The Seriousness of Serving God

The Church has evolved a great deal over the many centuries since Peter delivered the initial sermon on that Pentecost Sunday. It is obvious they understood the seriousness of serving God. That was a rousing sermon which captured the attention of those who were gathered in Jerusalem for the celebration of The Passover. It was no coincidence that this all happened during this time. This was all part of God's timing and the giving of the Holy Spirit. Peter could have never pulled this off on his own and it was the Holy Spirit, which he was filled with on that day, that allowed him to speak the words he did as 3000 souls were saved as a result.

Does God still work this way in the Church in the 21st century? Is the Church meeting your spiritual needs when you attend a church service? When you attend your local church on a Sunday morning, do you feel the Holy Spirit stirring your heart as He ministers to you? If you are walking out of a service on a Sunday morning feeling the same as when you walked in, there might be a problem.

What Are You Hearing?

If you are feeling this way or you are not sensing the Holy Spirit moving you during the service at any time, you must ask yourself some questions. Is the pastor preaching from the Bible or is he giving a feel good message? Are you listening and understanding the Biblical message the pastor is delivering? Do others in this church feel the same as you?

These are just simple questions you might want to ask yourself and seriously consider the answers. If the pastor is delivering a sound Biblical message and you're having trouble understanding it, you need to ask questions. Ask the pastor and explain what you don't understand or seek out a church leader if the pastor is unavailable but ask someone to help you understand. But, maybe the pastor is not delivering a sound Biblical message; maybe it's a feel good message which says nothing about Jesus and His desire to work in your life. If this is the case, then maybe it is time to seek out a local church which delivers a message from the Bible every time the doors are open.

It is also a good idea to ask friends you might have in the church how they feel. Do they feel cheated by not hearing the word of God preached? Do they not feel the moving of the Holy Spirit as the message is delivered? Whatever the situation, it is extremely important to  find out what the problem is and take some kind of action. Is it you or is it the messages which are lacking the truth about Jesus? Whatever it is, you cannot allow yourself to become dormant in your Christian faith as a result of either of these situations.

There Is No Blueprint To Follow

As far as how to do Church, there is no blueprint for that laid out in the Bible. If we look at the book of Acts, we can read and see how the initial Church went about serving God. The one common denominator we find, or should find, is church is not about serving us but serving God. In those early days of the Church, the apostles had their share of trouble and problems as they went about sharing the gospel to the public.

They were arrested and persecuted; they were beaten and eventually killed for their belief in Jesus. Stephen was stoned for his faith in Jesus and shortly after that, Saul began his reign of terror on the church. Did this stop them from meeting or from telling others about Jesus? No, they continued on and the Lord blessed their work and increased their numbers. Did they have meetings to discuss how to compromise their situation? Did they decide to compromise their message? The answer to these questions is no.

The early Church fathers were only doing what they knew how to do and that was follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Peter and Paul never once decided that maybe they were being too radical in their teachings. Each realized their calling was to tell as many people as they could about Jesus Christ so they might know Him as their Lord and savior.

Paul was beaten and left for dead; he was stoned and thrown into dark, nasty dungeons. He wasn't on the preaching circuit, traveling around in a Lexus. He walked everywhere he could across land and crossed the waters in many different kind of ships and boats. When he traveled, he only went where the Spirit directed him to go and only preached to who the Spirit told him to preach to.

He was the original missionary, pastor and church planter. He didn't have a blueprint to follow other than to preach the gospel and help others learn how to do the same. But, what do we see in the Church today? Pastors declared as celebrities and award winning Bible teachers (what's the award?). It's no longer what I can do for you spiritually but how are you going to compensate me. I'd love to hear how Paul would react to this.

Understand The Seriousness of Serving God

I believe, or it's my opinion, that there are many Christians in the Church today who do not have a clue concerning the seriousness of serving God. I won't put all the blame on the individuals because it might be the only way they have ever been instructed by the Church. There are mass numbers of Christians flocking to the local church every week and believe they have met their Godly commitment for the week.

It's possible that's all they were ever taught concerning their Christianity. Church attendance was spoken of as the top priority in their Christian lives and nothing else. But, it could also be that it is the only time they have allotted for God during any week. It's like, "OK God, I'll give you an hour on Sunday mornings. You know how busy my life is." That's not what God wants to hear.

Serving God is a 24/7 routine we must learn the instant we are saved. It's not fire insurance to keep us out of hell, it's not a feel good thing, it's not about meeting our selfish needs through prayer (if there is a prayer life) and it's not about having a social status. God the Father sent His only Son to die in our place on a cross in order to forgive us of our sin. The Father put all of our sin on His Son when He was on that cross. If we can't be serious about that sacrifice for us, we need to check our spiritual condition.

The biggest question concerning all of this is this: Is the Church doing it's job in our society today? Maybe the question should be, "Is the church leadership living up to it's Godly responsibilities today?" I think  the sad answer to that last question is simply, no. If the leaders in our churches are not able to lead us to the cross of Christ and emphasize the seriousness and importance of it, how will we ever understand the seriousness of serving God? They have to allow Jesus to speak through them and let us know that God only wants what is best for us and to rattle us to the point of our understanding of how He wants us to live in this corrupted world. We are His ambassadors and a good ambassador never fails to deliver the message of good news.

It's just my opinion but, I believe we would do ourselves a favor by rereading the book of Acts and understanding how the early Church fathers and leaders knew the seriousness of serving God. If Church leaders today are more interested in how to build a bigger building and using worldly tactics to draw people in or how many fast food vendors they can squeeze into the lobby area than preaching the word of God, people will never understand the seriousness of serving God.

Maybe it is time to go back to the basics and follow the instruction of God's word and the Holy Spirit. Now, after saying all of that, not every local church in this country is guilty of these things. There are many which fully understand and have ministered to the needs of their people spiritually. My intention in writing this is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater but to bring attention to these issues which exist in some local churches. 

If you are attending a local church which is more concerned about pleasing the world than serving God, the first response is prayer. Pray for the leadership; pray they would realize the seriousness of serving God and understand their calling. If you are suffering spiritually as a result of the watered down approach to Jesus, then maybe it's time to move on. Serving God is what our Christian lives are all about. It's all about Him, not us.