In August 1964, my family set off on a life-changing
journey. There were nine of us then, and we piled ourselves into the back of a
beat up old station wagon the particular flavor of which I don’t remember, and
off we went. Mom and Dad in the front seat, two or three of us in the middle
row, and the rest of us in the back, or as we of we future Star Trek fans like
to think of it, the cargo bay. I was the eldest of seven children back then at
the ripe old age of 11, and the youngest of us was still in diapers. With all
our worldly goods stuffed into the backend of a U-Haul trailer we had rented
and precariously attached to a temporary tow hitch on the back of our station
wagon, we set we set off southerly bound to a world of unlimited enchantment or
so we thought as we headed to Miami, Florida: a place of sunshine, beaches, and
a never-ending vacation playground. And of course the never another ending
chorus of “Are we there yet?” It was
not the adventure we had anticipated.
The 1,264 mile journey was long, hot, tiresome, and boring.
We were six children and a baby crammed into the back of the station wagon
meant to carry six children and a baby for short distances, but certainly not 1,264
miles from north-central New Jersey to Miami; driveway to driveway. It was just
as hard on our parents to be sure. We weren’t particularly wealthy but as we
passed through certain areas of the southern states in the early 60s I don’t
believe I’ve ever seen such vestiges of abject poverty in my life nor since.
Even then I had a sense that we were wealthy by comparison to what I’d seen.
And yet for that entire drive crammed into the back of that tight little space
cramped and uncomfortable bickering sweating sleeping by the side of the road
because we couldn’t afford motel accommodations and always the incessant are we there yet, somehow, Spanish moss
and half a gazillion South of the Border signs later, by the grace of God we
arrived, my Father’s left arm several shades darker than the rest of him.
We did eventually arrive in Miami. I don’t think the trip
took as long as it seemed like it took at the time. And to be honest Miami was
a letdown. It turns out Miami is not wall-to-wall acre to acre beaches and sand,
pretty girls in bikinis sunup to sundown beach parties. Well, let me rephrase
that. MY Miami wasn’t any of that. There were beaches and sand and girls with
bikinis and parties and all of that to be sure – with some small caveats. It was 10 miles to the beach as the crow
flies from the first place we lived, and I was the twelve-year-old new kid
on-the-block with few to no friends and no money. And did I mention that I was
twelve? From Joisey? With that Joisey accent that announced my hoodlum arrival
six blocks before my arrival? And, I was twelve in this huge teeming metropolis
that could have hiccupped and swallowed the New Jersey I knew?
Our first real house in Carol-Locka wasn’t much better. I
was still twelve, but the ocean, sand, beaches and bikini-clad girls my now
beginning to rage hormones were really starting to appreciate was still eight
miles away, and Carol-Locka or Opa-City in those days was about six bus
transfers , half a day and about a buck away.
And I still sounded Joisey and still hadn’t exactly made anyone’s
all-star friend roster, but this is still back to the future and I’m still
asking Are We There Yet?
I initially really experienced very little of Miami. I’m
backtracking here to say that for all of sixth grade and probably the first six
weeks of seventh grade, we rented an apartment belonging to my step-grandfather
in Miami proper. About six weeks into seventh grade we moved into our own home
which was up in northwest Dade County in a suburb called Opa-Locka. They call
it Carol City now but back then it was Opa-Locka, or Opa-City or Carol-Locka or
whatever, and it was there that I would finish junior high school, high school,
and my first two years of college. The home in Carol-Locka, would also be where
the last of my seven brothers and sisters would be born, rounding us out at
five boys and three girls ranging from newborn to 17. Oh yeah – it was six
blocks from where the eventual perfect season Miami Dolphins had their training
camp, and Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula would let kids watch the practice
sessions.
Now this is a study I’m calling the World the Flesh and the
Church and this particular portion of it is called, as you have already seen Are We There Yet. I have no doubt you’re
wondering what this small rehashing of my personal history has to do with the
world, the flesh, the church or the Bible or any of that. Let me bring it into
perspective for you shall we?
So you look at your life, you look at your church, you ask ARE WE THERE YET?
It’s far too broad a question, don’t you think? There are
way too many ‘journeys to there’ to honestly answer yes or no to the question
of arrival without narrowing the field a bit, wouldn’t you say? There’s an old
seminary joke that says put ten Baptist (I’ll pick on them because that’s my
background) in a room and ask them one doctrinal question, and you get at least
eleven answers. Even if you’re not a Baptist, if you’re honest with
yourself, at one time or another you have dealt with questions like:
How big a church do we want to be?
What kind of services will we have – modern or contemporary?
Who is our target demographic?
Are we Evangelistic or Discipleship oriented?
What version of the Bible are we going to use?
What is our stand on membership?
What is our stand on choosing leaders?
How do we feel about women in leadership?
What about Missions?
What about tithing?
You see what I’m saying? Any one of those topics can be
discussed ad nauseum before you ever file a church charter, and then spend the
rest of your church life until Jesus returns re-examining any or all of them
and asking yourself, “Are We There Yet?”
This is the place where as a church, I think you are
Scripturally obligated to go to the source, because really – even though that
isn’t on your list up there, if your church isn’t based more on the Bible than
the bi-laws of a denominational institution, you’re doomed to both succeed and
fail before you even start! I’m here to tell you, if you are starting out as a
new denominational church plant or you’re just a handful of believers fed up
with what you were seeing going on around you and feeling lead of the Holy
Spirit to begin a new work in your community: the minute old traditions begin
to supplant the Word of God as the basis for your worship practices, you might
as well fold up the tent and go home! I’m telling you on the Authority of the Word
of God, if it’s not in the Book – don’t do it!
God’s Word is our ONLY and FINAL source of authority. Justify traditions
all you want, but if you can’t support them with Scripture in context that is
supported by other scripture in context, DON’T DO IT!
I began this study with the premise that the Church – the BIBLICAL
Church is not a building, a denomination, or any kind of man-made creation or
organization. Our premise is that the Biblical church is the Bride of Christ –
every Christ follower since the first century church began in Acts. It’s the
PEOPLE. The redeemed, blood bought, washed in the blood of the Lamb, whose sins
are paid for once and for eternity by the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, God, the second person of the triune Godhead who took on flesh,
lived a sinless life, gave His life as the only perfect sacrifice for sin at
Calvary, that those who responded to the
call of the Holy Spirit, came to the Cross, confessed their sin, repented of
their sinful life and accepted God’s mercy and grace in His gift of salvation –
this is the Church universal. That this church must obey the very first things
God called us to do. Things in the Book. Not a book of how, but a book of what.
You know what that command was. We humans are addicted to giving things names
and acronyms. We called this The Great Commission. Now I have friends who
sincerely believe Paul preached from the King James Bible of 1611 – tricky given
that most scholars accept that Paul was martyred in about AD 65-70. That wee
jewel notwithstanding, I personally prefer the New KJV of 1975 or thereabouts
and have learned that when most KJV Only apologists speak of the 3,500 ‘errors’
in the NKJV or 1984 NIV what they are really saying is differences from the
1768 KJV which is what the 1611 KJV actually is, but that faithful reader, is
another argument for another day. As this is my sandbox, we’ll use my sand,
then, shall we?
In Matthew, Chapter 28, verses 18-20 of the New King James
Version flavor, Matthew the former tax collector records:
And Jesus came and spoke to
them, saying, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo,
I am with you always, even to
the end of the age.” Amen.
In these verses Jesus gives three commands to the eleven
Apostles who would become the leaders of the first century church. A much
shorter list than I gave you earlier. He is going to refine it in Acts before
He ascends into Heaven and the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost, but for now,
here is the ‘GO’ list for your first set of “Are
We There Yet?” questions:
1. Evangelize (πορευθεντες - poreuomai μαθητευσατε - mathēteuō) Take a walk and
teach whoever you meet to become as you are
2. Baptize (βαπτίζω - baptizō) fully immerse
3.
Teach (διδάσκω
- didaskō) pass
on by word of mouth as I taught you
Pentecost adds the following:
4. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to
the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
So there you have it. Evangelize, baptize, disciple, your home
town, your state, your country, the whole world. You have your list. You know
what to do, where to do it, and as a bonus for those of you playing the Are We
There Yet Home version of the game, Jesus even includes at no extra charge, HOW
to do it! Did you catch that in the instructions? No matter what translation
you read, it still comes out something like this: JUST LIKE I SHOWED YOU WHILE I
WAS WITH YOU! I HOPE YOU BOYS TOOK GOOD NOTES!
So now it’s my turn to ask. Are we there yet? We’ve had the
instruction packet with the what, where and how for almost two thousand years. The
signs of the times are everywhere. Jesus is coming again soon! Are you ready for
His return? ARE WE THERE YET?
No, not yet, but that could all change – in a moment – in
the twinkling on an eye! That’s the first thing. What else? You. Personally. Be
changed! Paul also wrote “Therefore, if anyone is
in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. (2 Corinthians 5:17) Pay attention to this, because Paul is saying,
at the behest of Jesus Himself Who inspired ALL Scripture, if you haven’t
changed, you are not IN CHRIST! If you are completely content with the things
of the world, the ways of the world, the behavior of the world, the clothing
and music of the world, the entertainment of the world (and no, it isn’t all
bad), but if nothing about any of it has changed in you, and you keep asking
yourself if we’re there yet! Not only no, but my friend, the clock is running
down! This world is running out of time! I think perhaps He would say
“Not everyone who says
to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the
will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in
that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in
Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare
to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
The other lesson to learn from Jesus in reference to “GO and
WWJD? Is best seen by reading the Gospels. I recommend John. Then the Book of
Acts to see the Apostles interpretation of GO. You see, you didn’t see Jesus or
the Apostles pitching tents, passing out flyers and saying “YA’LL COME”. By
example, Jesus and the Apostles went to wherever there were people to be found
and preached the Gospel to them there! They reserved “church” as we have
previously defined it, namely, the body of Christ; the fellowship of believers;
the coming together of believers for worship, edification, meeting the social
needs of the fellowship, communion, baptism, teaching, training their own
replacement leadership and missionaries. Evangelism was primarily outside the
gathered fellowship. Evangelism was GO! As far as I can tell, my friends, That’s What Jesus Would Do.
And another thing Jesus would do – DID DO! Jesus would
invite you to become a part of this church He gave His life for! In John 3:16
Jesus said “For God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son that
whosoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life” and
in John 14:6 Jesus said “I am the way I am the truth, I am the life. No man
can come to the father but by me.” And in 1st John 1:9, John wrote “If we
confess our sin he meaning Jesus he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.
In other places the Bible tells us that it is not God’s will
that anyone should perish. You see, Jesus came to this earth to live a sinless
life, to die on the cross. To be raised from the dead on the third day as proof
the Father accepted His sacrifice to be the substitutionary sacrificial of
atonement – the final payment for our sins - so we wouldn’t have to spend
eternity in hell.
If you want to take part in the discussion about the church,
doesn’t it make sense to you to be a part of the church? I hope you noticed
that I haven’t been singling out denominations in this discussion. They don’t
really matter. While the church is made up of members of different religious
denominations, the church isn’t any particular religious denomination. In fact
Christianity is not even a religion at all!
To be a Christian means to be a Christ follower! Not a
member of man-made religion.
We’re going to be talking about the church over the course
of the next several blogs. I’d like to invite you to be a part of that
discussion, by being a part of His church. You might ask, “How do I do that?”
It’s simple. Invite Jesus into your heart. You see the Scripture that I posted
a few paragraphs above? You do it by first confessing your sins to Jesus. Then
by repenting of your sins. That word repenting means turning completely
around and going in the opposite direction from the one you’re headed now.
Changing your mind about sin is another way to put it. Then ask Jesus Christ to
come and live in your heart and forgive you of your sins and be your Savior and
Lord
You can do that by saying a simple prayer like this one. In
your own words, say something like this: Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner.
I confess my sins before you today. I repent of my sins and I ask you to come
into my heart and forgive me of my sins. Be my Lord and my Savior and I claim
your promise that you will forgive my sins; you will live in my life and I will
live with you in Heaven forever! In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
That’s all there is to it. It really is that simple. But
it’s life-changing. And It’s What Jesus
Wants You To Do! Are We There Yet?
