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In the early days of the Church, life for disciples of Jesus Christ was unimaginably
different from what it is today for most Christians, especially those who
live in the west. Outwardly, there was the constant dread of persecution,
suffering, and loss hanging over their heads because they had decided to
make Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. Inwardly, however, there was a
glorious joy which could not be expressed in human words, for they were
receiving the goal of their faith---the salvation of their souls. As Peter
taught in his epistle, their hopes and lives were centered fully on the
grace to be given them when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Now it is so different. Life for Christians today is filled with hopes
(and for some, the realization) of a good job and a good income, of
material possessions, of enjoyable retirement years, of fulfilling
the American Dream or its equivalent. Our experience of God is centered
around going to a big church on Sunday morning (and for some a mid-week
service) where we hear about how much God loves us and wants to bless
us with success and comfort in its various forms in this life. These
earthly blessings are in addition, of course, to eternal life.
To what do we owe such an improvement in human life?
We are taught how to get close to God and to please Him so that the
blessings on earth will be maximized. During our spare time we find
enjoyment and pleasure in activities like hobbies, music, TV, movies,
sporting events, eating out and the like.
When we sin, which we are taught we will inevitably do, we simply
confess it to God. And He will be faithful to forgive us and cleanse
us from all sin and unrighteousness. All will be covered by the Blood
and forgotten as if we had never sinned. God is good.
Certainly we would rather be living and enjoying life as Christians
today than to have lived and suffered as disciples of Jesus two thousand
years ago. To what do we owe this radical improvement of life on earth
for Christians? In a word, I would say that we owe it to FREEDOM.
F R E E D O M ! ! !
Although
I am certainly not an historian, I am convinced that the concept
of human freedom began with the rise of western
civilization
and the western religion which accompanied it---the religion known
as “Christianity.” Here is how I believe it took place.
Because
of our bondage to the slavery of sin, Christ died on the cross to
free us from sin and the ultimate consequences
of our sin---eternal
judgment in the lake of fire. “So if the Son sets you free, you
will be free indeed.” (John 8:36) Freedom from sin is the primary
meaning of freedom as found in the New Testament.
Galatians 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not
use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature;
Jesus has set us free from submitting to our sinful nature and sinning.
He also
taught us to show compassion to the poor, the hungry, the naked,
the sick, and those in prison. Clearly man’s primary need
is to be free from sin. But the Lord commands us also to minister to
people’s physical needs as well.
Scripture
also teaches us that human beings are made in God’s
image, and therefore we hold that every person has immeasurable worth.
From this eventually emerged the 13th century Magna Carta in Protestant
England which influenced the development of the United States Constitution.
The Declaration of Independence of the United States asserted, “We
hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Thus we
see how the biblical concept of freedom from sin may have been extended
by western culture beyond its original
scriptural meaning
eventually to include the “unalienable God-given rights of life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness” on earth. This westernized
concept of freedom was dramatically portrayed by the Academy Award-winning
motion picture “Braveheart” in which William Wallace’s
immortal shout resounded all the way to the final frame of the movie
as he was beheaded: “FREEDOM!!!”
We should note, therefore, that Scripture does not specifically guarantee
to human beings the right to freedom and liberty as is now firmly entrenched
in western and in particular American culture.
Freedom,
it is said, is not free. Like William Wallace, many others over the
centuries have paid the price for it with the
shedding of
their own blood. In the west, especially in the United States, we have
finally achieved freedom: political freedom, religious freedom, and
economic freedom. (Some would reasonably argue, however, that these
freedoms are currently in danger.) With this freedom we can enjoy not
only God, but God’s material blessings in this life on earth.
Freedom brings prosperity
Over the
past few centuries, freedom has in stages spawned the economic system
we now know as capitalism. Man, created in the image of God
and bestowed with intelligence, has discovered that he can make a good
living by selling goods and services which people want and for which
they are willing to pay. The freedom under capitalism for every American
to apply this principle within the free market system has brought
unprecedented prosperity to America. Millions of people around the
world looking
for a better life would like nothing better than to immigrate to America
to take advantage of this freedom.
With this freedom we can enjoy anything our heart desires. As long
as we can pay for it, there will be someone who will make it for us
or do it for us. That is part and parcel of capitalism. In itself,
capitalism is not evil and is in our opinion the best possible economic
system available in this life on earth.
Because of freedom and capitalism, we are now free---free to eat whatever
we want and as much as we want; free to buy a new car, a new house,
to pursue hobbies, and go on nice vacations to relax after working
so hard to accumulate wealth. God is good.
We are free to go to church to worship God (or, as the case may be,
free not to go to church). We are free to hear about how God has freely
chosen to save us and bless us with every good thing on earth. We are
free to hear about how it is all for free, since Christ paid for it
all on the cross.
Capitalism in the Church
We are
free to attend our megachurch where the preacher tells us what we
want to hear and make us feel good. Many (but certainly
not all)
American churches have learned well the principles of capitalism from
their business counterparts. They have learned all too well how to
provide “goods and services” that people are willing to
pay for with their tithes and offerings. They freely interpret the
Scriptures to focus their teaching on God’s various blessings
in this life.
While
God’s material blessings are certainly found in Scripture,
they are overwhelmingly in the Old Testament which contains shadows
and types already fulfilled in the New Testament. The reality is
found
in the New Testament which emphasizes spiritual blessings---especially
in the age to come. Unfortunately, many churches will avoid or spend
relatively little time addressing “unpleasant” topics like
sacrifice, denial of the flesh, obedience to God’s commands,
producing good fruit for Him, and living a holy life worthy of one’s
heavenly calling. Why don’t they address these things? The reason
is obvious. In today’s market-driven church economy, such messages
are not in demand by “consumers” and therefore will not “sell.” Churches
which do not bend to the reality of this economy might not grow and
become “successful.” Perhaps capitalism has become all
too successful and pervasive in the west.
From listening to messages preached and broadcast from pulpits, we
are under the impression that we are ultimately free to engage in sexual
immorality, whether pornography, fornication or various other kinds.
God is gracious and will certainly forgive us if we just confess it
to Him. After all, Christ died on the cross to bear our sins---past,
present, and future. We have heard that there is absolutely nothing
we can do to make God love us less, or for that matter, more.
And so
we must ultimately be free to perform any behavior that we would
like. Our salvation is free and not dependent on our
works, whether
good or bad. If it depends on our works of obedience to God’s
commands, then it is certainly not free. If it is really free, than
it must be unconditional. We are taught that if we have repeated a
sinner’s prayer, God’s love and grace to us are unconditional.
Such is
the state of the Church in the west today. We have not transformed
the world, but ultimately because of “freedom” the world
has transformed us into its image. Where the fear of God is absent, “freedom” becomes “license.” The
city of Houston, sitting squarely in the Bible Belt of the United States,
boasts the largest Christian churches and congregations in the country.
In 2009 Houston elected an openly lesbian woman as its mayor.
Our spiritual daughter - the Church in Nigeria
At a Pastors’ prayer
meeting in Houston, I met a pastor originally from Nigeria who was
from a Muslim family. He
and his parents were
all Muslims, but he became a disciple of Christ. While on a visit from
Nigeria to see her son and her other children in the United States,
his mother accepted Christ and began to follow Him zealously. Then
she returned to Nigeria, where she began to attend church. When the
pastors there discovered that she had children in the United States---and
that as good children they were sending her money---they descended
on her like vultures. Seeing the greed and hypocrisy of His servants,
she left Jesus Christ and reverted to Islam.
Where
on earth did the Church in Nigeria get this kind of spirit? It was
essentially from prosperity teaching imported from
the United
States. Greed will take on various forms, some subtle, some not so
subtle, depending on the culture. Churches and ministries in the United
States place heavy emphasis on receiving funds for erecting and maintaining
expensive facilities, for operating costs and salaries, all under the
rubric of “the work of the Lord.” Sometimes “the
work of the Lord” can include costly perks for the servant of
God like a luxury automobile, an expensive home, or a Gulfstream corporate
jet and up. But it’s all for the glory of God.
This is
what freedom and the resulting prosperity have done to the Church.
But the problem is not freedom. Neither is the
problem prosperity.
The problem is man, whose “heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.”
The Church under Communism
Once I
was in a communist country where the Church is not “free” as
is the Church in the west. Because of persecution and lack of freedom
most congregations must meet as “house churches.” Churches
not registered with the government---and this includes most evangelical
churches---cannot meet openly in public church facilities. Instead
they are forced to meet in homes and the like. As long as they remain
quiet and do not criticize the government, the communist authorities
turn a blind eye toward house churches and allow them to exist.
I found the faith of disciples in these house churches refreshing.
Unlike Christians in the west, they may have paid dearly for their
faith. They talk about their willingness to die for the Lord. Their
love for him is especially evident in the way they worship Him. They
love and follow Jesus not because of material blessings promised to
them in this life---there are few if any. No, they are thankful to
the Lord because of the glory awaiting them in the next age provided
through His death on the cross. I generally do not see this anticipation
in the west, where Christians believe in God primarily for what He
can do for them now in this life.
I commended
these disciples for their faith which had been refined in the fire.
I also issued a warning to them. I told
them that someday
religious “freedom” may come to them. (In this country,
there is already a good measure of economic freedom, especially for
very
wealthy Communist Party members and their relatives.) And if and when
freedom comes, I told them, do not become like the Church in the west.
I told them to resist the temptation to build huge church facilities,
which can cost millions although they do boost a pastor’s ego.
I told them to stay with low-overhead house churches and to extend
the kingdom of God through them. My host pastor had earlier voiced
the
same concern
to his fellow pastors in the city.
But I
believe my words will ultimately go unheeded. Why? It is because---whether
Christian or not---all human beings
will generally respond to freedom
and prosperity in the same way. It’s our nature. In terms of
their response, the difference between Christians and non-Christians
is mainly one of degree. But there will always be some exceptions
to this rule. We are referring to disciples of Jesus Christ.
A megachurch in China
Below is a report from the Associated Press on December 10, 2009:
LINFEN,
China — Towering eight stories over wheat
fields, the Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers
in
the gritty heart of China's coal country.
But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on
the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending
dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and
activists say.
Today, the church's co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church
complex in the northern province of Shanxi are locked and a police
armored personnel vehicle sits outside.
The closure of what may be China's first mega-church is the most visible
sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid
spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church
leaders call the harshest in years.
…House
churches have been around for decades, but their growth has accelerated
in recent decades, producing larger
and larger congregations
that are far more conspicuous than the small groups of friends and
neighbors that used to worship in private homes, giving the movement
its name.
The Chinese authorities turned a blind eye toward this rapidly-growing
house church until the Senior Pastor apparently decided to follow the
example of his colleagues in the west by building a megachurch. Not
surprisingly, the towering eight-story building in the middle of a
wheat field shocked the local communist authorities. They saw it as
a potential threat and promptly shut it down. What do you think would
have happened if the Pastor simply continued to multiply small house
churches everywhere instead of following the western megachurch model?
So what should we do?
All this is not at all to suggest that we should give up our freedoms
and seek to live under tyranny and persecution. No. But Scripture will
be fulfilled during the last days. Persecution will return without
our seeking it.
Matthew
24:9 “Then you will be handed over to
be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations
because of me.
10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray
and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive
many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of
most will grow cold, 13 but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
The Church
of the last days---perhaps today’s
Church---may very well be the Church in Laodicea rebuked by the Lord
Jesus Christ in
Revelation.
Revelation
3:14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the
ruler of God’s creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither
cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because
you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit
you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired
wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that
you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
The Church today foreshadowed in parables of Jesus
Matthew
13:31 He told them another parable: “The
kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted
in his
field. 32 Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it
grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”
After
two thousand years, the Church has become a large tree, providing
a habitation for the birds of the air. In the Parable
of the Sower
earlier in this very same chapter, Jesus used “birds” to
symbolize “the evil one” or the devil who comes and snatches
away the word of God from those listening to the message of the kingdom.
The devil is present and at work in the midst of the Church.
33 He
told them still another parable: “The kingdom
of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large
amount of flour
until it worked all through the dough.”
After two thousand years, the yeast in the dough which is the Church
has finally spread and worked its way all through the dough. Yeast
in Scripture symbolizes sin and hypocrisy, and they have worked all
through the Church.
In the Parable of the Sower in this same chapter, Jesus tells us that
roughly only one in four people who hear the gospel will bear good
fruit for the kingdom of God. Some will fall away because of trouble
or persecution. Others---and this may include many Christians who enjoy
freedom today---will not bear fruit because of the worries of this
life and the deceitfulness of wealth.
Matthew
13:18 “Listen then to what the parable
of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom
and does
not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was
sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The one who
received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the
word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since he has no root,
he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because
of the word, he quickly falls away. 22 The one who received the seed
that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the
worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making
it unfruitful. 23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the
man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding
a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
So are freedom and prosperity bad?
Scripture
teaches us that Old Testament Law was not opposed to God’s
promises to His people. Therefore the Law was not bad. The problem
was with God’s people the Israelites who could not stop sinning
and breaking the Law (Galatians 3:21-22). The Law is in fact good because
through it we become conscious of sin (Romans 3:20). The problem was
the people.
There
is nothing wrong with money. In fact, money can be a very good servant.
But the love of money in people's hearts is a root of all
kinds of evil. In the
same way, there is nothing wrong with freedom and prosperity in themselves.
Indeed they can be good. The problem is with us---God’s people.
The final words of Christ to the Laodicean Church
Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire,
so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover
your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can
see.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and
repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice
and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Could these also be the words of Christ to Christians today? If so,
there is good news. We still have opportunity to repent in order to
prepare ourselves for the great and terrible Day of the Lord.
How can we prepare for that Day?
Although we might not be living under persecution, we should live
our lives on earth as Scripture taught the early disciples who did
suffer for their faith. Those who were truly free were these early
disciples, some of whom did not love their lives on earth so much as
to shrink from death.
The Church should return to her first love, and do the things she
did at first---referring to the love of the early disciples and the
things which they did for the Lord. We should study the Scriptures
with a sincere heart and then obey their central message.
Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set
your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand
of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3
For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When
Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him
in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:
sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is
idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used
to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must
rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander,
and filthy language from your lips.
…12 Therefore, as God’s
chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion,
kindness,
humility, gentleness
and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances
you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together
in perfect unity.
We are to please God by living holy lives, free from whatever belongs
to our earthly nature. We are to clothe ourselves with compassion,
kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. And we are to do this
not because of what we hope God will do for us now in this life. No.
We do this because when Christ, who is our life, appears, then we also
will appear with him in glory.
What should
we do with the freedom and prosperity which we enjoy in the west?
We ought to take full advantage of it and use it to
preach the gospel of the kingdom in the whole world
as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
“Only
when I am a slave of God shall I be free.”
A response to this article from Australia
"i totally agreed with your opinion about spending
lots of money on buildings and facilities for the purpose of having
a great and awesome
place to gather and worship. Pastor Kong Hee of city harvest church
built his titanium church in singapore at enormous cost but it could
only
seat 2000 and now the city harvest church services are held in a stadium!
A certain large congregation in Malaysia has this great mighty plan
to build this state-of-the-art church facility in Kuala Lumpur which
on the plan looks like a space ship but on my recent trip to Kuala
Lumpur, i drove
passed
the site and found out that the construction has stopped because the
senior pastor and some leaders are now in a lawsuit with some other
elders and members of the church due to some financial dispute! And
the most embarrassing and bad testimony is that at the site of the
building hung a big banner 'hope of the ..." facing one of the
main road where many vehicles drove pass everyday!
even years ago when I was
still a young Christian, i believe we do need facilities and buildings
but not excessive like many megachurches have gone today. Some are
so high-end that no poor man would dare to step into it and people
from the streets are properly not welcome because they may 'dirty'
or 'mess' up the furnitures! Well, I actually heard this from an elder
in the church I attended in Australia some time ago. At first a lady
was so fervent in reaching out to those considered as underprivileged
but then subsequently those whom she brought to church stopped coming
and her ministry also died because the middle-class to rich congregation
was uncomfortable with 'these' people and some even didn't want to
seat next to them! Well, I can tell you now, that congregation hasn't
grown much until now!
My thoughts are also the same about the last days. If we believe in
what the Bible said about persecution in the last day, I thought to
myself,
why are we spending so much money in building physical buildings and
accumulating physical assets (expensive projectors, expensive instruments,
state-of-the-art stage, etc) which one day the 'enemy' could come and
rob and steal. (Note : Now I am the new generation that believes we
should use technology, but please don't forget no technology can turn
the heart of people to God!). Is it a sin to build a mega or super
building
as
church? Of course not. But can we please learn from the history of
european christians. What happened to all the beautiful, magnificient
church buildings in many of these countries including UK now? And let's
take heed from the scripture "unless the Lord builds, the builder
builds in vain"! Truly, I do say some churches need to refocus
their spending on the great commission. (and I mean making disciples
not making the number of 'church members').
as for what you said about the church of the west, really, the east
don't need the west to teach them how to 'build' a church and when
a certain church (who has not much exposure to asian culture) in the
west announced that they are going to set up a church in china soon,
my thought is 'please don't try to bring the western way of doing church
and the concept of christianity and mess up the christians there! The
christians there are much more resilent and stronger than anyone of
the leaders I know in this church who come from a 'privileged' background!
I have lived in the east and I have lived in the west. Sorry to say
today, many churches in the west need to learn more from the church
in the east when it comes to living a life of a true disicple of Christ.
There is some serious work to be done to repair the image of Jesus
and the church in the west. In general, the Jesus so many westerners
know in their countries today through media and even the church in
their communities is far from the Jesus of the Bible! No wonder they
are not interested."
Feedback to the article from a pastor in Louisiana
"Thank you for the word on freedom. I believe that is exactly what
the Lord is saying right now. The other day the Lord dropped a similar
word in my heart and I had to share it with the church this past Sunday
morning. We must repent as individuals and as the church. We have become
far too worldly and forgotten the call of God in our lives to save
the lost and to make disciples. The Lord brought me to Eph 6 and He
told me that we have taken off our armour or made it of no effect.
We have nothing to stand on because we have gotten out of the Word,
because of the lack of the Word in our hearts our belt of truth has
become relative to whatever the world, CNN, Fox or someone else tells
us is truth. Our breastplate of righteousness has become a breastplate
of self righteousness. Because we have no Word to stand on our truth
has become relative, our righteousness has become self righteousness,
we have no faith in which to stop the firey darts of the enemy, and
we have laid down our Sword of the Spirit because we do not know how
to use it. It has become ineffective. We stand therefore with our helmet
of salvation and think ourselves to be OK. Because we are saved and
maybe our finances are doing well and we live in a good neighborhood
. The time has come when we need to truly repent and ask God to deliver
us from ourselves before we come into complete bondage.
Thank you for hearing the Lord and being obedient to share with me
what He is saying."
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