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The War for the Soul of the Church
Our aim, our ambition in life, must be to please the Lord. One significant reason why is because we must all one day appear before the judgment seat of Christ. There He will determine our due if we have done evil in this life.
So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
(2 Corinthians 5:9-10 ESV)
When I first read the above scripture, I became confused. I thought that the blood of Christ had cleansed me from all the evil that I had done. Aren’t Christians supposed to enjoy God’s forgiveness and look forward to the final day? Or should we be worried? Clearly, Paul was writing to believers. And he plainly said that there would be consequences if they had done wrong in this life. But let us not be fearful. The apostle was not addressing whether the believers were living perfectly or not, but what was their aim, their ambition.
Today, if our aim, our motive, is to please Christ, then He will instruct us in His ways and reveal to us those thoughts, attitudes, and motivations in us that are not pleasing to Him. It is only then that we will begin to gain insight into the mystery of lawlessness in His house.
Let us be clear. The blood of Christ is indeed God’s answer to all the sinful acts that we have committed. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). We must never doubt this truth.
At the same time, there are attitudes and practices in God’s house that are simply not pleasing to Him. The mystery of lawlessness is still operative in our day. Should we then be fearful of moving in a lawless spirit? Not if our ambition is to please the Lord. But if our pursuit is for success, recognition, or visibility in the eyes of others, then perhaps a good dose of the fear of the Lord is exactly what we need.[12]
Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others.
Some have mistakenly taught that all believers will receive the same eternal reward. But Paul was quite clear that there are Christians whose work on the foundation of Christ consists of wood, hay, and straw. When the day of fire inevitably comes, they will discover that while they will still be saved, all their works will have been burned up, and they will suffer loss. But those who built with gold, silver, and precious stones will receive a reward (1 Corinthians 3:11 - 17).[13]
The key to our succeeding with God in His house is not determined by the perfection of our obedience. Who could ever measure up? But if our aim is to please Him, then He will delight in us and teach us His ways. The more we then learn and embrace His ways, the less we will accommodate lawlessness in our own hearts. But we must make this journey; it will be for each of us a lifetime transition.
I used to teach that while Paul had a great reward awaiting him because his ministry had consisted of gold, silver, and precious stones, the repentant thief on the cross would have suffered some measure of loss because his life had consisted only of wood, hay, and straw. But one day it occurred to me that I was misrepresenting what Christ had said to the crucified ex-thief. The Lord promised him that he would that day be with Him in Paradise (Luke 23:43). How can we possibly see eternal loss when the Lord’s promise was that this man would not only be in Paradise but also with Him forever?
Since the only aim of the ex-thief was to now please the Lord, he could joyfully face the final judgment day.[14] Again, at issue for us is not how perfectly we have lived, but how committed we are to blessing Christ. If His joy is our aim, then we will consistently welcome the Holy Spirit’s work of conviction when He reveals in us our tendency to promote our own thoughts and agendas over His.
So who are the believers who will suffer loss on the final day? It will be those who simply are not receptive when the Lord wants to adjust them. The issue is not primarily whether any individual/local church/fellowship of churches builds more accurately than others according to scripture. All fall short of the glory of God. But when anyone has as his ambition to be pleasing to Christ, he will listen attentively when the Lord brings a word of change, even if what is said seems threatening to the accepted practices of ministry.
And indeed, much change is coming to the body of Christ. Those who teach as primary their methods of ministry and approaches to corporate structure will find it all the more difficult to respond quickly. A brief examination of the New Testament writings reveals that the main message is Christ, not how God’s people do church. But let us not miss the point. The way in which we gather will go through great change the more we learn His ways and respond to Him in His rightful and central role among us.
Christ and His ways will increasingly become “the liturgy” of our gatherings as the Church transitions in the coming years into a more full reflection of the glory of God. The ways and agendas of men (i.e., lawlessness) will become more obvious and distasteful to all who count Christ as their first love.
At the same time, the Lord will relationally connect believers who love Him but whom He will have on different timetables concerning necessary changes. These will be the times when we will discover whether or not Christ is central in our hearts. Those more committed to a certain method of ministerial function than they are to the brethren to whom God has connected them will lose sight of His way forward. We must love one another. This is not to say that the Lord cannot lead us away from those who simply do not want to yield to what He is saying. But let us be sure that if God did lead us into relationship with certain ones among His people, that He is then the one (not our own emotions) now leading us in another direction.
All through the Old Testament, God’s people cried out to learn His ways, His road. When God answered, it was not what many expected. His response was Christ; Jesus is God’s way.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14:6 ESV)
Those who sincerely love Him will discover, enjoy, and describe to others the road forward in the days that lie ahead.
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