Most of us know that M*A*S*H officially stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital. Well, I want to turn things around a little bit and approach a few subjects from a different slant. So, for the next few minutes M*A*S*H is going to unofficially stand for Medically Analyzed Spiritual Hurdles.
Doctor
Hawkeye Pierce spent his time in the trenches, analyzing potentially lethal
trauma and disease in the bodies of soldiers. For the next few minutes, I would
like us to spend some time in the Word, analyzing potentially lethal problems
in the body of Christ…the church.
FORMAL NAME
|
INFORMAL NAME
|
% ALL DEATHS
|
(1) Diseases of the heart
|
heart attack (mainly)
|
28.5%
|
(2) Malignant neoplasms
|
cancer
|
22.8%
|
(3) Cerebrovascular disease
|
stroke
|
6.7%
|
(4) Chronic lower respiratory disease
|
emphysema, chronic bronchitis
|
5.1%
|
(5) Diabetes mellitus
|
diabetes
|
3.0%
|
Not much of
a surprise really, most of us have friends and family that have these health
problems…or perhaps even died because of one of them. However, what if I were
to ask you to give me a list of the top 5 spiritual health problems in the
church. Now, lets get something straight, we are not talking about
non-Christians, just the saved folks…you know, the ones who should know better!
I’ll tell you what; take a few moments to jot down your thoughts. The top 5
spiritual health problems in the church…got it...go ahead…I’ll wait on you.
Okay, now
that you have taken some time to consider it, let me give you my list. Here is
my top 5 along with some supporting scripture…enjoy.
- Cirrhosis of the Giver
Jesus told a parable in the 25th chapter of Matthew that sums it up nicely.
…for when I was hungry
you gave me something to eat, when I was thirsty you gave me something to
drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed
me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit
me.
…then the righteous
answered him, “Lord when did we see you?” And the master answered, “I tell you
the truth, whatever you did to the least of these brothers of mine, you did for
me.”
You see, we
are EXPECTED to be channels of blessing…not stagnant pools of greed! The
measure by which the Lord has blessed you should be the measure by which you
bless your neighbor. A greedy church is a waist of time and space. Yes, it will
cost your hard earned money. Yes, it will take your precious little time. Yes,
at times you may feel almost used up. But let us not forget that Jesus gave
everything He had, down to His last drop of blood and last gasp of air.
Shouldn’t we be willing to do the same?
- Diaperbetes
Let me ask
you a question: What is your spiritual age? Do you understand the question? If
you consider the day of your salvation as your spiritual birthday and Christ
likeness to be spiritual maturity…then what is your spiritual age? Where do you
stack up at this point in your spiritual walk?
Now let me ask a more pointed question: How old should you be? Therein lies a huge set back for the Church as a whole…for the most part our “soldiers in Christ” have stunted growth. Most folks stopped growing right about the newborn baby stage. Go read the book of Acts and you get the impression that the vast majority of the members then were spiritual giants. They knew the Lord and the power He offered. They used it in their everyday life and, as a result, their world was turned upside down. Now fast forward to the church of today…we have a hard time just getting Christians to show up for services on a regular basis. Today you can find a church on every street corner and, for the most part, they are completely insignificant in there communities. Why? Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that our Pastors spend most of their time baby sitting immature Christians, instead of leading a march of warriors.
In I Corinthians 13:11, Paul writes… When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the childish ways behind me.
It’s very
difficult to get the world to take the Church seriously when most of our
members are still wearing diapers and drinking from the bottle. Perhaps its
time for some of us to grow up in the spirit, get up off our blessed assurance
and go to work for the Kingdom.
- Receding Care-line
You know
what I’m talking about. How many of us can tell the story about the Christian
family that walked away from the Church because their feelings got hurt over
some completely irrelevant, blown out of proportion circumstances. You see,
they turned their care away from God, away from Ministry, and placed on
themselves. I’ve come to believe that if you wear your feelings on your sleeve,
you set yourself up to become a Devil Sandwich. Satan has you just where he
wants you…and he eats you for lunch.
Paul had a
very interesting thing to say about the “Feelings Factor” for us saved folks.
…I have died to the law so that I might live for God. I have
been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:20
Dead men
tell no tales, and dead mean have no feelings. Besides that, did you see what
he said…”Christ lives in me.” Keep in mind that this is the same Christ that,
while enduring the act of crucifixion, asked the Father to forgive his torturers.
It’s a good thing that Jesus was the one crucified and not the average
Christian of today…they would have probably gotten their feelings hurt and went
home.
In the letter that John the Beloved dictated, Jesus had very high praise for the church of Ephesus. All accept for one glaring, blaring, declaring statement...Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Rev 2:4). In all the good service that the Ephesian church was performing, they had lost their focus. It's so very easy for our vision to become entangled in busy work, good work, church work....and miss the best work. Misplaced care, even with the best of intensions, is contrary to God's plan. So whether our care is just receding in general, or if it's our affection for our first love that's receding, we stand in error before our King.
In the letter that John the Beloved dictated, Jesus had very high praise for the church of Ephesus. All accept for one glaring, blaring, declaring statement...Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love (Rev 2:4). In all the good service that the Ephesian church was performing, they had lost their focus. It's so very easy for our vision to become entangled in busy work, good work, church work....and miss the best work. Misplaced care, even with the best of intensions, is contrary to God's plan. So whether our care is just receding in general, or if it's our affection for our first love that's receding, we stand in error before our King.
- AIDS
First, a
little clarification; I’m not talking about Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome
(AIDS as we know it). No, I’m referring to Acquired Integrity Deficiency Syndrome.
Ah,
integrity…that’s a word you don’t hear much about these days. How bout we take
it a step further; how often do you hear Preachers drilling on Christian
integrity? Let’s get down to the brass tax on this one. The Bible calls us a “peculiar people”. In short, we are an oddity to the
viewing world. On top of that, just look around you today. Take a strong look
at how the good old USofA scrutinizes
the followers of Christ. For the most part secular America is waiting, hoping
that one of our finest will mess up…just once…so they can pounce on ‘em. We are
under a microscope like never before. Moreover, like never before keeping our
Christian integrity intact is crucial. Here’s the bottom line Christian man,
Christian woman; you have one, I repeat, just one chance to get it right.
Sure, within
the Church we forgive and allow our own to start over…or at least we are
suppose to do it that way. However, if you blow your integrity in the eyes of
the world, you will lose your chance to be effective…you will lose your chance
to make a difference. Take for example some of the big time Christian leaders
that have fallen in the eyes of the world, many in the world will never give
them another chance. Forgiveness is impossible for the lost; it is only available
through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, in many ways, the
Church operates much like the world in this case. So often, we eat our own,
instead of circling the wagon and doing as Paul instructed in Galatians 6:1 – Brothers and sisters, if a man be overtaken a fault, you who
are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness.
Listen to
Peter's warning to the Church… Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they
accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the
day he visits us. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence
the ignorant talk of the foolish men.
1 Peter 2: 12 and
15
- Cancer of the Commitment
From the
very beginning of time, God has battled one major, heart crushing struggle with
His creation...unfulfilled commitment. From Adam to you and me the story
remains the same; God gives all, man takes all, and then man turns his back on
God. You want to know the number one disease in the church today…the broken
promise of lost commitment. You can see it from the Pastors to the pew sitters.
Teachers, elders, moms, dads, long time Christians, and brand new baby
Christians…it’s like a broken record in the ears of the Father. In fact, you go
back and look at the four previous subjects we have discussed thus far…you can
really boil it all down to this very thing, lack of loyalty.
Kinda brings
you down pretty low doesn’t it. Kinda sticks you right where it hurts. Well,
don’t beat yourself up to bad. Let me tell you why, God knows, and somehow He loves
us enough to make up the difference…its called MERCY and GRACE. It flows from
Mt. Calvary. It’s the reason He came, the reason He lived and died. You see…
For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not parish but have ever
lasting life. John 3:16
Notice it does
not say, “that whosoever does not break
their commitment with Him shall not parish.” Jesus knows that we will
struggle with that one from now till heaven, so He made up the difference for
us and said…”all you have to do is believe, and I’ll take care of the rest.”
I love you
Jesus, thank you so much; you’re the best, the absolute best.
How about Arythmia? It's a timing thing, getting our heart to beat in sync with God's. We may want now, what God has down the road for us, or procrastinate when God says, "Do it immediately!"
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