I am sure that everyone is familiar with the story in the Bible about the Golden Calf that was made while the Jewish people were in the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt. While reading that account myself I began to see many parallels to things not only in the church setting but in our daily lives as well. We all have Golden Calfs in our lives that we need to deal with. In the church world there are many Golden Calfs that hinder not only God's presence in those places, but also impede any kind of personal growth or discipleship. It is evident that the Golden Calfs in the church setting revolve around entertainment and teachings that appease the listener. Where are the days of the "Hellfire and Brimstone" preaching?
It is interesting that Jesus had more to say about Hell than Heaven yet today the church world has turned this around. It is not popular to preach about hell; after all we may lose some of our "tithe givers" if we speak about things like that! 'We heard enough of that in the past,' is the thinking now days. I believe that now, more than ever we need to get back to exactly that! People are getting their emotions worked up and being entertained but gaining little if any spiritual substance. The church world is filled with "Prosperity" teachings, "Name it Claim it" teachings, and many other things like the "Prayer of Jabez" doctrine that is now exploding. It seems the church has to have some type of enticing avenue to reach God these days bypassing the method used by Jesus himself, which was getting away for hours, even the whole night in prayer! Instead of truly seeking God, the church has replaced that with what they proclaim to be "quick" avenues to get God to be your puppet and answer your prayers because of a prescribed method. When will the Christians wake up to what is happening in the church world today?
These "Golden Calfs" in the church are causing the explosion of Christians that think they are equipped to face the attacks of the enemy, but have no idea that they are really assaulting hell with water pistols. The enemy is sitting back laughing and mocking these Christians because he sees the lack of power in their lives. A good friend of mine made a statement that seems to ring of truth; "If the masses are following something then it is probably wrong, but if there are few that stand up against it, I will stand with them because they are probably right." A pretty profound statement actually in light of the Bible and the fact that Jesus himself said that "There will be many come to me in that day proclaiming, look at all the wonderful works that "I" have done in your name. But I will say to them, depart from me you workers of iniquity, for I KNOW you not."
There are literally millions that are flocking to the "Jabez" prayer doctrine and even more that have been in the "Prosperity" teachings for years. It all reminds me of what Jesus said of the church of Laodicea, "… you think that you have need of nothing and have everything, but I see you as naked and destitute.." These Christians have this mentality in their spiritual lives yet have no idea of how the Lord really sees this doctrine. Now I understand why the first church in the book of Acts flourished, it was the persecution that brought about their dependence upon God more than ever. That is why there is a marked difference in Christians in third world countries than those here in the U.S. This may not set well with most of you but I believe that it will take that same type of persecution to bring back the hungering for "holiness" that we desperately need in this country. I will never be satisfied with my spiritual walk and yes I fail daily, but I will never compromise my faith for "Gimmicks" to get a quick fix from God.
The Christian world has prostituted the spiritual welfare of itself for self-gratification and self gain and we cannot expect less than what we have today. I ask you a question that I hope probes on a personal level because it obviously does not convict on the larger level; Is it any wonder that the world wants nothing to do with 'religion' or what the church has to offer? The church has effectively moved the majority of its people from Ambassadors of Christ to 'Impostors for Christ.' As individuals you have no one to blame for your intensity for God except yourself. You cannot blame the 'church' because you choose to go where you go. On an individual level what would be our Golden Calfs? Maybe material things, money, clothes, cars, etc…maybe personal ambitions or goals, maybe television, movies, maybe gossip, etc.
I know that Moses went up into the mountain and was there 40 days with God in the mountain. When he returned his face was glowing from being in the presence of the Almighty. We have manipulated and misused the phrase "Come boldly unto the throne" and use it as a 'right' and therefore think that we are in a position to order God to do our bidding. Read Revelation again and see how the twenty-four elders fell on their face before the Lamb, and see how the angels bow before God, see how that John could not stand just seeing the vision. People it is time that we destroy some of these Golden Calfs that have brought us to the place of pride that we currently dwell in and get on our faces before the Living God and plead with Him to place in us the proper reverence for Him. We are warned to "not think more highly of ourselves than we should" that would be great advice for us to heed. Church has become as the people that were around the Golden Calf, they didn't want to wait for the real presence, instead ordered Aaron to make them a 'god' they could have now! Is that not what we do in the churches today? How many churches have services where they forget the bulletin, or the order of service and proclaim that they are going to wait on God until He shows up and decides what He wants to do? How many churches have what is called "Prayer Meetings" yet that is the thing that is done the least? I have been to many churches that have "come worship with us" on their sign, yet when you get there you wonder when it is going to start.
I have sent this to those that I believe to be Christians for a reason, we have to make the changes personally. We have to ask God to fill us with the true hunger and longing for holiness that the church does not offer. We have to be the ones that will be bold enough to make the change and try to show this very thing to all our friends and neighbors. We have to be the ones that act as the Levites did when Moses said, "who is on the Lord's side come over here" and the Levites ran to him. We have to be the ones that spend time in prayer and ask God to use us to be lights in the world. Have you ever noticed that when the sun is out a flashlight is virtually useless? We need to be displaying the true light and shine brighter than the many "Christian Flashlights" that are out there. We need to be the ones that turn away from the dirty jokes, the cursing, the inappropriate movies, etc… We have to be willing to do as the Levites did when Moses instructed them to go throughout the camp killing everyone that did not come to the Lord's side. By that I mean that we have to be spiritually ready to take the sword of truth and stand up against these false teachings that I mentioned earlier not fearing man. It is time for true Christians to start making bold stands for the truth and confronting those that propagate false teachings. We were told that we would not be accepted by the world and we also have an example that we would not be accepted by the "religious" but rather they are the very ones that will persecute us. If you don't believe me then stand up against the Jabez teaching and see how far you get!
God help us all!
In Christ, Adam
Adam's Stuff
