My Response To David Platt Part 2

In chapter 1 of Radical Platt talks about an article from a Christian news publication that reveals what I believe is a tendency based upon materialism living within the United States.  He describes how a church had just finished a new building costing around $23 million and in the publication it made headlines.  Also within the publication was a smaller article about how Baptists had come to the aid of Sudanese refugees.  The contrast was stark...a Baptist church that had dedicated a $23 million building and on the other side an article about how baptists had raised $5,000 "to send to refugees in western Sudan (16)."  All I could think about was $23 million on a building vs $5,000 on helping refugees who had physical needs as well as spiritual. 

Platt poses the question, "Where have we gone wrong?" and I will do the same.  In America we celebrate corporate success and we value making money.  Don't get me wrong, making money is a necessary thing and we need successful businesses to help employ others.  But where the line needs to be drawn is when we begin to value "things" in the church over spiritual successes.  How many churches could this church have planted using the $23 million?  How many missionaries could they have supported with this money?  How many of the Sudan refugees could they have fed for that amount of money?  Are we becoming like the modern day builders of the Tower of Babel and attempting to build empires to ourselves?

Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (MT 6:21)  Maybe our hearts are not on the Gospel.  Maybe we do not value the Word in the manner in which we would like to believe.  I've used this example before but how many times do we tell our children to go to school and get good grades so you can become a doctor, lawyer, or teacher?  How many times do we tell them to walk daily with Jesus, love the Word, grow in your faith, and then follow God's path for you?  Or how about when our child comes to us and indicates that God is calling them into ministry and we try to talk them out of it because the money is not that great?

My point is this...in many churches today our treasure is in building cathedrals to ourselves and not the kingdom of God.  Want proof?  Look at our budgets or for that matter the numbers.  Many times we talk about how unchurched a certain area is or that a ministry needs to be started to accomplish certain things...but how often do we fail to do anything?  Instead we sit in a comfortable environment maintaining the status quo. 

I think it's time for the church in America to step up.  Much has been given to us and much should be expected.  We need more pastors, more missionaries, more churches, and more people willing to start churches.  We need more churches willing to spend less on themselves and invest more in starting new churches and supporting missionaries.  I think one of the saddest things I heard in Seminary is that the NAMB had plenty of missionaries willing to go overseas but the funding was not there to send them.  Can you imagine?  It's not because enough churches don't exist to support them, most likely it would be because the churches that do exist often have misguided budgets.

Jesus never called anyone to be comfortable and if you think about it, fulfilling the biblical command to live in holiness is quite uncomfortable.  To accomplish such a high standard how many times do we have to deny ourselves of the things we want to do?  Instead Jesus called people to obedience.  Obedience is difficult but if we want to effectively grow in our walks obedience is a must.  I think we need to be challenged to leave our environments of comfort and journey out on faith and trust that God is going to take care of us. 

In America sometimes it's difficult for us to do such things because we live in a country where everything is catered to our convenience.  And this includes our churches.  Our convenience level is easier attained with a $23 million building rather than asking for volunteers to go on a mission trip. 

Jeremy