Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Obeying God when obeying isn’t easy”
Our Bible verse for today: “From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him.” John 6:66 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “We must remain obedient and faithful even when we don’t appear successful by the world’s standards.”
In his book “The Insanity of Obedience” author and missionary Nik Ripkin writes of how he has spent more than 15 years researching and studying church life in some of the most difficult and highly persecuted regions of the world. He then compared what he found there, to the average experience of Christians in our culture. Almost without exception the practice of the faith in the hard places was vibrant, alive, and dynamic, and by comparison in the USA it seems pretty anemic. One of the starkest differences he found was the American preoccupation with big numbers and highly choreographed professional worship services.
In the USA glamour, glitter, technology, and an extensive menu of programs is the golden grail which everyone strives for. With this in mind Richard Foster once wrote about Christian life in the USA, “Superficiality is the curse of our age.” Much of it is a mile wide and an inch deep. But in much of the rest of the world, where the practice of the faith is so much more vibrant and dynamic, the emphasis is on depth not width. The focus is on small groups of passionate disciples who are clearly and obviously alive in Christ.
For all the hoopla and circus-like atmosphere that surrounded much of Jesus’ ministry, there were surprisingly few who were true disciples. Therefore Jesus was fairly unimpressed with the crowds and the shouts of acclimation. He knew what was really in the hearts of the people and He knew that their faith was fickle and short-lived. And so He was not surprised when in John 6:66, after a little hard teaching, the crowds shuffled away, muttering and grumbling. Likewise, in Matthew 26:56, as He hung on the cross dying, virtually everyone deserted Him.
We have to be careful not to be taken-in by the hoopla and circus-like atmosphere which often comes with big numbers and slick professional productions. So much of it is superficial! Seek instead a deep and genuine church life. That’s what mattered to Jesus and so it’s what should matter to us too.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 