Dealing With the Erosion of Shallowness in Our Church
One of my favorite things to do with really young kids is to ask them how old they are. The answers are proudly shouted out: “I AM FIVE YEARS OLD!” Then I ask a follow-up question. “Do you drive a car yet? Do you have a driver’s license?” They seem a little confused and disoriented at that point, because they are trying to find a logical answer for why they don’t drive a car yet.
We would never ask a 5-year-old to drive a car. We would never ask a toddler to run a business. We would never ask a baby to lead the Church—the Ekklesia—the chosen, called-out Body of Christ in a complicated world.
This past Sunday, January 9, I introduced the third wall of Building His Church. We call it the Ekklesia Wall. We, the members of His Church, are called the Ekklesia because we are “called out” for special and holy purposes in a very unholy world.
I encourage you, if you did participate in the teaching, to go back and listen to the sermon from January 9.
Dealing the importance of the Church Body, as commissioned by Christ, forces us to take a hard look at how the Church (Ekklesia) can erode into insignificance. This is the challenge ahead. I gave you five significant issues that are very challenging and disturbing, that can destroy us if we are not careful:
- Shallowness – letting immaturity lead the way
- Unholy behavior
- Heresy – distorting the core truth of God’s Word
- Persecution
- Lack of urgency (apathy)
This coming Sunday, January 16, I will be diving into the deep end of the shallowness we fight. In every church (Ekklesia) you will find that there is a vast difference in the maturity level of people. We know there is a difference between how a preschooler behaves versus how a 30-year-old is expected to behave. But we tend to think of it mostly as an age issue. It is not about age. It is about maturity—spiritual maturity.
In order to prepare for this Sunday’s teaching, I am asking you to read ahead.
- Acts 18: The story of the founding of the Church in Corinth
- 1 Corinthians 1-3
Bible Reading Challenge
For the next 2 ½ months, read…
- Acts 1-20
While reading Acts, at a corresponding pace read chapter by chapter through…
- 1 Corinthians
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Philippians
- Colossians
- 1 Peter
We are going to tackle the issue of shallowness and immaturity by looking hard at the instruction given to the Ekklesia at Corinth—and then looking at ourselves.
See you Sunday morning.
