The Great American Tragedy Part 2 -Why do we assemble as a group of believers?

Heb 10:24-25 "24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

The topic is assembling in a building or home why do we do it and what about the unsaved.

Well in the above verse the Bible is referring to saved believers. Lets examine how the church assemblies were first set up in the book of Acts.

Acts 2: 38-47 "38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

A Vital Church Grows

40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly[g] received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. 44 Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.
46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church[h] daily those who were being saved.


Notice the order of things. Repentance was preached to the crowds outside those that believe were baptized and added to the church, and then went into assemblies (house to house) where they were taught and had fellow shipped.

Even though we should always make unbelievers welcome in our assemblies and loved as well, but the assemblies are not for them they are to strengthen believers by solid biblically based teaching. This is the role of pastors and teachers to teach believers.

Eph 4:11-13
"11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

Seeker sensitive has it backwards. I also think many of our pastors and teachers got it wrong and are trying to build bigger buildings instead of building better Christians.
They often use the goofiness of the worlds wisdom mentioned in James

James 3:14-16
"14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. 16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

We think we need to trick and entice the world into the church to hear the message of salvation when actually the Bible teaches that we are to go out after we are saved and taught by pastors and teachers.

Matt 28:18-20
"18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore[c] and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen"

That's every believing Christians duty folks at least that's what the Bible teaches.

Seeker sensitive has made the Body of Christ lazy and its unbiblical in its roots.
Seeker sensitive has also dumbed down the Body of Christ because the sermons are dumbed down to be relative to the unbeliever.
Again show me where the scripture teaches this.
A unbeliever may find something in the cotton candy sermons I hear from pulpits today.
They may learn how to be a better person.
But I ask you could a good and moral person go to hell?
What did Jesus have to say even about the own parables he taught?

Matt 13:10-17
"10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”
11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:


‘ Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should[a]heal them.’[b]

16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; 17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

I recommend all those who use Jesus parables as a excuse to be culturally relative really study that scripture.



I believe that the cool aid is being passed around that Gods hands are tied unless we use, cruise in's, beachballs in service, dumbed down sermons, beer and whiskey being served after a service and who knows what the future holds.
So we have to decide who draws a unbeliever our man made methods or God?
Here is what scripture teaches.

John 6: 34
"44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."

So why even go out and witness you may ask?
Fair question, because even though God draws them Jesus commands us in Matt 28 to share the Good News.
Also there is a urgency in this taught in
Matt 9:37-38
"37 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”
John 9:4
"4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work."

A dear brother in the Lord thanked me that I shed the light on some cockroaches in my book "Pass The Plate and Let Us Prey".
We need to know that even though cockroaches flee the light they are also very good at adapting to any situation.
Scripture mentions many of our cockroaches come from within.

Acts 20:29-30
"29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. "

2 Peter 2:1-3
" But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. "

Jude 1:3-4
3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God[b] and our Lord Jesus Christ."

Jude 1:16
"16 These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage."

My hope with this article is this.
Jude 1:22
"22 And on some have compassion, making a distinction;[d] 23 but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire,[e] hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."

There is no biblical basis for being seeker sensitive.
Heb 13:8
"8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever"
And Jesus is the Word, the Logos.

Jesus doesn't change just because society and culture change.

Jesus came so unbelievers could change.

Seeker sensitive teaches the opposite that scripture must change because society and culture changes.

You will need to decide whether you will follow scripture or guys like Rick Warren and his man made ideas which may fill a building but doesn't help unbelievers.
Which I would offer could rather put them in a very dangerous position many times of a false conversion.


The next article will be on how seeker sensitive movement has restructured the assembly of believers into a business instead of following biblical structure.
Topics included will be the office of executive pastor (ie Bean counters).
More to come
Peace
Tim Wirth