Escape Cultural Christianity

But Moses said to the people, "Don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the LORD's salvation He will provide for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you must be quiet." - Exodus 14:13-14 HCSB

The Jewish nation escaping from Egypt stands as a picture of the salvation of the human soul. Moses stood before the pharaoh crying the same message that we hear Christ calling today to an equally pitiless world system: “Let my people go!”

The crossing of the Red Sea brings to mind our washing in the blood of Christ. They went, led by the man of God, in search for the Promised Land. Contrary to many an old hymn, Canaan does not represent heaven but the believer’s hope of a Spirit-filled and sanctified life, “d’vekut”, the ultimate communion of the spirit with God. They did not become the people of God when they entered Canaan. They were His people the moment they obeyed Him and followed Him into the wilderness.

They were protected and guided by a great cloud that became a pillar of fire at night just as we are guided and protected by the Holy Spirit which, appropriately enough came at Pentecost in the guise of a flame.

The children of Israel were to follow that supernatural pillar whenever it moved about. The Lord’s Spirit never let them stay long in any one place and did not immediately lead them by the shortest route to the Promised Land. The route Ruach’ ha Kodesh took was circuitous and brought them face to face with many trials and tests. There were giants at times and impossible odds and yet in spite of all that, they prevailed.

Think about the consequences for a moment. What would have happened to the poor timid soul who stood on the banks of the Red sea with the rest of that panicked populace and decided to not follow that cloud? With the pharaoh following close with a ravenous and vengeful horde how long do you think that deluded one would have lasted? What if another would have lost faith and decided to remain within the dubious shelter of his tent, there in the wilderness, surrounded by hostile nations, with short provisions and without the Lord’s miraculous daily feeding?

The Holy Spirit is leading us too - out into the population of the world, mid hostile peoples where there is a great spiritual drought. The world provides no food worthy of our souls and its water is bitter indeed. The only way the desert water could be made potable was by a piece of wood being cast in. Today, we offer sweet clear water, refreshment to the soul, to those pitiable damned souls who have been living too long in the blasted wastelands Satan offers as paradise. This sweet water too comes at the price of a tree. It too is moving out into the world and yet many churches remain huddled within their pathetic tents. Christians congratulate themselves on keeping out of the world’s influence, not noticing that their churches are also without Christ’s.

The cloud is now so distant that only if we hurry do we have the slightest chance of catching up. Christ is out in the world, healing, feeding and reconciling while we remain safe within our walls singing “Kumbaya”. Safe indeed! And the world is equally safe from us. We need to stand to our feet, leave our wretched buildings and programs behind us. They offer no safety and little comfort to the lost souls outside. Look around - where is Christ? Find Him and start working there. Let us make our motto “Ubi Christus, ibi Ecclesia” – where Christ is, there must His church be.

Let the church be a community of servants striding out into the midst of the world’s needs – not an archaic and well-protected institution for the preservation of the irrelevant; not a denominational ghetto or a private club for societal exclusivity; not a religious playhouse where whitewashed sepulchers go to play God-games for an hour a week; not a beautiful but useless storehouse for a plethora of man-made unquestioned rules.

We have too long been burdened with our expensive pews and gilded facades, like a snail crawling along on its belly beneath the burden of its own home, proud of our house and yet blind to the fact that we are crawling in slime. Christ’s church was never meant to be absorbed in the politics of finance or the pursuits of the next fashionable evangelistic tool. We were meant to serve! We will only thrive when we surrender our death grip on the security of our traditions and love extravagantly, carelessly. Why are we, the immortal, concerned with the trappings of this world? What if our carpets are dirtied by the unwashed masses that enter our portals? So what? Have we become Pharisees incarnate, condemning the true disciples of Christ because they eat without ritual washing?

The Dead Church stands guilty! Cultural Christianity stands guilty of clinging to patterns that have proven inadequate to the drastically altering shape of modern need. We stand guilty of the idolatry of worshipping thought-habits which do not give us the freedom to see the Church as the love of Christ incarnate.

Pastors live hemmed in by buildings which are ill-used and usually a matter of worry. They wrestle with ecclesiastical problems that are unimportant to both the ministry and the world. They are too often controlled by parishioners who are either so separated from this world or so indistinguishable from the world that they are of no use to the world. Too many of us indulge in a Sunday worship dominated by an older group that has become stiff and irreconcilable to the new challenges. Too many others indulge in so-called worship services that are in truth sensuous experiences that inflame the passions, led by young people who are so open-minded that their brains have fallen out.

We speak of revival, throwing the word around as a trivial thing, never realizing the Freudian slip – for is not a thing in need of revival standing on the brink of death? Accidentally, we speak the truth of ourselves without realizing it. It is not renewal we need – it is resurrection!

Who did Christ go to if not the poor, the sick, the downtrodden, the hopeless and helpless, the prostitute and the scum of the earth? Look around you, dear churchgoer. How many of these do you see in your congregation? I have gone to conferences and listened to seminars on how to attract young middle-class families who are financially able to support the church. I have gotten tips from other ministers on how to attract the older wealthier citizens who would be capable of creating endowments or leaving something to the church in their wills. To hope to attract the poor and downtrodden to such churches would be like trying to get a mourning widow to dance on her husband’s grave.

We have lost the mind of Christ and in turn have lost our own. We try to assuage our consciences by throwing money pet at charities overseas or sending someone else to deal with the issues just like we send the maid or the gardener to take care of those nasty little chores. The Church has had so little to do with the real issues of the world that the world has simply learned to not count on us. The Church has been relegated to the trash heap of history by its own voluntary obsolescence.

Are you ready to bury the past, to forget the institutions of “Cultural Christianity”, to gamble with your own preservation and begin something really different? If so, you find yourself on the edge of something powerful, something bigger than yourself.

Have you heard of the miracles that occurred in your forefather’s time but now desire to see them for yourself? God stands ready to help just such a person.