This is the outline of a sermon I have not preached at a church but only on A Fresh Start TV Program. It was first aired on April 13, 2010 on WVLR in Knoxville and was aired twice that week. It has not been shown again on WVLR. The sermon aired on A Fresh Start on WTWV in Memphis the first and second week (three times each week) in January 2013, and has not been aired again on that station.
Every week now I read or hear about things that have become issues in churches that are in no way representative of what God meant for a New Testament Church to be. Too many churches have become ingrown, full of church members who are more concerned with their personal wants and desires being met instead of being committed to doing what God desires and wants us to do.
If any of the characteristics listed below are representative of a church, that church has “ingrown eyeballs.” Were any of these characteristics in a church I pastored? I wish I could say they weren’t, but I experienced firsthand being a part of a church with ingrown eyeballs a few times but did what I could do to help lead that church back to “20/20 vision spiritually.” For most of the characteristics given below, I am thankful that I did not have to experience them firsthand but was enlightened about them from fellow pastors who did experience them firsthand. I already have learned of more characteristics of churches with ingrown eyeballs than those listed below, so there will be a Part Two down the road.
THE CHURCH WITH INGROWN EYEBALLS
I. MORE CONCERNED WITH BEING MINISTERED TO BY THEIR PASTOR THAN BEING MINISTERS TO ONE ANOTHER, EXPECTING THEIR PASTOR TO DO THOSE THINGS THAT ANYONE ELSE CAN DO THAT KEEP HIM FROM DOING THE THINGS HE CAN DO THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN DO
II. MORE CONCERNED WITH THE RUNNING OF THE CHURCH AND RUNNING THE CHURCH THAN THE REIGNING OF CHRIST IN THE CHURCH AND OVER THE CHURCH
III. MORE COMMITTED TO TALKING MISSIONS AND EVEN TAKING MISSION TRIPS YEARLY OR EVERY FEW YEARS MORE THAN WALKING WITH THE LORD DAILY WHERE THEY LIVE AND LOCALLY IMPACTING THE WORLD AROUND THEM FOR CHRIST
IV. MORE FOCUSED ON THE FORMALITY OF THE WORSHIP SERVICES, GOING THROUGH THE MOTIONS, AND GETTING IT OVER THAN MEETING WITH GOD, GIVING WAY TO THE SPIRIT, AND GETTING A WORD FROM GOD
V. MORE INTERESTED IN CHURCH AS THEIR SOCIAL ACTIVITY CENTER THAN A SPIRITUAL LIFE CENTER WHERE THEY ARE CONTINUOUSLY MOTIVATED TO GROW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST
VI. MORE ABLE TO DRAW SOME OF ITS LARGEST CROWDS EVER ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT, NOT FOR THE STANDARD PRAYER SERVICE MANY CHURCHES CONDUCT FAITHFULLY EACH WEEK, BUT FOR A BUSINESS MEETING DEALING WITH CONFLICT CAUSING ISSUES WHICH ENDS WITH THE WINNERS BEING THOSE WHO WERE THE MOST EFFECTIVE IN THEIR GETTING OUT THE VOTE CAMPAIGN
VII. MORE KNOWN FOR SPREADING GOSSIP THAN PROCLAIMING THE GOSPEL
VIII. MORE LEGALISTIC THAN WAS EVER INTENDED IN FOLLOWING THEIR CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS BUT WILL IGNORE AND EVEN CHANGE OR OVERRIDE THEM WHEN THE BY-LAWS ARE NOT TO
THEIR ADVANTAGE
IX. WILL NEVER ACCEPT THE BLAME FOR WHAT’S WRONG OR WHAT’S NOT RIGHT IN THEIR CHURCH BUT ALWAYS BLAME SOMEONE ELSE OTHER THAN WHERE THE PROBLEM REALLY IS WHICH IS WITHIN THEMSELVES
X. THE BEST PASTOR THEY’VE EVER HAD IS THE ONE THEY’VE NEVER HAD OR ONE OF THE PREVIOUS ONES THEY RAN OFF
Christians are among the most vocal today about what’s wrong with what they don’t like in our country, especialy regarding political issues, but it is time for “judgment to to begin at the House of God” (1 Peter 4:17). We need to get the church back to what God meant for it to be from what it has become.
A reading of how the Lord dealt with His people over and over again in Old Testament Books like 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles reveals that God allowed pagan and corrupt political leaders to be over His people at times when they strayed from their dedication and obedience to God’s Word. God’s purpose was not for them to put the blame for what was not right in their lives on the political leaders they disliked and what was wrong with those political leaders, but for God’s people to focus on what was wrong with them and to get their lives right with God. Christians in America need to get their focus on what’s not right with our country off The White House and get it on what’s not right in God’s House. From Capitol Hill to Calvary’s Hill is where we need to take our plight.