Amongst A Sea Of Business Cards

A few years ago, just after I moved here, a newly appointed pastor handed me a dozen business cards, which had his name printed on it, as well as the title, address, and phone number of his church. I just stared at the cards in disbelief. When the shock wore off, I looked up at him and asked him what he wanted me to do with them. He was annoyed with my question. "I don't know," he said. "Leave them at the police station when you and your sons go to request a criminal record check."

I didn't leave them at the police station. I was disgusted. When I got home, I tossed the cards into the garbage and asked myself these questions: Does this pastor think people are like potential customers to whom you hand out business cards? Does he view people as a source of revenue for his church? What would Jesus think of those cards? After all, His name wasn't located anywhere on them.

When I told my oldest son about the business cards, he told me that it was quite common for pastors to have them these days. I was even more shocked.

It is God's burning desire for His Church to gather together and support each other with the sole purpose of doing the will of God and that is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Church is to be a place where God and His Word reign supreme.

Today's churches, however, largely consist of chain-of-command pastors, thrown-together sermons that leave people bewildered, theatrical stage shows, clips of ungodly TV shows or movies, references to ungodly celebrities, musical concerts, Broadway-like drama productions, and a variety of programs to satisfy the believers. All the while outside of the church the sick are dying, the depressed are suicidal, the drug and alcohol addicts are homeless, the abused children are suffering, the married couples are divorcing, the lost are wandering, the poor are starving, and the dying are going to hell.

The Church needs to wake up because the world needs Jesus, and the churches today do very little to help reach those souls that are crying out for answers, looking for a miracle, and longing for a Heavenly Father to love them.

The Bible says that God is to be the head of everything that goes on in the Church. The members of the Church are parts of Christ's body, all of equal importance. The Church is the extension of Jesus to others, and it is the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way. God's power and God's glory is to fill the Church. It is not the pastors or the Church itself that is to be glorified, only Christ Himself.

"And God placed all things under His feet

and appointed Him to be head over everything for the church,

which is His body,

the fullness of Him who fills everything in every way."

Ephesians 1:22-23 (NIV)

When I was in Bible college, a group of us students used to go street-witnessing every Friday night. We would go out on the streets and bring people out of the cold into a warm shelter where coffee and cookies were served. We would read to them Bible verses and share with them the love of Christ. Afterwards we would pray with them. None of us had business cards to give them — just Jesus and His Word.

Christianity is just that simple and it doesn't cost much. All that is required is a servant's heart and a love for God's Word. Over the years though, Christianity has gotten so complicated and expensive that the simplicity of it has been lost and, in the process, Jesus went missing.