In Matthew 14:26-31, we find Peter taking a risk of getting out of the boat to walk on the water to go to Jesus. It was a bold move, and for a while he succeeded, but in the end his fear of the risk was too great. The late Dr. Henry Blackaby said, “Find out what God is doing, and then go join Him.” This was his signature tagline for his series, ‘Experiencing God.’ My first experience with the late Keith Green’s music was back in the 1970s, and a song he sang about the Church being asleep in the light. Keith was truly a prophet for his time, reminding the Church that Sunday Church was not the end of their journey. National columnist and radio broadcaster, Dennis Prager, said, “I don’t want to be loved by everyone, because you spend your time pleasing everyone and you never take a stand against anything.” He went on to illustrate this thought by the nations of Sweden and Switzerland … they both personify the idea of neutrality. My question today is about this neutrality … are we guilty of it in the Church? Has the Gospel been so watered down it stands for nothing and falls for everything? There are those who would say, “Not my Church,” and perhaps their Church stands alone in the sea of compromise, but the problem with neutrality is still widespread in the Church.
Years ago, I had a video client who spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on goods being given out to their audience. Yet when we went to try to find a few testimonies from these people of a changed life, a life surrendered to Christ, we could not find even one. This begs the question, “Are we doing the Gospel a disservice by providing only a service of help without the message of salvation in Christ alone?” Some would say, “Yes.” I won’t debate it, but I still wonder about it.
Jesus said He didn’t come to bring peace, but a sword. (Matthew 10:34-38)He was teaching that we are not worthy of Him if we love family, friends, Church, ministry, wealth or anything in-between more than we love Him … He is not our first love. This is a hard saying because relationships in this world are important to us, and to say they must come second to Him, is hard for any of us to comprehend. He also said we are not worthy of Him if we don’t carry our cross. The commitment to a resurrected Christ is the allegiance of surrender and obedience. The Cross in many Churches today is an afterthought. We like to keep up with current issues of fatigue, money, marriage, relationships, doctrine, and many other contemporary themes that people enjoy hearing. Yet, it is the bloody sacrifice on the Cross that is the reason the Church exists. The Founder didn’t come to give nice homilies about living well … He came, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ bids a man to come to Christ, he bids him to come and die.”
The last days will be days of great deception, and for the Church it begins with compromise. The compromise is illustrated by the five foolish virgins in Matthew Chapter 25, who thought keeping their lamps filled with oil was an option. That option did not turn out well for those five foolish virgins who had no oil when it was needed. Jesus told us that the last days will be filled with great deception, violence, lawlessness, and believers being hated for their testimony and message in Christ. When we ignore telling people that following Christ will be risky, we fail to tell them the truth. Everything Jesus taught is risky because it gets to the heart of the issue within each of us. The Prophets were also risky people (and they still are). Prophets tell us the truth, they remind us to stop clinging to the boat and get out of the boat, and go to where Jesus is, even if there is water between you and Him. The Church is not to stay in the huddle of the Church, the game plan has already been set, “Go into all the world teaching My Word.” The addendum to this command is ‘and it will be risky at times.’ No ministry that stays in the boat and huddles around religious things will ever get the message out to where it is needed. We need to invest into the prophetic voices who are calling the Church to a new paradigm … don’t be afraid, be risky for Christ. Personally, I am tired of the message Christians are always telling us about ‘how to be safe.’ The Gospel has never been safe, it has always been risky, just look at all the martyrs who have died preaching Christ.
Listen, it is time for us to recalibrate out commitments, our focus, and our strategy to live out a risky life for Christ. It’s time to repent from the compromise of our day, and start to stoke the fire of God within, to the glory of His Name.
Challenging the Culture with Truth … Larry Kutzler