URGENT: Is THE CHURCH spiritually awake or spiritually asleep?

 


Before we dive into this question, who do you consider to be THE CHURCH? When you think of the church, do you think of a celebrity church, the building, the pastor of the church, or the people within the church? What do most people you know consider to be the church? What makes a building a church, in other words, what makes a church a church?

Do you realize that the church is YOU? The building you enter for worship is just a building. It becomes a church when you gather with other believers to praise and worship God. So, if the church is you, then going to a building to worship in whatever given day should be an EXTENSION of what YOUR WORSHIP is in your private time with God. Some people might think that worship & reading of the Word only happens while you’re in “church” but it’s much more than that. Your worship to God comes from your personal time with Him. Remember, you sing praises to God for what He’s done and you worship Him for who He is. But how can you worship someone you do not have a relationship with or someone you do not know? How do you get to know someone in general? You get to know them by spending time with them. Spending time with God does not necessarily mean you have a regimented way, but it should include the fundamentals of reading the Word, talking & listening to Him, praising & worshiping Him, and walking in obedience to Him.

Consider the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman when Jesus revealed to her what true worship is. Jesus told her that God seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and in Truth because God is Spirit (John 4:1-26). God is not looking for a building or specific place, He is not keeping track of how many times you read the Bible, pray, or how many times you go to “church.” He is looking for hearts to be changed with an encounter with his Son, Jesus. He is looking for those who are willing to be led by His Holy Spirit and the Truth of His Word. He is looking to have a close fellowship with you. Having a personal and close fellowship with Jesus helps you stay spiritually tuned to everything.

This is a hard realization to swallow, but most of the “church” is walking around spiritually unaware, asleep, and dare I say, spiritually dead. Just going to “church” does not make one spiritually awake. Having an encounter with Jesus and being in continuous fellowship with Him awakens us! I think most of us don’t realize that there are believers walking around with the mindset that they can only worship, pray, or read the Word “in church.” The other mindset could be that only the Pastor can be closer to God than I. Let me just dismantle that thinking and point out this way of thinking is the same mindset the religious leaders had in Jesus’ day. Because of that legalistic thinking, they missed John the Baptist & Jesus. They were seen as the ones more in tune with God because they studied the scriptures & said big prayers, but in reality, they were spiritually asleep! Prophecy was being fulfilled right in front of their eyes, but they completely missed it! Why? They were spiritually asleep.

So, Is THE CHURCH spiritually awake or spiritually asleep? I’ll answer it like this, I think there are moments where all of us fall short. There are times that we become overwhelmed by the issues of life, and we take our eyes off Jesus. There are times where we’ve felt like our passion for Him has burned out and it’s hard to find our spark again. And there are times where we regressed into our old, before Christ habits. Whatever it may be for you or me, there’s no judgment or condemnation here whatsoever! It is my desire to not only see others but for me to remain in close fellowship with Him. I have been praying to develop true worship to Him in my daily life and that is my prayer for you, my friends.

Homework: Read Romans 3:23-26, Romans 8:1-17, & Romans 12

 

Warm Wishes,

Carline

 

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