Is your church all head and no heart? Are you afraid of our culture?

Pete Alwinson:
Is your church all head and no heart? Are you afraid of our culture? Let’s talk about it on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you’ve suffered too long under a do more try harder religion, Key Life is here to proclaim that Jesus sets the captives free. Steve invited Pete Alwinson to teach us this week. Pete is a former pastor, founder of ForgeTruth.com and the author of Like Father Like Son.

Pete Alwinson:
Thanks Matthew. It’s good to be with you all this week. I’m Pete Alwinson, one of the voices of grace here on Key Life. And we’re talking this week about the graced church, looking at the seven churches in the Book of Revelation, something we don’t often do. But we are a graced church, and we’re kind of looking at what happened to the churches 60 years after the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The pressures that they were under, and what happened to them as local churches. And we, the Church of Jesus Christ today, are under a great deal of pressure today as well. And so, what’s happening to us? Well, as the Graced Church, we want to learn from those early churches. And these letters were written by Jesus to these churches, so that they could know how history was going to unfold for them in their immediate future and in the lifetime of the church until Jesus Christ comes back again. So, Revelation may very well be the most practical book you’ve ever read. And you’re saying, say what? I know, it’s got a lot of symbolism and a lot of challenges to us, but this is really important. Now, the chapters that we’re looking at in chapters two and three are letters, so they’re pretty straightforward. So, let’s take a look at what God is saying to the first church we’re going to look at today, the church in Ephesus, which was a church that really had become a church that was mostly head and had lost their heart. Look at this, Revelation 2: verse 1.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:

And by the way, you need to understand that all of these letters are addressed to the angel, which have to be the pastors of the church. I mean, what good is it to write a letter to an angel? What’s an angel going to do with a letter? But the pastors are angelos to the local churches, they are the messengers. And so, that’s why these letters go to the pastors who then need to pass it on to the congregation.

“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands.

Verse 2

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name’s sake, but you have not grown weary.

Isn’t that great? Catch this, as we read these letters, understand that Jesus walks among your church. He’s here. He knows. And that phrase, I know, is said two times. I know, I know what’s going on. Well, then to the church in Ephesus, he says.

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I’ll come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. Yet this you have: you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.’

What a powerful passage that is. And by the way, the church of Jesus Christ is going to overcome because we’re graced and the Lord of the church is among us. We will overcome, we want to overcome, we want our light to so shine in the world that Jesus is honored and glorified. But that can’t happen if we’re all head and no heart. In other words, if we are truth oriented and aggressively truth oriented, but have no sense of grace and love for each other, for God and for others outside the church family. This is really practical. As a matter of fact, if I were speaking at my denomination’s general assembly, this could apply to some of us in my denomination, because we are so committed to truth. And I love that, but what happens when you’re a minority in a culture, and you get pushed back time and time again, as the early church was doing and as we are doing now. When you get pushed back and called names and canceled out, you can lose your heart for those that are coming after you and you can become all head and all argument and very, very little grace. That’s what was happening in the church of Ephesus. And so, let me give you a truth and that is that grace balances us out. Grace balances us out. It helps us to remember that we have been called by the God of the universe out of darkness and the light and all by something that he did for us. The gospel has to be pure, but the gospel also has to be flooded with joy. Now, I will say this, that we do live in a day and age in American culture that is very, very emotionally oriented. I loved reading recently, Joe Rigney’s book, Leadership and Emotional Sabotage. And in it, he talks about how we in America have an unheathered emotionalism. In other words, we’re pretty emotional culture now and we’re not that concerned with fact and we push back hard and cancel out hard those that differ with us. Well, nevertheless, in this day and age, the graced church has to understand by the glory of God’s grace that we have to love those people out there that don’t love us very much. And so, the challenge to be not just all head and not just all heart is for us to preach the gospel to ourselves every morning. I love that. And remembering who we are as the deeply beloved sons and daughters of the most high God. Is this your church? All head, no heart. Pray for your church. Well, there’s another church I want to introduce you to the church of Smyrna, not in Georgia, not near Atlanta, where my son lives. But there’s a church in Smyrna, Asia Minor.

“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of the first and the last, who died and came to life.

Hear again the words.

I know your tribulation, your poverty (but you’re rich) and the slander of those who say that we are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear what you’re about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you’ll have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’

Well, the first death is when we die physically, and the second death is when those who reject Jesus Christ are cast into the lake of fire, hell, as it’s taught in the Book of Revelation. But notice he doesn’t have anything bad to say about the church in Smyrna. It’s a good church. It’s a good church. They weren’t into any heresy. They weren’t overemphasizing any particular doctrine. But he does say they’re going to be tested, like all churches. And this is something that we forget, having been raised in American culture, is that the Church of Jesus Christ in every culture and every day is persecuted and suffered, as Jesus says, as the apostles say.

Those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

There might be one thing here, with the Church of Smyrna, and it’s that they were possibly fearful. Are you a fearful person? And I realize at times I can be fearful, particularly for my family and other people and other events. Is your church a fearful church? Well, here the message is let grace and the fact that you are a graced people and all of the truth of God is given to and you don’t have to worry about death. Let this give you power in the face of the opposition that you’ll face. And so, maybe you have neighbors that are not positive toward you, or maybe at work you have to keep your mouth pretty shut, maybe you are afraid of what our culture is becoming. Well, Jesus would say, don’t be afraid. Here’s the challenge, allow me to fill your head with Biblical truth about the gospel. Read the Book of Romans, dive in, fill your head with all the truth of the gospel, but let the grace of God’s unconditional love for you go down to the very core of your being. You know, he’s not mad at you. We say that a lot around Key Life. He’s not angry at you because he poured out all of his anger on Jesus and he has absolutely no anger left for you. And so, allow that fact that you are graced and loved to sink into your heart. And so, here’s the truth. The bigger your Jesus and the more great your truth is, the more you will be able to keep truth and love in balance. And fear will run for its life. Keep truth and love in balance. And fear will run for its life. You take it to heart. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Pete Alwinson. Pete is leading us through a terrific series this week called The Graced Church. Tomorrow, we’ll continue our exploration and ask this question. Is your church properly intolerant? What does that mean? I don’t know? Tune in and we’ll find out together. And if Pete Alwinson’s name and voice sound familiar, you likely know him from Friday Q&A. That’s our weekly segment when he and Steve answer listener questions. You might even have some questions of your own, maybe big ones like, does God exist? Am I really forgiven and free? If all of this is true, then why don’t I feel different? Well, Steve wrote about these things in the special mini-book called Faith and Doubt: When Belief is Hard. In it, he explores the reasons behind our doubts and explains how we can rest in our faith. May we send you this mini-book for free? Yeah? All right, well then call us right now at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that mini-book. And to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Just ask for the free mini-book called Faith and Doubt: When Belief is Hard. Finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you join us in that work through your financial support? Giving us easy, just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or you can now give safely and securely through text. Just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word or two. It doesn’t matter. Text that to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.