Laodicea: The Study Of The End Times Church Before The Return Of Jesus. Part I
When Did Christianity Become Safe For The Whole Family?
If you have never heard of the saying; “Safe for the whole family” you have probably never listened to a Christian radio station. Here in Colorado Springs, Colorado, we have a Christian radio station and it is their theme. I understand their point, you can turn on their station and everyone can listen without the fear of obscenities and profane remarks and jokes. Nevertheless, that saying has always gotten under my skin, not because of the radio station itself, but rather because I began to realize how we as Christians have taken this saying and incorporated it into our lives and our churches. We are living in the American Laodicean Church and although we want God, we also want our lives to be safe and sterile for the whole family.
History Lesson
If you open up your Bible starting in Genesis and read through Revelation, where do you ever see it was safe? Was it safe for righteous Abel to offer a perfect sacrifice, or Abraham to travel with his family into a hostile and dangerous world at the command of God? Was it safe for Moses to oppose the world’s superpower of his time; Egypt? Do you think it was safe for Samson? How about a shepherd boy named David who took a small country and turned it into a world power? Now think of all the prophets of the Old Testament who spoke the words of God to the kings and leader of Israel and were either killed or exiled for those very words they spoke. Elisha is a perfect example when he had to flee from the voice of Jezebel when he killed all her prophets.
In the New Testament, John the Baptist spoke of King Herod’s adulterous relationship and lost his head for standing for righteousness. Was it safe for Mary to appear as a harlot to her community when she became pregnant with Jesus and had no husband? How about this same family, when King Herod sent his army to kill all the males of Bethlehem 2 years old and younger in order to kill Jesus.
Were Jesus’ life and words an example for the church to play it safe for the whole family? Can you tell me one apostle who escaped persecution and or death for spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world? How about Stephen? Paul? Did they want to play it safe for the whole family?
Finally, how about the various churches of the New Testament? In Corinth, they used Christians as human waxed candles to light their gardens. In Ephesus, Timothy faced great abandonment in the Church due to the extreme persecution from Rome. How can we forget the Roman Coliseums where whole Christian families were used for the Roman games and became food to the lions? Now, where oh where America do we find it is safe for the whole family to follow Jesus?
How Do We Play It Safe?
We as a church in America, as a whole, have let this ideology slip in, and just like water constantly dripping on cement, it will slowly but surely erode away our very existence. Where we see in the Bible, God so loved the WORLD (not only us Christians), that He sent his only begotten Son to save the world by dying on the cross; in contradiction, “we so loved ourselves,” we separated ourselves into a sub-culture protected by ideologies and nice cozy Christian services, in order to protect us from the dark and evil world that surrounds us. We form so-called “seeker friendly churches” and then water-down the Gospel to fit into a politically correct world, so we do not offend anyone.
We see in the Bible that God sent Jesus into the world, whereas we the church have retreated from the world, and from all its darkness and sinfulness.
Then we take it a step further by refusing to speak the truth to a lost family member or to our parents when we know they are going to a religious church – that does not preach and teach salvation according to the Bible. It seems we would rather let them go to Hell instead of offending them! Then to top it off, we rationalize to ourselves; “We all get to go to heaven if we go to church (regardless what they believe) and if we love Jesus!”
In Contrast
When Jesus talked to His believers, he asked this question:
Matthew 5:15; Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. (NKJV)
The reference was to believers, who are supposed to be a light into darkness. We today in the church, do exactly what Jesus was saying not to do: “we put our lights under a basket!” How do we do that? We do that by not speaking out, tactfully through the Holy Spirit’s guidance but at the same time truthfully – Heaven forbid we offend someone! We go to church every Sunday, have a wonderful so-called; “spirit-filled service” and then go out and live our lives without making an impact in our world and in most cases, not even our own families!
I have seen statistics that say a large number of teens who have been raised in the church, go to college then drop their church upbringing within 2 years (notice I did not say their faith, they probably never possessed it, to begin with). Think about that, we spend 17-18 years raising a child in a church and then an atheist, worldview college professor can turn them in less than two years!
Why? I believe it is because although we took them to church and taught them nice bible stories, we never introduced them to the REAL AND LOVING GOD! We were too busy teaching theology and Churchianity (traditions and denominational teachings) and not pointing them to an intimate real relationship with God. We only touched on the polite, easy, and surface teachings without giving them any meat. So many of us are dedicated to our denomination and our theologies that we have never considered having an intimate, deep relationship with God! For so many, what we call faith is no more than an”I hope so or I hope God really exists theology.”
Another one of my favorites is how we offer eternal life or salvation; “please come down the aisle and say the prayer” and then one day off in the future, we can get to go to heaven. In the meantime, go to church, read your bible and get your life straight, then wait to die or for Jesus to come back, whichever happens first. Rather, the Bible teaches that eternal life is a one on one intimate relationship with God and his Son Jesus; not that one day we go to heaven.
John 17:3: And this is eternal life, that they may know You (a deep, intimate relationship), the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (parentheses mine)
Paul also wrote in Philippians:
I know this is going to sound strange, but I love it when we as a family have a major financial crisis or just a plain crisis. When this happens I tell my kids to watch how God meets us and solves this particular problem. Then they personally, for themselves, get the opportunity to see how God comes in and solves our problems. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen God make the impossible possible. What is better than this? Seeing my own children watching God in action!
I believe many in the church today only have a mental assent to God, we have head knowledge of God but we do not know God as we do other people in our lives. Yes, we know many great facts and have many ideas about God, and yes we can quote Bible scriptures one after another but do we know Him? Do we hear His voice speaking to us and directing us? Do we feel His great love for us and His great desire to have a relationship with Him? I believe that many in the church believe God is off in the distance, somewhere in the cosmos running the vast universe. Many do not believe that God is really interested in our particular lives, whereas the Bible says he even knows the number of hairs on our head.
You might be thinking what makes me an expert on this? I spent my earliest childhood in a religious school and church until I was in the 9th grade. I was in church all the time the doors were open. I was also the head altar boy, I learned all the catechisms, all the proper prayers to pray and all the head knowledge I could attain.
However, there was one major problem! I never met God! It was nothing more than a religious exercise I did. Where was God in this? I had no proof, I just had a hope or great wonderment if He really existed. Did He really care or was I just off on my own in this universe? Did I just hope one day, that if I lived this life good enough to go to Heaven I would meet Him?
I even believe those who claim to be “born-again and go to church every week, live in this very mindset. It becomes nothing more than a lifestyle, a way of life – going to church and living the Christian life. So many in Church live with only a hope that God exists but, in reality, they have no real clue or proof if God really exists!
As for me, after I left my religious church I spent years in street gangs, alcoholism, and drug addiction, only to become a hardcore atheist. I had all the head knowledge but I had resigned God to be nothing more than an adult “Santa Clause,” to keep us adults in line. You know the song ” He knows when you’re sleeping and he knows when you’re awake, you better be good for goodness sake….. OR YOU’RE GOING TO HELL! This is no joke, this was my belief as an atheist. God was nothing more than something to keep us adults somewhat in line so we would not destroy this planet.
I share this to point out that on my way back to recovery I had to find out without a doubt that God really exists! I had to know. Was God some fairy tale, some legend, just an adult Santa Claus or did Jesus really exist! Then it happened. On June 10, 1985, after 6 months of a hard bout of sobriety and praying and seeking God, Jesus appeared to me and spoke to me and removed my addiction from my life.
So how do I know God and Jesus exist? I have met Jesus personally and for the past 30 years I, like Paul have made it my priority to “know Him.” I have listened to and have heard His voice every day of my sober life. He has directed my life when I was following him closely or even when I wandered away from Him. He has never left me or forsaken me. Jesus is as real to me, as my wife, my children or any other relationship that I have. He is closer to me than a brother. He is no longer someone I believe or hope in. I can honestly say He is someone I know and have a very personal relationship with. He is my reality!
So you might be asking, what is your point on the subject of “safe for the whole family and living a Laodicean lifestyle? This is my point; if God is nothing more than some church activity and a Christian lifestyle that we are living, then Yes indeed, you might want to play it safe for the whole family!
You might want to ask; Was playing it safe for the Old Testament Saints, the Apostles and the first century Christians who gladly gave their lives to Jesus and boldly proclaimed the risen Christ in their lives and in their deaths? NO! Why did they not play it safe? Why did they not devise a subculture for themselves instead of facing a harsh barbarian world and the fierce persecution of the Romans? The reason was that Jesus Christ was a reality to them! Jesus was real – as real as you and me.
They understood that the Gospel was so much bigger than saving their own lives. They knew what was at stake, and to them, God was in this as much as they were. He was real and someone who directed them. God gave them courage and strength to face the Romans, and face all that the devil would throw at them. They understood that to gain Christ and the next world was so much more important than saving their own skins and even their own children. We can only do that and be as bold as they were when Jesus stops being a far off deity or just some belief we live for!
We can only do that and be as bold as they were when Jesus stops being a religion, a lifestyle or a subculture. Jesus needs to become an intimate being in our lives. We must have a one on one relationship with Jesus, our Savior, friend and the creator of the universe. When He is as real as any other person in your life, then He has the right to speak to you and rule over your life as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is the first step to ending a cold Laodicean lifestyle, the one written about in the Book of Revelation!
The Lukewarm Church
Revelation 3 14-16: “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
He gives us the answer at the end of the chapter to our problem just as I did earlier……..
Revelation 3:19-20 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone HEARS MY VOICE and OPENS the door, I will come into him and dine with him, and he with Me.
I know this last verse is often used to reach the lost but here Jesus is NOT talking to the lost, He is talking to His Church. Those who have received Him as Lord and Savior but who have turned lukewarm He will spit out! They have let this world become more important to them than Jesus. They have learned how to go through the motions of Christianity, they know all the right theology but they are not listening to his voice, his direction for their lives. They are not listening to Him knocking on our hearts to turn back to Him and open that door. They have let the world gain more importance to them. They have allowed the deceitfulness of this world to blind them to reality. They want what this world has to offer while parading as super-spiritual Christians who have it all together. I will talk about that in the next blog as we continue the Church of America, the Laodicean Church of the end times.
Written by Dennis Stauffer
Edited by Gary Green (Omega House)
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