It is interesting that Jesus never said His house would be a house of fellowship. We love to fellowship though. We even build fellowship halls. We schedule monthly or quarterly church wide fellowships usually over food. We fellowship in one another's home as well as at local restaurants.
Nor did Jesus say His house was to be a house of programs. Yet programs fill the house of God. There are Bible study programs, discipleship programs, exercise and fitness programs, men and women programs, and the list goes on and on. I always say programs do not change people's lives. God does. He may choose to use programs but He transforms people not programs.
Nor did Jesus say His house was a house of small groups. We put a lot of emphasis on small groups. Some churches still do Sunday School. They may call it be a different name but it is still Sunday School. Some do home groups. Others have small discipleship study groups that meet at various times studying various topics. These are all beneficial but it is interesting Jesus did not emphasize that.
Neither did He emphasize music. Music is such an integral part of local congregations. Some have choirs for every age group. These choirs will perform holiday seasonal music as well as other special performances. There are also praise bands and praise teams, The genres of music vary but music and worship are most important to many members. The house of God is not primarily a house of worship.
Though preachers do not want to admit it Jesus did not say His house was to be a house of peaching. Yet we preach. We preach, preach, and then preach some more. If pastors are not preaching they are teaching. I taught twice just last night. God's house is not a house of preaching.
No. Jesus said His house was to be a house of prayer . Mark 11:17 (NASB)
17 And He began to teach and say to them, "Is it not written, 'MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL THE NATIONS'? But you have made it a ROBBERS' DEN."
I have served many churches. Two of them had designated prayer rooms. Yet as collective bodies very little praying took place in many of those congregations. What little that did happen typically happened on a Wednesday night over a prayer list usually of sick church members. I have seen other planned prayer meetings normally not well attended.
We can give lip service all we want about how important prayer is in local churches or individual lives. The facts speak for themselves. One survey found that average Christians spend less than ten minutes a day in prayer. As far as corporate prayer meetings, take a look at your local church. Does your church have a corporate prayer meeting? How well is it attended? Do you attend such meetings?
There are churches that are known to be houses of prayer. The Brooklyn Tabernacle. David's Cho congregation in South Korea. Both churches are known for prayer. Both churches are powerfully evangelistic.
Will we ever learn? A house of prayer will do more good than houses of fellowship, small groups, music, preaching and teaching.
No comments:
Post a Comment