During his ministry here on earth, Jesus was always a lot harder on religious people than he was on the spiritually lost and forsaken. His ministry was frustrated more often by the attitudes of the religious people around him than those who were far from God and synagogue. Sometimes, he could not perform miracles among them. For the most part, his mission and message was not accepted by them.
The ones who should have known better and been most ready to receive his works and words rejected them and him. In other words, the religious folks who thought they could see were really spiritually blind and didn’t know it. Alternatively, those in spiritual darkness and blind were the ones to “see a great light” as it “shown upon them” (Isa. 9:2). The irony of this should not be lost to us today.
I often wonder what kind of reception Jesus would receive among the religious folks who inhabit our churches today. Would we be ready for him or miss him? Would we recognize him? Would we accept his challenging words and unconventional works? Would he find faith and freedom among us to work miracles or a place where he “could not work any miracles” (Mark 6:5)?
Robert Beringer, in Turning Points, tells the story about a little boy who got separated from his parents in a large shopping center. The Security Department quickly located the child and took him to an office, while the frantic parents were paged over the public address system. One of the security guards got a large ice cream cone for the boy. When his parents arrived at the office, there was their little son happily eating his ice cream. Suddenly, as his parents embraced him, the child burst into tears. One of the security guards said, “Gosh, I guess he didn’t know he was lost until he was found!”
Beringer goes on to point out, “There are many who are bored, burned out, lonely, and empty. Many people have tried to substitute the accumulation of things for good relationships, but no matter how much they get, something is still missing in life. Their pipe does not go down deep enough to draw living water, and they feel lost.”
Sadly, that describes too many people in the church today: “bored, burned out, lonely, and empty.” In our materialistic society, we have been duped into thinking that filling up our lives with more things or filling our lives with more activities will bring satisfaction and substance to our lives. Meanwhile, Jesus is left standing on the periphery at our hearts’ doors knocking. Like the little boy, we do not know that we are lost. Like the religious people of Jesus day, we do not realize what we are missing because of our spiritual blindness.
Orange Rose Bud, 2009 ©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
In the apostle John’s book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, two of the letters written to the seven churches are telling. To the church in Ephesus, Jesus condemned them for leaving their first love. He invited them to “remember, repent, and return” (2:5) to loving him first so that their spiritual light and life would continue in the world.
To the church in Laodicea, Jesus condemned them for their spiritual apathy and arrogance. They thought that they had it all together – “rich, successful, and in need of nothing” – when they were really “pitiful, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). Jesus invited them to be “zealous and repent” (v. 19) because those he loves he will “rebuke and chasten” (v. 20).
This challenge to the church today became even more real to me when I ministered in India near Visakhapatnam and Rajamundri. Before I left, there were many Americans who wanted to know if it was true that miracles were easier to witness overseas. They carry the nagging feeling that somehow the mission field of America is more difficult than the mission field elsewhere in the world. I do not believe it is. I believe that there are no barriers for the work of God to be done except for the zeal and faith of God’s people.
If the work of the Gospel and its accompanying signs, wonders, and miracles are more prominent in other places; it is because the church there goes “down deep enough to draw living water.” They are still vitally and vibrantly connected to the “Source of Life”. At different times in its history, the American church has had the same connection to her Lord and Savior. Like the American church, the church overseas struggles against the same declination towards spiritual apathy and arrogance that causes spiritual blindness.
However, in India, for the most part I saw a church strong and vibrant. I believe it witnessed the Lord confirming his Word with signs, wonders, and miracles because it “dug wells deep enough to draw Living Water” by:
- A regular practice of “waiting upon the Lord” in prayer. Like the church in the book of Acts, believers in India devoted themselves to prayer – lots of prayer and waiting upon the Lord. Then, fearlessly offering prayer for anyone in need and willing.
- A regular practice of proclaiming the Gospel in market places. Like the New Testament church, believers in India boldly preached and shared the Gospel in the public market places – even right in front of Hindu temples! They regularly invited their neighbors over to their houses to share Jesus and love them.
- A regular practice of serving the orphan, the widow, and the poor. They are more than will to prove their ministry through their generosity to the saints and everyone else (2 Cor. 9:13). Their ministries of compassion open doors of opportunity to not only preach Christ but pray for the sick and oppressed.
These things place the Indian believers in a position where God’s grace and power must show up. Then his Kingdom is built on nothing but his Word and his power. There is a simple desperation in the life of the church that depends upon the Word and power of the Lord. Ministry is simple: prayer, preach, and provide for the poor.
Wherever the church puts their faith into practice like this; the Lord shows up to work among his people – whether in India or America. The American church’s nagging sense that it has lost something in connection with the Gospel of Jesus Christ may be the Lord knocking at the door just as he did in Ephesus and Laodicea.
The question is, will we return to our “first love” and the works we did at first – such as devoting ourselves to prayer, sharing the Gospel in the public market places, and providing for the poor? Each of these practices places us in a unique position where we need the Lord to answer, show up, and provide.
On the other hand, are we too rich, too full, and too satisfied to hear the knocking at our door? Whether Jesus shows up depends upon us. It may be time to dig our wells deeper to draw upon the Living Water the Lord offers to those who are spiritually thirsty. Perhaps we can take some “well digging” lessons from our brothers and sisters in churches such as those I visited in India. Now is the time to start digging!
©Weatherstone/Ron Almberg, Jr. (2010)
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