A goal worth living and dying for

Many Christians and churches today have rightly identified the plague of apathy that is presently gripping churchgoers across the nation. Any denomination, conservative or squishy, every church seems to have the same problem. It's almost impossible to get anyone excited about Christian ministry these days. In response, admonitions to action ring out from pounded pulpits in every corner of the country. Churches redouble their efforts to disciple their people (not a bad idea in general, but often done poorly) thinking that it must be a lack of discipleship. Church growth 'experts' conduct surveys and decide to add flashing lights and cool music to the old church programs. Yet, the state of things remains largely unchanged. Why? Why are people so cold? Why don't any of these proposed solutions work? What is the root problem? I suggest that there's one underlying cause that nobody is talking about.

Before I get into my main point, it's worthwhile to say that much of the coldness is due to many church member simply being unconverted. Lost people aren't going to get excited about the Lord's work, nor will they be willing to give up much of their life to be involved. This is a huge problem and one that must be addressed with urgency. People need to repent and live for Christ, and churches need to demand repentance from their members and boot those that live in sin and apathy. It is an easy fix, if only people would follow the Lord's directions. I'd like to move on though, not because this is unimportant, but because I want to focus on the more subtle problem facing real Christians.

So, for the real Christians, the truly born-again, why is it generally hard to get excited about Christian ministry? I suggest that it's because most churches are operated in such a way that they replace Christ's objectives with poor substitutes. Jesus outlined his big picture for his disciples: a self-sacrificing life in service to the gospel (Mark 8:34-35). How exciting! We get to be a part of God's master plan! We get to join him in the work of saving souls! We get to form relationships more dear than family as we disciple people and teach them to follow Christ! These things are all truly grand and noble goals, worth living and dying for.

Yet, on any given Sunday, these are not the goals generally laid before the people. While churches in theory hold to the above goals, the goals in practice are much different: We want you to be a greeter. Can you serve in AWANA? Billy has a cold and needs someone to watch him. We need you to work nursery so parents can sit down and....listen...without their children. Invite your friends to outreach day! Come grill hot dogs for our outing. If you're one of the really spiritual ones, spend 6 years in seminary to learn public speaking and never preach to a single lost soul while you're there. We really need a new organ/piano/sound system, so give sacrificially! I could go on. In this system 95% of the money and human activity revolves around keeping a show or program running. Wait, what are we supposed to be doing again?

Is the picture becoming clear? If an American worked for a month to make 10 dollars, convinced he had a great job, we'd call him a fool. Yet, we have done the same thing on a much bigger scale. Christian ministry and service has been redefined in such a way that it is largely useless, self-replicating busy work. In practice, the grand goals that Christ set for the life of every individual has been replaced by a hamster wheel. When you define service, sacrifice, and taking up the cross as 'running on the hamster wheel', why should you be shocked to find that people are not excited? Yet, when Christian goals and service are properly defined (preaching the gospel to the lost and discipleship), a man will gladly sacrifice much of his life, knowing that the cause is worthy. Likewise, a woman who babysits six kids so her husband and his friend can go hand out tracts has much joy in her act of service.

I've done time on the hamster wheel before, so I know that it's endless and tiring. However, I can also tell you that real Christian service done for Jesus involves hard work and sacrifice, but it is also full of joy, contentment, and fulfillment. If you find yourself weary with service and on the verge of burning out, there's a good chance that you're running on a hamster wheel. Take a step back and re-evaluate what you're doing. Men will give you activities and tell you that you're serving Christ when you're actually just serving their program. Instead, spend some time in Scripture and in prayer, see what the Lord wants for your life (hint: I talked about it in the third paragraph). Life is short and there's a grand battle to be fought. Don't waste another second.