What Keeps a Church From Being Transformed? (Part 1)
If church-wide transformation proves the will of God for their community, allows it to execute the will of God for their community and
accomplish that will, why don’t more churches become transformed? As mentioned when answering “What is transformation?”,
maintaining an intimate relationship with God is a labor-intensive procedure. It is simpler to rely on established traditions, personal
inclinations and the recycling of past actions to maintain both personal and corporate faith and ministry. Most American churches
have defaulted to this later strategy.
This is not a new phenomenon to the 21st Century. Within 50-60 years of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, at least one local
church was already sliding into the abyss of “static religion.” Ephesus, once a power-house church with the Apostle John as Senior
Pastor, had now allowed hard work and ministry constraints to replace intimacy and relationship with God. In their drift, we see why a
local church is kept from transformation. Over the next few visits we will discover four characteristics of churches that refuse to
transform. Today we look at the first …
CHURCHES THAT REFUSE TO TRANSFORM RELY ON DOCTRINE ALONE
“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the
midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And
you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.” Revelation 2:1-2 (NKJV)
Literally, “they can’t bear those who are worthless.” In Ephesus, the congregation couldn’t bear with those whose walk didn’t match
their talk and, in fact, were not even within the fold of the Great Shepherd, Jesus. Knowing the truths of God’s heart and word creates
a type of “lie detector” which allows the leadership within the church of Ephesus the wisdom to expose those who seek to destroy
God’s work.
These people seek to be prophets but the local leadership cannot bear with those who do not possess the call of God on their lives.
The Ephesian elders knew truth and were able to spot a deceiver by their character and the content of their message.
These are two wonderful aspects which Jesus Himself commends in these churches! Their deep love of God desires to hold onto
the truth and keep pure from the invasive attacks of the enemy. There is nothing wrong with ensuring the purity of one’s church. In fact,
this is very commendable. However, this is the where the picture becomes hazy – and confuses the less astute follower of Jesus.
In churches that refuse to transform, the focus is on exposing sin. Focus always deals with direction. As we will see in upcoming
parts to this discussion, Jesus is most interested in what beats strongest in our hearts – without leaving other important matters
undone.
As Jesus deals with the core items within the heart of the Church at Ephesus, most likely in the order of importance there, we will
discover that the focus of a church reveals God’s attitude towards it.
© 2007 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith. All rights reserved.
If church-wide transformation proves the will of God for their community, allows it to execute the will of God for their community and
accomplish that will, why don’t more churches become transformed? As mentioned when answering “What is transformation?”,
maintaining an intimate relationship with God is a labor-intensive procedure. It is simpler to rely on established traditions, personal
inclinations and the recycling of past actions to maintain both personal and corporate faith and ministry. Most American churches
have defaulted to this later strategy.
This is not a new phenomenon to the 21st Century. Within 50-60 years of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, at least one local
church was already sliding into the abyss of “static religion.” Ephesus, once a power-house church with the Apostle John as Senior
Pastor, had now allowed hard work and ministry constraints to replace intimacy and relationship with God. In their drift, we see why a
local church is kept from transformation. Over the next few visits we will discover four characteristics of churches that refuse to
transform. Today we look at the first …
CHURCHES THAT REFUSE TO TRANSFORM RELY ON DOCTRINE ALONE
“To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the
midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And
you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.” Revelation 2:1-2 (NKJV)
- They can’t bear those who are evil.
Literally, “they can’t bear those who are worthless.” In Ephesus, the congregation couldn’t bear with those whose walk didn’t match
their talk and, in fact, were not even within the fold of the Great Shepherd, Jesus. Knowing the truths of God’s heart and word creates
a type of “lie detector” which allows the leadership within the church of Ephesus the wisdom to expose those who seek to destroy
God’s work.
- They expose false prophets.
These people seek to be prophets but the local leadership cannot bear with those who do not possess the call of God on their lives.
The Ephesian elders knew truth and were able to spot a deceiver by their character and the content of their message.
These are two wonderful aspects which Jesus Himself commends in these churches! Their deep love of God desires to hold onto
the truth and keep pure from the invasive attacks of the enemy. There is nothing wrong with ensuring the purity of one’s church. In fact,
this is very commendable. However, this is the where the picture becomes hazy – and confuses the less astute follower of Jesus.
In churches that refuse to transform, the focus is on exposing sin. Focus always deals with direction. As we will see in upcoming
parts to this discussion, Jesus is most interested in what beats strongest in our hearts – without leaving other important matters
undone.
As Jesus deals with the core items within the heart of the Church at Ephesus, most likely in the order of importance there, we will
discover that the focus of a church reveals God’s attitude towards it.
© 2007 by Dr. Matthew Lee Smith. All rights reserved.
| Transformation |
 |
 |
| First Baptist Church |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
