Sunday, January 23, 2011

SEEN THIS CHURCH?

by Sam J Christopher


Maybe it’s the unique triangular shape of the altar in my church, but I still can’t get over 2nd May 2010. That was the watershed Sunday when I had the misfortune of witnessing ordained clergymen in full uniform, jovially performing a blasphemous ritual of taking the Name of the Almighty God in vain, (with the symbols of the precious Blood and Flesh of His Annointed One just a few feet away).
Actually for the previous several years, I had been having this nagging feeling that someone was up to no good and was dragging the church down a familiar slippery slope. Yet, I was totally unprepared for this display of blatant tom-foolery at the altar - a newly designed "christian" greeting where they shook hands, high-fived, fluttered fingers at each other as they declared, "Father-Son-Hooooooooly Spirit" and ended with a big grin! As I turned my eyes away in shock and fury, the entire congregation actually stood up to parrot the two Methodist pastors in an abominable, noisy, unbelievable mockery of the Trinity right in the sanctuary on a Sunday morning! The stomach-turning thought that flashed across my mind was,

“ICHABOD! Your glory has departed from Your house”.

The only reason that the two men-of-the-cloth did not drop dead right then and there, was not because of a merciful and forgiving God, but rather that the Sovereign Almighty God has long ago withdrawn His Holy presence from His sanctuary. Had His presence been there at the altar like in the old days, we would have dragged 2 corpses out of the altar by way of ropes tied to their ankles. Such is the Absolute Holiness and Awesome Sovereignty of the Almighty On:
-whose voice the children of Israel dared not hear with their ears,
-whose name His chosen people dare not mention or even print till today, 
-whose presence was physically and visibly embodied in the 'Holy of Holies' in the temple. 

The last time I checked, the great I AM has not changed one bit between Genesis to Revelation.

Anyway, since that disgusting day, I have been on the lookout for a church. A church that has some semblance of sanity. A church that must surely exist somewhere. A church:

- where the worship begins with a litany of scriptural reminders about the Majesty and Authority of the Almighty God and also His gracious mercies in my life in the preceding week, instead of being mercilessly assaulted by a pathetic copycat showtime called “praise and worship”,  put together by couldn’t-care-less musical wannabes and babbling aerobics intructors

- where the one and ONLY focus is the humble, heart-felt adoration of the Only True God who has saved us through Jesus the Christ whom He sent, instead of being bombarded with unscriptural lyrics, jarring music, clapping, dancing, amplified gibberish and what-not

- where they sing songs that overwhelm me with Scriptural truths regarding the Eternal Sovereign God, my Creator, instead of being forced to stand for half an hour listening to made-in-India “dapangkootthu” with blasphemous lyrics that mock the Majesty of my King.

- where the sermon consistently unfolds a jaw-dropping treasure-chest of Scriptural revelations about the Awesome Glory, Uncompromising Holiness and Absolute Sovereignty of the Only True God and the soon coming of His Annointed One as the triumphant, uncompromising Ruler of all creation, instead of ramblings on feel-good strategies borrowed from other religions, social movements and political leaders

- where God-ordained Scripture is the basis and focus of all teaching, rituals and activities, instead of adopting the antics of glory-seekers and introducing the methodology of pagans into the pulpit

- where the pastor is utterly CONSUMED by his total commitment  and passion towards his calling i.e. to shepherd, feed and guard his Master’s flock, that he has little left for anything else, instead of abandoning the sheep to their own devices, while he apple-polishes his way through white-collar musical chairs

- where the leaders, teachers and counselors labour under the HEAVY responsibility of nurturing the congregation (young and old) towards upholding the gospel, instead of spending their resources on bending the Church to blend into the mould of the godless world at the expense of Scriptural truth

- where “me-and-my-house” is the cornerstone of God’s Kingdom, instead of hijacking my children to a separate worship in a separate room, as if the plain truth about the One True God whom I and my house serve, is adult-rated or unfathomable to children below 12yrs.

- where my children, from the earliest age, will be instructed in remembering to FEAR and LOVE their Almighty Creator FIRST AND FOREMOST in their life, instead of being mollycoddled in their growing years into having a feel-good time called “children’s church”

- where they teach to bring only the BEST OF EVERYTHING into the presence of a Holy God who expects nothing less than ALL of the BEST, rather than annoy everyone with lackadaisical preparations, messy music, sloppy song-leading, irritating PA system etc

- where, drums, guitars, pianos and tambourines miraculously transform into spiritual extensions of musicians, who are themselves living MUSICAL instruments offering holy reverent worship to an Uncompromising God (who is accustomed to reigning in the midst of uninterrupted glorious celestial worship), instead of just being pieces of store-bought equipment that are there to be whacked silly just to justify its existence.

- where Holy Communion is preceded by a deadly serious reminder from the pulpit, that to partake unworthily invites the damnation of God, instead of repetitive calls for traffic control - to come in single file etc

- where the bread and wine - reminders of the terrible price paid for my redemption by the beloved Redeemer sent by God - is so Sanctified, that it is only given to those who have publicly professed to have being born again and who have personally surrendered to the gracious work of salvation by Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, instead of distributing it like so much tea-and-biscuit, to anyone who has attained 12years of age.

- where at the end of the worship, I walk out of the sanctuary not only trembling in praise at the Awesomeness of a Holy God, the Great I AM, but also return home bubbling with overflowing joy and gratitude regarding His unfailing mercy on undeserving old me, instead of coming away disappointed and disgusted with shallow, self-serving, scripture-twisting, world-pleasing, time-wasting drivel.

If you know of such a church, do let me know – I’ll join you there. Or am I expecting too much?

"If a church were to reject thieves, it would be empty; if it were to be silent on thievery, it would be a den of thieves."
"If a church preaches against sinners, it ceases to be a church; if it does not preach against sin, it would be preaching to walls."
-Unknown quotes



1 comment:

desert rose said...

"Blessed are the disillusioned, for they will see God as He really is." - Chip Brogden