Is Jesus Angry at Your Church?

Is Jesus Angry at your church?

What makes Jesus angry? Who ticked him off?

Now if you are saying at this point that Jesus was perfect so he never got angry, I will say to you that you have not read the Gospels very carefully. Jesus was like his Father, both can get mad. (The Old Testament would call it wrathful. My Sunday school teachers called it righteous indignation.)

The people who set Jesus off were not the usual suspects, thieves, prostitutes, corrupt officials, or even Roman oppressors. Surely, he didn’t care for their actions, but he was very slow to condemn them because he didn’t think of them as “the damned.” He looked at them as people who needed to find forgiveness, hope, and the love of God. The people who set him off, he called “vipers” (Matthew 12:34 & 23:33) and “whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones” (Matthew 23:27). They were those who called themselves religious, and made it difficult for others to come into relationship with God.

So what would make him cross if he walked into your community and your church today? I think he would be heartbroken at the sin he saw, just as he was in the 1st century. He would walk around and observe our world and see how far it falls short of God’s plan. Jesus would be moved by the heartache people cause each other and themselves by their own actions and attitudes. Then he would visit the churches. At some he would be encouraged to see people sharing His love with others. He would be excited to see people finding hope and salvation and becoming disciples. But I’m afraid that would happen in only a very few churches.

I am afraid that what he would see in most churches might make him blow his cork. Suppose he saw some of these things that occur in most of our churches:
 Church people who put there own comforts and preferences (type of building, style of music, mode of dress, etc.), ahead of fulfilling his commission to make disciples.
 Church people who think it is their job to “control the pastor.”
 Church people who refuse to make friends with people who don’t know Christ and even avoid meaningful relationships with them.
 Church people who don’t participate in welcoming newcomers to the church.
 Church people who exclude new people from the true fellowship of the church.
 Church people who seem to think they have the gift of criticism.
 Pastors who are lazy and refuse to lead their congregations.
 Pastors who don’t set the example of developing relationships with non-Christians.
 Pastors who keep themselves and their people so busy on “church stuff” that they have no time left for meeting friends who don’t know Christ and developing friendships that might lead to making new disciples.
 Pastors and churches that are unprepared for the unchurched to show up.
 Church people and pastors who plan to “do evangelism” when they get time, or money, or around to it, instead of recognizing that bringing people to Christ is the whole reason the church exists, and that it needs to be done now and always.

These guesses come from what I read of Jesus in the New Testament. I wonder what Jesus would say and do if he had the attention of churches today. I do know this, many churches have died and many more are dying. Could this be because they are not what Jesus has in mind? What would he say and do to your church? By the way, how is it doing? Growing? Plateauing? Declining? More than that, how are you doing? How many people have you brought to the Lord? With how many potential Christians do you have a relationship? Are you doing the task he gave us to do?

How the Bible Changes You

Why is the Bible the most important book in the story of western civilization? Answers might include: it was the first book ever printed and the all-time best seller; it is the source for the morals and the laws of nations; it tells the story of God’s relationship with people who believe in Him from the beginning of the world; and believers in Jesus say it projects that relationship through the end of the world. But there is a deeper answer to why the Bible is so important: the message of the Bible changes lives. Individuals have been and are transformed by what it says. Millions testify to that fact. Then, how does it do it? How does it work? How can this old book change you? The Bible itself gives us four clues to how it changes lives:
Clue 1. The Bible is like a lamp.

“I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” Psalm 119:104-105 (NIV)

Like a light in darkness it points out danger. The Bible shows the consequences of sin and mistakes, and warns you when you’re getting off course. Careful study of the Word of God will show you if you are drifting into sin and sound loud alarms that you can choose to heed and thereby avoid many sorrows and difficulties. In addition, the light that the Word gives provides security like a lighthouse or a street light. It testifies that God is nearby and ready to guide you, help you and keep you safe.

Clue 2. The teachings of the Bible work like seeds sown in a field. Jesus told a great story, usually called “The Parable of the Sower” (Mark 4:1-20). In it He likens the Word of God to seed a farmer sows in his field. It is all good seed that falls onto a variety of soil conditions. Some lives are like a hard-packed path through the middle of a farmer’s field. They need to be broken before the seed can take root. The hard events that come in life can break a person’s spirit and ruin him/her or difficult times can be used to break a life like a plow breaks ground for planting. A young friend of mine took a break from college to participate in a year-long inner-city mission program. One day in the third week of the program he got mugged running an errand to a convenience store. He had signed on to learn to help people by living and working among them; assault was not part of the program. It would have been easy for him to call it quits and go home to his safe little home town. Instead, he dove into his Bible study and he let the injury, the fear, the anger serve to bring brokenness to his life that enabled God’s Word to grow him in ways he had not anticipated. Other people are like rocky ground in that their knowledge and their commitments are shallow. They have never let the Word take root and grow down deep. Still others say they want to be close to God, but they are distracted by the things of the world like money and material things. They are like ground that needs weeding. The Bible will do that by helping him/her to learn right priorities. However, most folks are good ground and the Word takes root and grows. They learn God’s plan and spend their lives following it. Which soil are you?

Clue 3. The Bible works like a sword.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul writes about the armor of faith that the Holy Spirit provides for Christ-follower (Eph. 6:13-17). He concludes his description with these words, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” He calls the Word of God a sword in the Christ-follower’s hand. Using the metaphor of a sword demonstrates that the Word not only defends you from Satan’s attacks, but also enables you to take the battle to Satan. The author of Hebrews also likens Scripture to a sword:

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

Only the Great Physician can perform surgery with a sword, but that is exactly what the Scripture itself says happens. God uses the Bible to cut away the things that are harmful and don’t belong in your life.

Clue 4.The Bible can help us the way a mirror does.
James gives us one more clue as to how the Bible can change you when you apply what it says.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25 (NIV)

Before I leave the house I always check myself in the mirror and many times I have to wash my face, change my shirt, or comb my hair. What I saw in the mirror saved me from embarrassment. The Word prevents embarrassment because, as you study it, you get a clearer picture of who you are and what your behavior looks like to the Lord. Checking yourselves out with the Bible lets you not only see yourselves as you are, but also to see what you can become when you remain close to the Lord. Knowing the Word of God is imperative for every Christ-follower. As James says, it is not enough just to hear it, but it must be allowed to do its work in your life. I am sorry to say that I have known many people who have attended church for many years, who know very little of what the Bible says. They have heard of the Bible and they have had interpretations spoon-fed to them, but they have never allowed it to change them. They stay on baby food. This causes problems for them because they are missing out on many things God wants to share with them. It often causes problems for churches if they become influential in a congregation. They are called on to make decisions and get behind efforts that they don’t understand, because they don’t know the Word. So the Bible can change you whether you are a new believer or you came to faith a long time ago. It works to shape you into the person God created you to be.