Churches in the World (First Edition)

This is an early version of a Sunday School lesson I gave on January 4 as part of a rotation of teachers for a Baptist youth class.  I’d appreciate any comments and/or suggestions on the content and the lesson’s format/style.

This is a first for me, so please bear with any stutters of mine.  I doubt I’ll get through this whole lesson, but if I don’t then maybe I’ll have a chance to finish it.  And these two chapters are a great source of study material, so don’t think I’m coming close to exhausting them.

In the Revelation to John, chapters 2 and 3, seven types of churches are identified and their members encouraged by Jesus. Who here has already heard someone characterize evangelicals (that’s us) according to this passage? (Mark their names.) You won’t be allowed to answer questions you already have the answers to, but you can help the others.

Out of these seven churches, one has nothing to be commended and is in a spiritual coma; another is thriving and receives nothing negative.  (Mark the continuum below on the board.) Each of the remaining five has its problems but also some merit. I’ve marked them on the continuum according to my estimation; does anyone disagree with me? (Open the room for discussion.) Which one are we in? (Open the room for discussion.)

Sardis      Laodicea     Ephesus     Thyatira      Pergamos      Smyrna     Philadelphia
  |------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
 Dead       Lukewarm     Loveless     Corrupt    Compromising  Persecuted    Faithful

(In case they don’t have an answer…) Richard Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) was an American architect, engineer, and entrepreneur who made it his goal to anticipate the needs and wants of society and invent accordingly.  He’s best known as the inventor of the geodesic dome, an arrangement of triangles which achieves maximum structural integrity with minimum use of raw materials.  This expert on our consumerist society said:

Let architects sing of aesthetics that bring Rich clients in hordes to their knees:

Just give me a home, in a great circle dome
Where stresses and strains are at ease.

Revelation 3:15-17 – the problem

Revelation 3:18-19 – the solution

What other modern churches fit any of these labels?  (Open the room for discussion.)  I have some of my own estimations, but I generally rate the churches I know less about as higher than the ones I know more about. (Replace the names above for those below.) That could be because we’re all doing pitifully, or because I actually know very little about the more outstanding churches, or maybe a little of both.  But I base each of them on the characterization seen in these chapters.

Mainline       [  Evangelical ]       Catholic     Anglican [Arabic & Indian] Orthodox
   |------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
  Dead       Lukewarm     Loveless     Corrupt   Compromising   Persecuted    Faithful

I know zilch about the Eastern Orthodox Church, so they’re at the top. I’ve read about the persecution (but nothing else) in Islamic nations and especially India, so they’re next. I’ve read about the Anglican Communion’s compromise on homosexuality and how the African, South American, and some North American churches are having big disagreements with the rest. I strongly believe the management of the Roman Catholic Church to be corrupt, so they get my fourth place. And then here we are in fifth, evangelicals generally being loveless and some even lukewarm. Finally, we have the mainline Protestant churches, such as Joel Osteen – the only group that I think is doing worse than us.

Now, how can we improve our position?  Those who are lukewarm must acquire a zeal, a love for God and His word, and then they’ll be loveless.  The loveless (probably including me) must further acquire a love for men.  When we get that far, we will naturally discuss what we can do about it because love prompts action.  If we don’t compromise after that, maybe we’ll be in the faithful church.  (Open the room for discussion.)

Churches in the World

This is a Sunday School lesson I gave on January 4, 2009, as part of a rotation of teachers for a Baptist youth class.  I’d appreciate any comments and/or suggestions on the content and the lesson’s format/style.

This is a first for me, so please bear with any stutters of mine.  I doubt I’ll get through this whole lesson, but if I don’t then maybe I’ll have a chance to finish it.  And these two chapters are a great source of study material, so don’t think I’m coming close to exhausting them.

In the Revelation to John, chapters 2 and 3, seven types of churches are identified and their members encouraged by Jesus. Who here has already heard someone characterize evangelicals (that’s us) according to this passage? (Mark their names.) You won’t be allowed to answer questions, but you can help the others.

Out of these seven churches, one has nothing to be commended and is in a spiritual coma; two others are thriving and receive nothing negative, but one of them is about to suffer for its faithfulness.  (Mark the continuum below on the board.) Each of the remaining four has its problems but also some merit. I’ve marked them on the continuum according to my estimation; does anyone disagree with me? (Open the room for discussion.)

Sardis      Laodicea     Ephesus     Thyatira      Pergamos      Smyrna     Philadelphia
  |------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|
 Dead       Lukewarm     Loveless     Corrupt    Compromising  Persecuted    Faithful

Which state is [removed for publication] Baptist Church in?  Which one best fits your personal character?  (Open the room for discussion.)  To ask it another way, which epistle is your favorite?  My favorites are those to the Corinthians (the decision between first and second is a tough one).  The church at Corinth was approximately in the same state as at Pergamos: compromising.  I’ve concluded that I like all the rebukes to the Corinthians partly because I’m self-righteous.  I should learn to better enjoy the other epistles, particularly those to the Ephesians and Romans.  (Open the room for discussion.)

I think the state of a congregation reflects the percentage of its members who are saved.  If we’re lukewarm or loveless, does that mean we’re not all saved?  Are you saved?

As with all sin, the problem is pride.  The Ephesians are proud of their obedience, which is commended by Christ; but they are cheating on Him with His gift.  The Laodiceans are proud of their self-sufficiency: their Internet, physique, socialization, eloquence, and ideas.

Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

James 1:9-11

Nothing will ever take this love away
The grass will wither and the flower fade
These things don’t change

–Chorus to “These Things Don’t Change,” by Sherri Youngward

These are expressions of faithfulness and rebukes against lukewarmness.  The strong man, the beautiful girl, the wise mentor, the original artist, the smart intellectual, and the skilled crafstman all need to apply them.  We need to learn, deep in our heart of hearts, that we have no merit (especially righteousness), and that merit we do have comes only from him – for we were originally made in His image and those who repent are continually made in His image as much as they submit to improvement.  In other words, we need to accept the Gospel, or at least admit that we don’t really like it, to avoid being spat out.  The rich young ruler, when confronted with the challenge to give up the temporal, improved by becoming cold rather than lukewarm.  He went that much closer to admitting the problem, which is always the first step to solving it.

The loveless are in a different position than the lukewarm only because they idolize the Scriptures rather than worldly attractions, and the Scriptures point them in the correct direction.  So they are a somewhat more correct incarnation of the Pharisees – the folks who received Christ’s harshest words.

Now, how can we improve our position?  (Open the room for discussion.)  Those who are lukewarm must acquire a zeal for God’s word for their own sake, and then they’ll be loveless.  The loveless must further acquire a love for God, and develop a relationship with Him.  When we get that far, we will naturally discuss what we can do about it, because love prompts action.  If we don’t compromise after that, maybe we’ll be in the faithful church.

How to Gather

Whether we are to gather isn’t a question (Hebrews 10:25), but how are we to gather? As it is, we (my usual congregation) have:

• an early service for the more traditionally minded, where the small audience sings out of the hymnbook and the pastor delivers his sermon,
• a class discussion period of thirty minutes, where conversation is lead by the teacher, and everyone tries to stay on the specific topic,
• a second service, where contemporary worship music is displayed on a screen, the kids are released for children’s church, and the pastor gives his sermon,
• a night service, an hour of class discussion identical in format to the earlier thirty minutes,
• and a Wednesday night service, with fun activities and a sermon from the youth minister (I’m not sure what it is for everyone else).

It seems to me that the pastor would get slightly bored during the second delivery of the same sermon in the same morning, but I won’t take issue with that right now. However, I do want to examine the Scriptures on the subjects of:

• sermons,
• corporate song and orchestration,
• and discussion.

I expect it to be readily obvious that sermons themselves are Biblical, as “the sermon on the mount” is one of the most-spoken phrases in the Church, but their Scriptural context contrasts with our custom. I won’t reference every sermon in Scripture, but I assert that not one of them was scheduled; all were -to the audience- apparently spontaneous, and prompted by the fact that something really needed to be said (or a false prophet needed to ‘earn’ his bread). But now the pastors are expected to fill an allotted time slot every week. Christ replaced the priests, so why do we think we should invent unscriptural clerical duties?

I also assert that corporate song, where an entire congregation is expected to worship with predetermined songs almost like clockwork, is completely absent from Scripture. Orchestration, on the other hand, with a team of musicians and singers praising, was used in battle (2 Chronicles 20) and the Temple (1 Chronicles 16:4-6; 23:5; 25:1; 2 Chronicles 29:25), but (judging by the topical indexes at BibleGateway.com) was only mentioned once (Palm Sunday) in the New Testament as a form of worship (except Revelation 5:8,9;14:2,3;15:2,3). As we can see, musical worship didn’t cease in Israel at Christ’s birth, but the Church was never advised to use it. Shouldn’t it take a back seat to the thing(s) we were advised, maybe even commanded, to use?

Discussion is the main thing, if not the only thing, I had in mind while typing the previous sentence. Unfortunately, there remains a stark contrast between Scriptural specifications and current practice: teachers direct conversation according to their lesson plans. Paul (Corinthians 14:26-33) says to discuss in an open forum. Jesus spoke in such a format, and indeed the entire history of Israel shows this to be the general case, the only exceptions which I know of being when an authority captures the attention of all by means of the open forum. Paul (Acts 20) discussed with a group of people of unknown (likely immense) size, and they were so engrossed that it continued till midnight (verse 7), not noon as is the modern convention.

The Sabbath, whichever day one holds it on, sets the spiritual and emotional pace for the entire week. Just like a physical pace, this one slows as the weary -and, in many cases, sleepy- pilgrim advances, so shouldn’t we start out as briskly as possible?