Longtime friends Laurel and Laurelyn had a lot in common in
their religious beliefs, having come from Catholic and Christian upbringings
and now leaning toward reincarnation as an attractive alternative. I asked what they didn’t like about their
childhood religion, and they mentioned the defensiveness of church leaders in
response to their sincere teenage questions, or their trite, simple or
thoughtless answers. Laurel also had bad
experiences with church members being prejudiced, focusing on sin and having an
unloving attitude. She felt they were
hypocrites because they weren’t Christlike in living out the loving message of
Christianity. Churchgoers like this can
give unbelievers a convenient excuse to reject the gospel altogether. This should not be, but Lauren and Laurlyn
do have a point.
How can we have so many people in our churches who turn
unbelievers off to the Gospel? I believe
Jesus' parable of the sower can help us better understand why.
In this parable, a farmer sows his seed,
which represents the word of God. The
seeds encounter various types of soil, but only some grows to maturity. Some gets eaten by birds right away, while others
begin to grow but don't last for various reasons.
So while all hear the word, some don't accept it. It is left exposed, uncared for, and is soon
snatched away. I don’t believe the point
of the parable is to blame the birds for snatching away the seed on the pathway
and to see this type of soil as the victim of circumstances, but simply to point
out that some receive the word with indifference and neglect. These unbelievers may even continue attending
church alongside believers for social or cultural reasons, but they continue to
act in worldly ways because they don’t allow the word to influence them. In fact, the church often changes to
accomodate their worldly ways in the hopes that they will continue to attend
and eventually be saved. This is the result
of a ministry mindset that wants the world to come into the church rather than
the church going out into the world. These
people don’t come for Jesus, they come for the worldly enticements the church
has to offer.
Other seeds don’t last for various reasons. They begin to grow but fall away because of the
different types of soil in which they are scattered. Hebrews 3:14 tells us “We have come to share
in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.” One sign of authentic salvation is perseverance. The seeds that don’t last tell us that true
and false conversions happen in response to the word. Other parables, such as that of the wheat and
the tares growing side by side, tell us that true and false believers grow side
by side for quite some time, revealing not only the ease in which false
believers can mimic Christians, but the immaturity of many Christians which
allow them to so easily blend in.
So yes, churches are full of many different types of people:
unbelievers, false converts, and Christians at various stages of maturity and
immaturity. The question is, are we
there for the people, or for the Word of God?
I believe a church whose leadership faithfully preaches the word,
worships Jesus, and brings the gospel out into the world will attract people
for the right reasons and will end up with a mix of people at various stages in
their faith journey that doesn’t drive people like Laurel and Laurelyn away
because of hypocrisy.
PS –Lauren and Laurelyn graciously allowed me to record our
conversation (sorry, audio is really bad), which can be seen in its
entirety HERE
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