CLEANING HOUSE

"As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." - Revelation 3:19

Most churches in America are not growing.  Whether believers known it or not, the American church is at a point of crisis.  The church has become irrelevant to most people. 

What is the problem with the American church?  Is there any hope for the church?  What can be done to turn the tide of spiritual apathy that has swept across our land?

I believe that several problems plague the American church.  First, there is the problem of distractions.  Quite honestly, most people are distracted by television, the internet, and pleasurable activities.  The church cannot compete with these things for a basic reason: The church has lost its spiritual power.  When people visit a church, they are no longer impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

The second problem is the dilemma of doctrine.  Some churches foolishly brag that they don't teach doctrine.  A church without solid Biblical teaching is not a church at all.  Possibly the only thing worse than a church that fails to teach doctrine is a church that proclaims false doctrine.  God will NEVER bless a church that fails to proclaim the whole counsel of God. 

The final problem is the issue of dirt.  That's right.  The American church has permitted anything and everything to be permitted.  Despite the Biblical mandate to enact church discipline when sin abounds, most churches refuse to act.  Instead, "unity" and "love" are words they use to excuse or cover-up sin in their midst.

I believe that the American church needs genuine revival today.  Sure, we need to get back to Biblical evangelism, expositional preaching and practicing Christian love.  Yet I am convinced that the first step of revival is one that we don't want to practice.  We are required to repent.

Repentance includes cleaning house.  Instead of tolerating false doctrine, we need to publicly renounce heresy.  Instead of emphasizing programs and musical styles, we need to emphasize prayer.  Instead of seeking to impress a dying world, we need to impact the dying world with the Gospel.

We need to clean house in three areas:

1.  CORRUPTION.  First of all, the church needs to be cleansed of corruption.  During His earthly ministry, Jesus took a whip and cleansed the temple.  Temples need to be cleansed again.  Some use the church as a moneymaking scheme.  Have you have noticed how that "prosperity preachers" are secret millionaires while their supporters are struggling financially?  The American church has made an idol out of money and materialism.  Some preachers are nothing more than clean-cut, clear spoken, ordained crooks.

2.  CARNALITY.  Secondly, the church needs to be cleansed of carnality.  By and large, the American church has lost its respectability by permitting sinful actions and attitudes to continue.  Why is the divorce rate among Christians so high?  Why is sexual sin so prominent in churches?  Why is pride permissible in church?  As a pastor, I am troubled greatly when someone says, "I know what the Bible says but..." While we claim to be Bible believing Christians, by and large, most are not Bible practicing Christians.

3.  COMPROMISE.  Finally, the church needs to be cleansed of compromise.  We have compromised with the world.  Instead of the church impacting the world, the world is impacting the church.  We are using business methods, marketing and worldly strategies to run the church.  Whatever happened to letting God run the church?  Why do we need to plan our churches around a church-growth book?  Whatever happened to simply following the Scriptures?  Our primary goal is to exalt God, not impress people.  How to do we exalt God?  Our churches exalt God when we worship Him lovingly, obey Him consistently and make the Gospel known in the neighborhood, region and the world.

Sometimes the best revival is a backdoor revival.  When God cleans house, it may hurt statistically, but it paves the way for Him to work anew. 

Repentance includes house cleaning.  First of all, there is personal house cleaning, known as personal repentance.  Then there is corporate house cleaning, when a church repents.  Both are desperately needed today.

By His grace,

Nathan