – it’s a living organism. It’s not a building, a sacred sanctuary, or a treasure house of memories. Every church is a mission station, not a museum.

As society changes and our Christian culture become more irrelevant to our civilization, we must ask ourselves this question: are our churches empty because our spirits are empty? Are our churches being closed because our hearts are closed to God?

I think we know the answers.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, come into our hearts so that we may come into Your churches. Take away our pride and arrogance, so that we may humbly serve and worship You. Remind us that faith is not a leisure pursuit, but that it is an eternal lifestyle choice. Keep us mindful that our lives belong to You and that our souls are empty without You. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.