Dear Local Church: Do You Know Your God?
A necessary wake-up call to lazy churches and lazy Christians
Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.”
Jeremiah 9:23-24
These verses, when applied to local churches, could be restated in the following way:
Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise church boast in her wisdom, let not the mighty church boast in her might, let not the rich church boast in her riches, but let the church who boasts boast in this, that she understands and knows me…
If the church is comprised of individuals, and if this verse applies to each individual, then this applies to a church in its entirety. But, let us add to this list:
Let not a church boast in its:
Worldly relevance
Skillful contextualization
Percentage of tithing among the people
Amount of books on the shelves
Size of the staff or number of pastors
Numerous interns and seminary students it trains
Published authors or podcasts produced
Conferences hosted
Missionaries supported
Sunday School attendance
Youth Group size
Worship Service views on YouTube or Social Media presence
Members who are prominent people in society
Denominational influence
Popular preachers or teachers
Decency and order
“Likeability” from the world
We could go on and on. Several of these are good things that the Lord blesses a church with. Some of them are dangerous and lethal if a church boasts in them. But, while we might be blessed with these good opportunities we must never boast in them. We must boast in knowing the LORD.
Excursus: Attributes of God and Simplicity
One important observation needs to be pointed out. Sometimes people can use this verse to champion love, justice, and righteousness in themselves. Put another way, some churches can use this verse to separate these attributes and activities from God and view them as separated from Him. They’ll mention God. They’ll talk about God. They’ll say they praise and thank God for this. But, the functional emphasis is not on the God who is love, justice, and righteousness but merely on love, justice, righteousness as objects in themselves.
When this happens a church will develop its own definitions of these. Love, justice, and righteousness often takes on the form of whatever is popular in the world (which ends up being relativism or therapeutic) or whatever seems super-religious (which ends up being legalistic).
This is where a proper doctrine of God comes in. God is simple—meaning that He is not made up of parts. All that is in God is God. God does not look to something or someone else to give Him being, existence, or attributes. God just is who He is (Ex. 3:14).
If God is simple then He is love (1 Jn. 4:8). He is justice (Deut. 32:4). He is righteousness (Ps. 5:8). These are not parts of God. Rather, we are simply describing who God is as the One who is simple.
So, what? What matters is that when we separate love, justice, and righteousness from God and change the definition then we no longer have love, justice, and righteousness. God is the definition of these. We only know these attributes as we know God Himself.
How do we know our churches are healthy? They are growing to boast in knowing God. Not knowing about God but intimately and experientially knowing God. They don’t put the emphasis on something else—no matter how good it is. The ultimate goal, the primary emphasis, the most important description of a biblically healthy local church is that they know their God. They spend time with Him. They delight to study His works (Ps. 111). They frequently and regularly gather to worship Him (Acts 2:42-47).
A church cannot claim this when they are lazy in the means of grace. A husband could never say his marriage is healthy if he rarely pursues his wife. A Quarterback can’t say he is prepared to face their next opponent if he hasn’t watched film of the other team. An aspiring doctor can’t say they are ready for the upcoming MCAT if they haven’t studied.
Yet, how lazy professing Christians are today! The problem is not laziness itself but a lack of love for God.
How often we boast in the bare minimum of spiritual exercises while we pour our efforts and zeal into worldliness. Rather than giving our entire lives to God, we treat Him as if He owes us just by our checking the monthly boxes of attending worship once or maybe twice a month—and don’t bring up any other opportunities such as Sunday Evening worship, Sunday School, midweek gatherings or community groups, or other times of discipleship. Matter of fact, God should be thrilled that we even give Him this amount of attention! After all, we have so many responsibilities and important jobs that demand our attention.
Many Christians today look like several married couples today. One spouse is fully involved and committed while the other is self-centered and self-absorbed. The committed spouse does all they can to pursue and love the other person. The self-absorbed spouse barely looks the other in the eye (let alone to pursue them on their own initiative). They love feeling loved but they don’t love in return. They only care if their physical, financial, or sexual needs are met. The marriage is really about them and their own self-actualization. Oftentimes this means that when they feel like their spouse isn’t giving them what they need then they can find it in someone else with an emotional affair or an actual affair (or just pornography, books, work, etc.).
How many Christians barely express a spiritual interest! Then again, are they even believers if they only come around church to fulfill an obligation?
Here is what is interesting: Those who will be offended at reading this are most often the hypocritical self-professing Christians, the severely misled Christian, or those who are legalistic. Those who are convicted by this are those who actually have a desire for God. Matter of fact, there are Christians who read this and will be so attacked by the Evil One that they will fall into condemnation and think they are lost. They need to be reminded of His abundant mercy and grace for them!
Those who are born again have a new nature (John 3-4; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph. 2:1-10). At the same time, they are not always most passionate for God. Christians often can fall into despair, spiritual desertion, and spiritual warfare. Often the Evil One can slay believers and wear them down. Not everyone who neglects1 coming to church is a hypocrite. Sometimes their conscience is hurting so bad and they’ve believed the lies of the Evil One who tempts them to think that they can’t go back to church. Satan has a whole host of ways he can slay believers.
But, for the general, run-of-the-mill professing Christians who are regularly neglecting the means of grace (Word, Sacraments, Prayer and in the corporate context), I am often afraid that they are either severely misled, indulging in sin that has badly hardened their hearts, or haven’t even been born again.
Jesus prayed in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life that they know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life is to know this God. What might it mean when someone barely shows any desire to know this God? Let us know assure someone of heaven when they very well might be on their way to hell.
Many Christians talk about how it is easier to know God loves them but difficult to know He likes them.2 My concern is the opposite: It seems that many self-professing Christians like God but don’t love Him. They don’t love Him and His Word—all of His Word. They like the idea of Him and the idea of the gospel but they don’t love to know Him.
We desperately need revival today. We should only pray more for the Holy Spirit to be poured out mightily upon us to cause us to be born again as new creations of God. We must attend frequently and regularly to the means of grace—not to make a church grow in attendance but to hear from God as He ministers to us. Attending the means of grace is for the sake of knowing God, understanding God, contemplating God, and worshiping God. It is to be immersed in the gospel of free grace where we might know for sure that we are “in the right” with God and that He is always at work within us. It is only as that happens that we then overflow most truly with steadfast love, justice, and righteousness for others. It is only then that we use our wisdom, might, and riches for the glory of God and advancement of the kingdom of heaven.
What unbeliever will look at the lazy church and say, “That looks like a group of people who see Someone of infinite beauty”?
The most important thing in life is to know this God, to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. Let us pray for repentance from worshiping ourselves, our emotions, or religious experience in itself. Let us know and worship God!
Have you been living as a hypocrite? Have you neglected your God? Bring it to Him! Don’t wait. The only God you will meet when you come to Him with your sin and asking for forgiveness is a smiling God. He is more ready to show mercy to you than you are ready to believe His mercy. He doesn’t want you to do anything else but come to Him with all honesty, humility, and confession. He is not asking you to be sorry enough or contribute anything to salvation. He is calling you to come as you are and to embrace Jesus as He is. His grace is greater than your sin. His grace is enough to cover your past, present, and future. His grace is not an it but a He—Jesus Christ! And by the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ brings you into the love of the Father where you might delight in the Triune God forever and ever.
To neglect does not include those who are deployed for military, doctors who are on-call, shut-ins who can’t make it, or any other necessary reasons why someone can’t attend. Neglect is far different from necessity.
If God is simple—if He is not made up of parts—then God cannot love us “in part” but only “in whole”. Therefore, God cannot not like you and also love you. Ephesians 1:4-5 talks about how God chose us in Christ and He predestined us “in love”. He cannot love us and not like us—it would be inconsistent with who He is. He is either infinitely pouring out His redemptive grace and covenantal love upon you or not at all. For God, there is no in-between. We are either in the covenant of grace or in the covenant of works.