Hebrews 10:23-25
The Church and the USA today according to a 2020 Berna study -- here are a few challenges of Modern Christianity in our country:
-- 72% watered down gospel teaching
-- lack of bible literacy
-- We have more access to the bible and people read it far less.
-- cultural shift to secularism within the church 66%
-- Screen-based lives and boredom -- aversion to commitment
-- Complex social issues and biblical integrity -- 58%
-- entangled allegiances and fetish of brokenness (embracing victimhood as a way of life)
-- the church's influence has faded.
These are not new problems!
"So I reflected on all this and concluded that the righteous and the wise and what they do are in God’s hands, but no one knows whether love or hate awaits them." Ecclesiastes 9:1
Challenges of the Early Church:
-- Racial tension (Acts 6:1-7)
-- Man-made rules (Acts 15:1-2, Romans 14:1-4)
-- Sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:1-7)
-- Authority of Roman Government (Romans 13:7)
-- Lawsuits between Believers (1 Corinthians 6:1-7)
-- Perversion of the Gospel (Galatians 1:6-10)
-- Disunity of believers in the church (Philippians 2:1-4)
This is modern stuff too!
The church is the people.
A Healthy Church:
12 Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by[a] one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many."
1 Corinthians 12:12-14
No one is more important to the church than any other -- all roles are equal.
There is unity in diversity.
15 Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body." 1 Corinthians 12:15-20
Everyone has as role to play. We have to be all in -- face-to-face. If we don't play our roles, fulfill our roles in the church, the whole church suffers.
24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." 1 Corinthians 12:24-27
Who we are as part of the body of Christ:
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2
We need to take care of each other. Your life always needs to be dedicated to Christ and the life God gives you. We are invididual parts, but one body.
"3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully." Romans 12:3-8
Applications:
#1 Don't be biblically illiterate. No excuse not to know.
"Your word is a lamp for my feet,
a light on my path." Psalm 119:105
"Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." Ephesians 6:17
"Jesus replied, 'You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.'" Matthew 22:29
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15
#2 Prioritize the body of Christ.
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
Hebrews 10:23-24
#3 Put God first.
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Mathew 22:37
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile." Romans 1:16
"fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:2