The purpose of this lesson is not to be controversial or in any way belittle our beautiful history. The purpose is to shed light on the fact that we live in a totally different day than our grandparents. I want to challenge us to realize this is the day God has called us to, a fact we cannot change. Because our world is so different the church today is not the same church in action, evangelism and culture and we should never pretend it is or should be. I do not believe that this takes away from biblical doctrine and the need for repentance and the remitting of sins by baptism in the name of Jesus. This day also means we are in desperate need of being filled with the Holy Ghost, God’s spirit. Yet, we need to lose the spirit and attitude that causes us to waste time wishing for yesterday’s church environment and culture. This is not my grandmother’s church.
My grandmother’s church, when I was a little boy was also our church. As I thought back to my earliest memories of that church, I found it very different than the church I pastor in today. There was the lack of things in the early days at my grandmother’s church like no indoor plumbing. I can remember two outhouses on the back corner of the property. I don’t remember any air-conditioning or carpet. Just a green painted concrete floor. I remember the pews that were handmade and the nails that poked up out of them and if you slid down the pew on some, you might get a tear in your clothes. I remember a heater in the corner that we stood around before church.
But there were some other things that were not cosmetic but the simple demeanor of the people in that day.
It was a small country community and her church was one of two or three I remember in the town. Although the congregation was small there were days of the year when several would turn out for church. Days like Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas services and even sometimes revival services. Then there were other times when people would come just to be in church that Sunday I guess. Maybe something stirred them, I’m not sure but for some reason they just showed up for a Sunday service. I can remember it sending a certain buzz throughout the congregation. So-in-so was in church today; it could be the day they were coming to God.
One thing I seem to remember, there was never a time that a “visitor” or a non member came that most of the congregation didn’t know who they were. When a couple walked in the door in my grandmother’s church you not only knew who they were but also where they worked, how long they had been married, about when their kids were born and where they lived. If on the one or two occasions someone did walk in that few if any knew you never questioned or even considered if a couple was married, who’s children they had with them, it was all simply a given. We knew they were married and the children with them were the couples children.
You didn’t ever consider what addictions might be going on to their life. If there were any addictions it was tobacco; and there were one or two in town that had a drinking problem, something that also was much known around town. Most who walked through the doors came looking for Jesus and life change. They came looking for the promise of heaven, to miss hell and have God to help them with their simple life. Yes, when they came to God they did bring baggage just like today, but as I look at what they left at the altar in my grandmother’s church I find it really different from what people bring to the altar and leave today. Both bring the baggage of life but the baggage today is definitely different.
No, I am in no way meaning to make a walk for God seem any less in my grandmother’s church. I have heard my grandmother sigh at the shape of this old world many times and she would tell me, “The Lord is about to come”. She would say, “It just can’t get any worse”. She so expected the coming of the Lord, that on many occasions I have seen her look at a sky with sunlight peering through clouds and she would say, “That looks like the Lord could come.” No, her day brought a seriousness to her walk and relationship with God. She lived for Jesus with a strong sincerity as she watched life shake people.
That was her day and she fought the good fight of faith in her hour.
Now, we could tell stories and get all nostalgic about the old days. Songs have been written and sung with a longing and with the quote, “Good old days”. But in case you haven’t noticed, we don’t live in that day. Try as you might, you will never be able to recreate that yesterday with its feelings and events. This also includes the church today. We are foolish to begin to think we can be and perform like the church did 70 years ago.
We can blame it on the lack of commitment, lack of prayer, and a long list of what we remember the church being. But in reality it is none of the above.
I would venture to say that there was lack of prayer in the church 70 years ago. I also would dare say there was a faithfulness problem in the church 70 years ago.
In reading the book, The Winds of God, about the church in the early 1900’s, I found there were people faking it then. No, I don’t believe the church is changing in that aspect, yet our world has degraded to such a place that the church is dealing with things it didn’t deal with 70 years ago.
The church today, is not my grandmother’s church, it can’t be and I don’t believe God intends on it being so.
If you still are not buying into what I am saying, I challenge any of you to look at your family just three generations back and you will find all the reason you need to understand this is not your grandmother’s church.
Does it mean that God is any less powerful? No! He is doing powerful things today in the lives of people. Greater things than I ever have seen in my life.
Does it mean that the preached Word of God is not important? No! We need the anointed Word greater than ever before and God’s Word is being pushed into society in greater fashion than ever before.
Does it mean that we have lost ground and the church is not as strong as before? No! If you believe that we are in the last days according to the Bible, then you must also believe what the Bible says about a growing powerful church. God is not coming after a sick weak Bride. Scripture promises the church is one that will have made herself ready for God. I do believe we can miss the chance of ministry and the purpose of God if we continue to long for yesterdays and criticize the Bride of Christ because it’s not our grandmother’s church.
I listened Monday to an interview with retired Florida State football coach, Bobby Bowden. In the interview he was asked what was the difference in the kids today from the kids when he started coaching over 50 years ago. He quickly said the boys are still just boys, there’s no difference. The difference he said is in the fact that almost all the boys who come into division 1 college football programs today do not have a father at home. Not a few, not some, but almost all. He went on to say that most don’t have a mother at home when they get home from school because she is at work. He said because they are boys and they don’t have a parent guiding them, they tend to get into more trouble today.
That statement would have never been made in my grandmother’s day and if we think times have not changed the thinking and actions of our world, we are fooling ourselves. Did we ever believe we would see the day when children raise themselves? I realize we can do little to change this trend outside of prayer and change the lives of those who we have influence on. But we need to realize what our day and culture are doing to the church. This is not your grandmother’s church.
Does this mean we don’t preach and lead away from sin? No!
Does this mean we give up and forget what we believe and desire in our lives? No!
Does this mean we stop trying for life-change in people? No!
Does this mean we don’t preach repentance and the need for lives to turn around? No!
What it does mean is the fact we are foolish if we begin to think that the church is and can be what it was 70 years ago. It can’t be. Life is nothing like it was 70 years ago, and people are nowhere near the same as they were 70 years ago. We can waste our days and moments wishing for yesterday but if we do, we will never make a difference in this day. This is not an easy day and we don’t need to spend our living moments wishing for something that will never be. We don’t need to be spend precious time cursing the darkness. We need to take these blessed moments and shine a light with an anointed prayerful life and do what Jude in scripture tells us to do.
Jude 1:20-23 NKJV
20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;
23 But others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
If you still are having problems buying into what I am saying read to this.
We Didn't See it Coming
By Dr. Tim Elmore
GrowingLeaders.com
Something is happing in our culture. There is a subtle but very real shift taking place. If you work with adults, you may not see it because adults often get stuck in steady routines. They won’t reveal the shift. If you work with students you may not see it because you are so close to the change you can become numb to it.
Let me explain it this way. For almost twenty years, I lived in San Diego, CA. While there, I learned rapidly about earthquakes. They cause a shift in the earth beneath me. What I didn’t realize was that following most every earthquake, there is an aftershock. It’s a second shift that occurs as a result of the first. It can cause about as much damage as the original quake.
I believe our American culture experienced a cultural quake between 1985 and 2000. Today, we are experiencing the aftershock of that quake, which includes unintended consequences to our culture and society. Most never saw it coming.
Generation iY
Just take a look at the emerging generation of students today. While they are part of what sociologists call Generation Y (born in the ‘80s and 90s), the latter half of their population is different than their earlier counterparts. The young adults born in the 80s are part of an amazing population. During their adolescence:
1. Teen pregnancy was down.
2. Drug abuse was lower than their parents.
3. Crime had dropped measurably nationwide.
4. Civic engagement was at a record high.
5. The prospects for changing the world had never been better.
The wave of kids born since 1990 is unique. I call them Generation iY, due to the impact of the “I” world. They have grown up on-line and are products of iPods, iPhones, iChat, iTunes, iMovies, iPads—and for many of them—life is pretty much about “I.” They are much more self-absorbed than the older Y population. Empathy has dropped 40% in college students over the last decade, according to a University of Michigan study. In a longitudinal study by Dr. Jean Twenge, students today are 70% more narcissistic (and less altruistic) than when I was a college student. Ten years ago, 90% of high school students laid plans to attend college. Today, 30% don’t even graduate high school. The bottom line? They’re getting stuck.
So, what has happened? This shift actually has been slowly evolving throughout the 20th century. There has been a perfect storm of elements that have contributed to the state of our current culture that we, as church leaders, must understand if we’re to respond well. Allow me to provide a handful of reasons why we see what we do today
1. The Invention of High School
By the 1920s, students were pressed into age-graded groups and began to interact mostly with peers. The church followed suit with her programming. Social silos. The downward spiral of EQ began. We get lazy when connecting only with others like us.
2. Video Games
All the legitimate research shows the more time spent with a video game the poorer kids do in school. Male teens spend 13.5 hours a week in gaming; this delays their readiness for life. The adult world ambushes them. Stanford will no longer accept “gamers” into their med school.
3. Prescription Drugs
The U.S. represents 5% of the world’s population, but we consume 90% of the prescription drugs given to kids (ADHD, depression). Sadly, long after the meds are gone, the personalities of these kids have been altered. They’re artificially lethargic. Adults have become lazy when dealing with energetic kids.
4. Parenting Styles
Along with a new generation of kids, we have a new generation of parents today. They’ve made their kids their trophies—they hover, emulate, serve and erupt over them. They don’t mother, they smother. Kids have a difficult time growing up if their parents have not done so first.
5. Endocrine Disruptors
BPA and other chemicals in plastics have entered our human systems. BPA mimics estrogen, the female hormone. It wreaks havoc on student’s bodies and delays a clear sense of identity. It’s a gender bender. Testosterone levels are dropping in boys as 90% of our kids today have BPA inside them.
6. Teaching Methods
Students today are right-brained, upload kids forced to attend left-brained, download schools. The gap between adult and students styles causes a disconnect; adults are not teaching the way kids learn best. They’re passing but not learning. Most teachers are heroes, but the school systems are failing.
7. Niche Marketing
Decades ago, retailers and marketers picked up on youth as a target market. Success came as they preyed on adolescent insecurities and desires, creating hunger to look and stay young. Marketers are better at this than ever—prolonging adolescence. 60% of students move back home after college. (Fewer and fewer are wanting to grow up and parents are allowing it.)*
8. Media and Technology
We all love them, but television, YouTube, Google, Twitter, Facebook, iPhones and Second Life provide instant gratification and results. If it takes too long or isn’t fun students can delete, stop, block or log off. This is nothing like the real world. (But these are a greater teacher than most parents thus setting life action that cannot deal with a real world. This no doubt in turn leads to more addictions)*
* My added thoughts
Now do you believe this is not your grandmother’s church? If you would be honest with me you would agree there is no way it could be.
So, do we simply give up and not try? No! God would not have called us into this day if He didn’t believe we could be used by Him to change and make a difference in this type of world. The Lord has promised He would never leave us or forsake us. One of the conditions of His promises is the fact that we must stop wishing for the past and stop cursing the darkness. We need to ask God to give us the gift and spirit of the children of Issachar so that we know what we should do.
1 Chronicles 12:32 NKJV
Of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;
If we lack understanding of our times we need to be able to hear those who do and tell us what we ought to do, because this is not your grandmother’s church.
Now God just didn’t leave us here without direction. We are not left hung out to dry. Neither do we need to become an emerging church that is nothing more than a religious society of the world. We desperately need to understand our day and take the whole gospel to them just as the scripture says.
One thing we need to understand is the fact that the early church prospered and had revival in a very evil day. Most of the epistles or letters written to the church in the New Testament are to churches in actual cities. These letters address evangelizing and living the Christ-like life in the middle of a dark evil immoral days.
One example is the letter to the Ephesians’ church. This is the church at Ephesus.
A quick study of this city and you will find that the center of their worship was not some church on the corner or several different religions across the city. The center of this city’s worship was a goddess call Diana. Now this worship was not just centered in a temple. The worship to this god was found in any store where the owner was a follower of this cult. The worship of this god centered on morality. She was supposed to have been the off spring of a virgin goddess and lustful god. It is said that many immoral acts took place at the base of her statue. The church people going to the two large open markets, no doubt saw things that no doubt caused them to shield their children’s eyes. There was the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes which God said He hated. This was worship similar to that of the doctrine of Balaam and Jezebel which taught people to commit immoral acts in the name of religion. (Revelations 2:6, 14-15, 20)
The church at Ephesus was evangelizing their world in the middle of such sinfulness. You can read in Acts 19 of your New Testament Bible of a great revival that caused the new converts to burn their books and curious art. (Verse 18-19) No matter how sinful a world becomes, the grace and power of God is always greater.
So what do we do in our world?
Turn your Bible to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians’ church and read some of his instructions.
Chapter 5 is called a chapter of general exhortation. In this chapter alone are given many directions for one’s daily living. He tells the church to flee from immorality and other filthiness of the flesh.
Paul warns us not to be deceived and that the fruit of the Spirit which Jesus said must be in our life and remain, must be seen through the window of goodness, righteousness and truth. (Verse 10)
Paul tell us not to have friendships with people, so-call-Christians, who have barren works of shadiness but rather admonish them to change. (Verse 11) On and on Paul goes with instructions on how to live.
In verse 14-17 the apostle tells how we need to respond in our world.
Ephesians 5:14-21 NKJV
14 Therefore He says: "Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light."
15 See then that you walk circumspectly (diligently looking around where you are going), not as fools (unwise fools) but as wise,
16 Redeeming (buying up, rescuing) the time (occasion or season), because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise (stupid, ignorant, rash), but understand what the will of the Lord is.
18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
19 Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,
20 Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
21 Submitting to one another in the fear of God.
Yes, this world is a different place than it was 70 years ago. Yes, it doesn’t even feel the same at all. It has a lot of sinful practices and actions. Yes, some of which find themselves into the church at times and have to be dealt with. But this is not a reason to give up and stop living for God and making a difference in the world around us. It is also not a reason to just go with the flow and be like the world.
Jesus gave us the promise that in this world we will have trying times and trouble, but He said, “be of good cheer He has already conquered the world.” John 16:33
We need to ask God to give us the spirit of the children of Issachar so that we know what we should do.
We need to walk alert and diligently watching; don’t be foolish, wake up and realize what the will of God is in this day we live in.
Because this is not my grandmother’s church. It is a whole new day with a whole new set of challenges. If we want to be part of the Bride of Christ, the last day church, then we will have to handle those challenges and stop longing for yesterday. God has placed us in this day He has made; it is here we will have to give an account on how we handled it and grew what He placed in us as we live in this day. This is not my grandmother’s church.
