Who Is In Charge Here? The church and why we must put Jesus back on His throne as Lord and Head.

Carey Nieuwhof recently posted this article that his content writer, Joe Terrell, wrote. I'd encourage you to read it carefully, and then if you are interested, you can read my quick thoughts below (and believe me, I have many more thoughts on this topic).

These are my quick thoughts concerning this article:

I think this article is very good overall, but to be honest, I don't think it goes far enough.

If the American church's consumer driven model has taken us further away from the heart that Jesus had for the church to be His collective disciples who better equip one another to go out and be the needed Gospel missionaries in their spheres, then why do we think continuing to use the same model will somehow produce different results? Isn't that the definition of insanity?

When the question comes up "Well, what can we really do about it?", I think we need to be convicted to the point where we will do anything to place Jesus back on His rightful throne as Head and Lord over His church...the church that HE died to save. We must dethrone consumerism! We cannot compromise on this. It isn't even our call, as this is Jesus' call. We need to regularly ask the questions: "What does Jesus want? What is His design for His people, the church?"

Jesus is SO in love with His people, the church! I too am so in love with Jesus' people, His church, and it breaks my heart to see the current state and attitudes/heart postures of the American church (in general).

Has God used the American church model? Can He still use the American church model? God's power can do anything that He desires to do, but instead of asking Jesus to bless our design for His church, we should be asking Jesus to forgive us for trying to do things our way and for Him to teach us how to live out the Body of Christ the way that HE designed it to be. I believe repentance should be our response, especially for those who are leaders in the church over God's flock. God can and will give grace where humility and repentance is shown. I am praying for God's grace over my own life and leadership, and I have had to do a lot of repenting myself.

If Jesus were to include the American church as an 8th letter to the churches in Revelation chapters 2+3, what would Jesus say to the American church? What would His message and tone be? My guess is that it would be sobering to put it lightly.

As in all of the history concerning God's people, they will learn the lesson, either by choice or by force. We see this with God's shepherding of Israel, and we see this in the Apostle's writings to the churches. God disciplines those that He loves and Jesus will put out the lamp stands of those who will not honor Him as Lord and Head over their lives and over His body, the church.

When Jesus was in the flesh, the religious establishment was very threatened by Jesus' teachings. So much so that they wanted Him dead. They claimed to be God's teachers, His favorites, and the leaders over Israel on God's behalf, and yet they rejected the Messiah and nailed God in the flesh to a cross. We must learn from this and not repeat these horrific mistakes.

One connected thing that concerns me is, when people equate someone leaving a particular "model" of church as the same thing as "leaving the church", it reveals just how far we've wondered from the Biblical definition of "church", which is a people, not a place, building, or service. People in established American model churches often treat people in a way that communicates: "If you aren't for us, you are against us." Aren't we all as Christ followers playing on the same team? Or are we more concerned with our organization "winning" and being stable and well funded? If you feel defensive or threatened by these types of questions, I'd ask you "why"? Is that something that God wants you to feel, or is that the established organizational needs talking? Be honest 😉

What wholesale changes need made? What are you unwilling to do in order to live into God's design for His church? For my family, we are living out the church through a house church model. It places a high priority on building relational disciples who are better equipped to go be the ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) that Jesus created them to be. We don't need all of the consumer frills that our culture says are needed. We need Jesus, His word, and His people. That is about it, lol. Is this something that God is calling you into as well? Reach out to me if you want to chat more.

If you share in these convictions, the answer is never anger, hate, or slander. We must allow others the freedom to not share in these convictions, defend their territory, and even sometimes slander us (Philippians 1:15-18). Love, grace, and truth should always lead the way, but if you share in these convictions, don't ignore them, respond to them. Pray and fast and ask the Lord how He wants you to faithfully and tangibly respond. As a reminder, doing the same things the same way and expecting different results is insanity. Let's not do that. God is worthy of so much more, and His word calls us to so much more!

We absolutely shouldn't leave the "church", but we should love it, pray for it, and make any changes necessary to live faithfully toward the One who, through His own life, bought us back from death to call us His people, His inheritance, and His own body who fills everything in every way! (Ephesians 1:22+23) 🙏🏼❤️

Cody Balch

Email me at: betterequippedwithcody@gmail.com