The gospels tell us that zeal for His Father's house consumed Jesus (John 2:17). What consumes us? Of the people that gather in our churches every Sunday, how many of us are consumed with zeal for God's house? How different would our world look if we were consumed with zeal for God's house? What brought about this statement about Jesus? He walked in and was disgusted and enraged with what the temple had become, "a den of robbers (Matthew 19:46)."
Basically, the temple had become a market place. The religious leaders had turned the sacrifice system that God had created to atone for their sins (until He sent His perfect Lamb) into a way to turn a profit. I can't think of anything we do in church purely to turn a profit, but there are many things we do to benefit ourselves instead of bringing glory to God. Our worship services, our activities, even our "outreach" projects many times are more focused on making us feel good or stroking our consciences than truly worshiping.
Scripture teaches over and over that true worship is sacrifice. What do we sacrifice to worship today? An hour of our time? A portion of our sanity trying to get to church on time? Some of our money- if there is any leftover? There are people all over the world that literally sacrifice their lives to worship God. They know what zeal is. They are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to get to church. They will suffer extreme situations to be able to worship and fellowship with other believers. We get antsy if the service is too long or the temperature is not just right.
God has humbled me over the past few days that I am zealous about many things, but God's house has taken a back seat to many of those things far too often. I have several friends that are involved in church plants in some form or another. I have often looked on their situations with jealousy because they seem to be in places that the Spirit of God is moving in mighty ways, and they are seeing Him change people's lives constantly. I have been called to a traditional church, and many times I have wondered why when it seems like everything for my generation is leaning towards church plants. This week, I got my answer. Jesus still walks among the lampstands. The churches that have been established for decades-no matter how stagnant- Jesus is still zealous about them. How exciting would it be to be in a church where the light is just about to be extinguished, maybe Jesus is on His way over to remove the lampstand (Revelation 2:5), then all of the sudden that little flame starts to grow. Jesus stokes the fire a little. Then it grows more and more, and the next thing you know that fire is roaring and the lampstand is a beacon once again! Full scale revival is possible in our traditional churches!
Here is the issue-for something to be revived, it has to die. We have to die to ourselves if we want God to breathe the breath of life into our churches again. We cannot let our opinions and desires run the church anymore. We have to give God the reigns back. We have to be people and churches that God wants to display his name. God will not bless a church that does not bless Him. We have to be willing to love people the way Jesus did. We have to see ourselves and others the way Jesus does. We need to understand that there are no degrees of good and bad...acceptable and unacceptable. There are two situations. Sinners in sin and sinners redeemed. Jesus came to save the sinners in sin and He wants to change the redeemed. What would Jesus's congregation look like? It would not be filled with the pretty church people. It would be the poor, the outcast, the diseased, the possessed, the sinners, and every now and then a wealthy, clean religious person. If we loved people the way Jesus did, wouldn't our congregations look similar?
My prayer is that I will see people through Jesus's eyes. I want to be overwhelmed with compassion and love. I want to be consumed with zeal for my Father's house. I want to be part of a revival in my church! Jesus, stoke the fire!
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