CHURCH TALK | WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE CHURCH?

[00:00:01] Hello world podcast listeners. Thank you so much for stopping by the Mark 827 podcast. My name is Darrell Irby and I am the producer and host of this podcast. And I'm excited that you have decided to tune in for this series of conversations, chats, talks, even interviews around the church. [00:00:26] I call this series the Church Chat Series. [00:00:32] I want to call it. But to be consistent with the other programming for the Mark 8:27 podcast, I suppose I should call it Church Talk. There is a series called Gospel Talk. There is a series called Growth Talk, and if you have not already availed yourself of those recordings, I would encourage you to check those out on whatever podcast listening platform you're listening to currently. [00:01:03] You can also go to YouTube and find those recordings. [00:01:10] So I would encourage you to kind of click also the Follow button or the subscribe button so that whenever a new episode is posted, you will be made aware of that so that you can listen to that information. [00:01:26] So this is the Church Talk or the Church Chat series, and I just wanted to, for a few minutes, maybe even as much as 15 minutes, get together with you and just chat about some things that have been on my mind regarding the church and the condition of the church or the state of the church or what is going on with the church currently. [00:01:56] I've noticed, as I'm sure you have as well, that a lot has changed regarding the state of the church since the pandemic, since COVID 19, where there were rules put in place, guidelines put in place by the government, by employers, so on and so forth. That kind of changed how frequently and how close we could be as the church gathered on Sundays or for other meetings. [00:02:36] And when that happened, it seemed to me that a lot of people took that as an opportunity to participate in a mass exodus from, not necessarily the church, as you'll find out a little later as we talk more about the church. But a mass exodus from the Sunday gatherings or the Wednesday night gatherings, but primarily the Sunday gatherings, there seemed to be a great change there, and there seemed to be just a mass exodus from participation in those services. So the question that has been so commonly asked is, what's going on with the church? What happened to the church? [00:03:30] Why are mega churches struggling to maintain their mega attendance? [00:03:39] What. What happened to the church? [00:03:41] Why aren't so many people going to the fellowships or the assemblies? As we'll talk about a little more, you can't really go to church because the church is not a place. The church is a people. You cannot, I repeat, go to church. [00:04:01] You must be the church. And then those who are the church gather or assemble on Sunday mornings, on Sunday evenings, on Wednesday evenings, or whenever the church gathers, that is an assembly of fellowship, if you will, of the church. [00:04:24] Quite frankly, even those of you who are listening right now, who are the church, who are believers in Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. And so then, therefore, you are children of God, and you are the family of God. You have been adopted into the family of God. You have been grafted into the vine. [00:04:51] You, you are the church. And because we are all gathered here, me speaking, you listening, me teaching, you learning, Jesus said, wherever there are two or three gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst. [00:05:15] And so this too, could be considered to be a fellowship, an assembly of the church. [00:05:23] So what's really been going on, though, with the church? And I definitely have my ideas, of course, my friends seem to indicate that where there can be an opinion, Darrell Irby will always have an opinion. I don't know how true that is, but I definitely have an opinion about this. And I believe that I have something to say about this that God would have me to say about this. So what's really going on with the church? Let's just look at a few things. Let's go first of all to the book of First Corinthians. And, you know, we're always in the Bible, so when we get together, just kind of have your Bible there with you. [00:06:05] But if you don't have it with you yet, grab your Bible, because you might enjoy reading along with us as we read a few scriptures. [00:06:16] So I think one of the first issues that the church is having, and that is contributing to a lot of people kind of removing themselves from the visible institutional church that we know about, is a people problem, maybe even more specifically stated, a person problem. [00:06:45] And the Scripture says that there is nothing new under the sun, so none of this is new. You can no doubt always find the answer that you're looking for in the Bible, and that is even as it relates to what's going on with the church. [00:07:02] So look with me at First Corinthians, chapter one, and I'm going to start reading at verse nine. [00:07:12] And there at First Corinthians, chapter one, verse nine, the Apostle Paul says, God is faithful by whom ye were called, unto the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. [00:07:30] Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined Together in the same mind and in the same judgment. [00:07:51] For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. [00:08:04] Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. [00:08:16] Is Christ divided? [00:08:18] Was Paul crucified for you? [00:08:21] Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? [00:08:25] I thank God that I baptized none of you. But Crispus and Gaius. [00:08:31] Least any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I'll stop right there, but you can continue to read on this topic if you'd like, in that chapter and further along in the book. [00:08:47] But the. The church there at Corinth were having a people problem. They were having a person problem. [00:09:02] Because some were saying that I am of Paul. Others were saying I am of Apollos. And others were saying, well, I'm better than you because I am of Cephas. [00:09:16] And the apostle Paul said, where is this coming from? [00:09:19] That there is only one Christ, There is only one Savior who died for you and who saved you. [00:09:31] And it was not Apollo's, it was not Paul, it was not Cephas, it was Jesus Christ. [00:09:42] So I think that one of the primary problems that we even still have in the church is a people problem, because I call it celebrityism. [00:09:53] And that is that we have began to focus not so much on on Jesus Christ, but focusing on men and women who have been elevated in our minds and so then therefore elevated in our fellowships and in our assemblies to be celebrities. I mean, if you look at it, listen, they stand on a stage now. It is a stage. [00:10:26] A stage is for performances. [00:10:28] A stage is for the activities of celebrities. [00:10:34] I'm not sure that the stage really has any valid place in the assembly of the church or in the assembly of God's people. Because God is not a respecter of persons. [00:10:52] There is only one celebrity in the church, and that is Jesus Christ. I mean, it was right here in the text that, that we read right here that this is the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. [00:11:19] It's not any particular bishop or any particular pastor or any particular preacher or any particular influencer that we have decided is the greatest amongst them all. [00:11:36] And that has happened, I think, too frequently and too clearly, too obviously in the church. [00:11:45] And so some of these people who we have lifted up as celebrities when they are mere humans like the rest of us, when they begin to exhibit human only qualities by making mistakes or falling fallen Falling. I'm sorry for just making bad decisions, not exercising wisdom. Then a lot of people begin to be so bothered that they make bad decisions as it relates to their faith and as it relates to the church and as it relates to even God and Jesus. They make bad decisions because of what one person that has been elevated to a position of celebrity has done. [00:12:42] And that was not Jesus that did that. [00:12:46] That was not God that did that. That was not the Holy Spirit that did that. That was a human being that did that. And you can always expect that human beings are going to sometimes mess up. That's why Jesus came and shed his blood, because we sometimes mess up. [00:13:06] So I think there's been a people problem. And any way that you can steer away from participating in elevating any person to a position of celebrity in the church, avoid that. [00:13:22] And we as the body of Christ, need to avoid that, because that has definitely caused some problems. But now, let me hurry on. I'm talking more and longer than what I thought I would. So let's go to now the book of Revelation. [00:13:40] And I may actually have to turn this into more than one episode. Maybe there'll be a follow up, a part two. But go to Revelation chapter three and I'm going to start reading at verse 14. That's Revelation, chapter three and verse 14. [00:14:11] And there it says, and unto the church. [00:14:14] I'm sorry, it says, and unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans. Right? [00:14:20] These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of God. [00:14:30] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. [00:14:35] I would thou were cold or hot. [00:14:40] So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. [00:14:50] So listen to what he's saying right there. He says to the church at Laodicea, and the entire church can definitely learn a rich lesson from what God reveals to the Apostle John here. [00:15:09] And that is that the church that fellowshiped, that assembled, that gathered in Laodicea somewhere that he says of that church, you're no longer hot and you're no longer cold, but you are lukewarm. Now, we have traditionally been taught, which I believe is erroneous teaching, that what the Bible is saying right here is that God has a problem with the church at Laodicea because they are neither hot, which is good, or cold, which is bad. [00:15:54] I'm not sure why God would say that. I would that you were hot or cold, even when cold is bad. [00:16:06] God is holy, God is righteous, God is perfect. [00:16:13] God can only love what is good. [00:16:18] And in fact, he had to give his son on Calvary to cleanse us of our sins in order for him to save us. [00:16:34] God is not pleased with cold unless cold is good. [00:16:42] So when we look at this passage, it becomes very clear that since God would that we were either hot or cold, that hot and cold are good attributes of the church. [00:16:55] And so what is it about hot and what is it about cold that will cause God to want his church to be either hot or cold? [00:17:07] Well, you can talk to medical professionals. You can read up on it on the Internet. [00:17:14] However you get the verifiable information, you will learn that there are healing qualities to heat and there are healing qualities to cold. [00:17:31] But I've never heard of any healing qualities that could be assigned to lukewarm. [00:17:41] So sometimes the doctor will tell you on a sprain or on some type of an injury to the muscles or to the skeletal system that you should put an ice pack on that because there are healing qualities to code. At other times they'll tell you that you need to put a healing. I'm sorry, a hot pad on it because there are healing qualities to hot. [00:18:12] But you'll never hear anybody say that you need to put lukewarm temperatures on a wound because there are no healing qualities to lukewarm. And so I believe that what God is saying to the church at Laodicea here is that they have a purpose problem. So we talked about a people problem. Elevating people to celebrity status when there's only one. [00:18:43] There's only one celebrity in the church, and that is Jesus Christ. [00:18:48] But then also that they have a purpose problem. [00:18:53] What is your purpose? [00:18:54] Why should people be a part of the church? [00:18:59] Why should people participate in your assemblies? Why should they be a part of. Of your fellowshipping? What does fellowship really mean? [00:19:13] What does it mean? [00:19:17] I would present to you that the reason that God would that people were a part of the church is because of the healing qualities of that church. [00:19:30] Jesus is all about. God is all about healing. He sent his son Jesus to. To heal. In fact, when Jesus was interacting with sinners and people with problems, and the Pharisees had a problem with that, he said, I did not come to seek out the healthy, but I came to seek out the sick. I came to seek out the ill. For the healthy don't need a doctor. It is the sick. It is those who are ill who need a doctor. [00:20:12] He came to heal. The Bible says that God sent his word and Jesus Christ is his word. That he sent His Word and He healed his people. [00:20:25] His Word came to heal. God expects his church to be a a healing center, whether that look like cold healing or hot healing. But he expects his church to be a healing center. He expects his church to be a place where people leave having benefited, they leave the assembly having benefited from being there. [00:21:03] Let's look real quick and then I'm and then I'm going to have to bring this to an end and I'm sure that I'm going to end up coming back later on with a follow up to what we have talked about today. [00:21:18] But I wanted to look at first Corinthians, chapter 14 and then let's look real quick here. There's a lot here that I would want to read, but I'm going to just look at verse 12 real quick as we prepare to exit this episode where the Apostle Paul says even so ye, for as much as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. [00:21:57] Edification, that is to benefit, to help the church with advancement, to help those people who are the church with becoming transformed, with healing in wherever areas they are experiencing illness or brokenness. [00:22:22] It's all about us edifying one another. [00:22:28] I heard one scholar say that the church should be all about one anothering so that is helping one another to be all that God has created us to do, to be so there's two issues that I think are going on with the church and that is causing the church to kind of be in a a struggling state right now that we can pay attention to and pray about and address these matters. [00:23:01] And I believe that it will bring betterment to the church. [00:23:06] Listen, please click on again the Follow button or the subscribe button so that you will be aware of each time that I record episodes like this. Then also there's a link in there called Support the Show and if you are inclined to do so, please click on that and share a financial gift with us because this is not a free endeavor. It is one that I will continue to do with or without contributions, but your contributions would definitely be a blessing and I look forward to the next time. Until then, be blessed and stand out because of your excellence.