Bruce MacInnes was once a student at the University of Maryland. For one brief half a semester, I had the privilege of being in the same Bible study with him. Today he is pastor in Sanford, North Carolina and a columnist for the Sanford Herald.
Yesterday, he posted an article on Facebook, that I asked him for permission to repost here at ChosenRebel Blog. He said yes. So, compliments of my old friend, Bruce MacInnes, here is his wisdom on the church in America. I think he is spot on.
Condemned for Apathy
“The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.” (Luke 11:31_
In Uganda a group of young men walk 3 miles four times a week to attend a bible study. In China some house churches meet at 2am Sunday morning so as not to be arrested by the communist government. In North Korea almost all the churches meet in secret because Christianity is outlawed in that oppressive regime.In our text for today a queen is praised for traveling hundreds of miles to hear Solomon’s wisdom and in the following verse Jesus mentions the men of Nineveh who repented at the preaching of Jonah and yet the people of Jesus’ generation did neither of these things even though the Son of God was in their midst. Some were opposed to Jesus, but many were just plain apathetic. They didn’t recognize who He was, and they didn’t care enough to go and find out.I wonder if the Lord feels the same way about our generation. We have churches on every corner, Bibles in most every home and hotel, Christian radio stations in most large towns and internet sites that will answer every question you could ever have about the Bible and then some you haven’t had. We have numerous opportunities to attend meetings and a vast number of materials to help us grow in Christ.No one has to walk miles to church or Bible study or prayer meeting and most everyone has enough free time to do all of these things as well as study their Bible and pray daily. Yet, our churches are half empty, Bible studies poorly attended and prayer meetings practically non-existent. What would the Lord Jesus say to us in this generation with so much access to something better than the wisdom of Solomon and the preaching of Jonah? Would He label us a wicked generation as He did His own?Would He chastise us for not utilizing all the sources we have and the freedom we’ve been given to learn of Him and tell others what we have learned? How would He feel about His church, the company of the elect being so biblically illiterate, so weak in prayer and so quiet about our faith? What would He say to us? I wonder.My wife often says that when she was saved, she knew the God of the universe had stepped inside her life and she would never be the same. She just had to spend her life getting to know Him and making Him known. When I was saved, I felt the same way. To know and serve Christ is to really live. I would walk many miles just to worship with a handful of believers. How about you? How precious is your faith? How deeply do you yearn for fellowship? Teaching? Prayer? Christ condemned apathy, don’t let Him condemn you.Bruce MacInnes is the pastor of Goldston Baptist Church in Sanford, NC
There is really only one response to Bruce’s post, if it hits home with us. Repent.
- Confess our need, repent of our sin, and by God’s grace, amend our behavior.
- Let’s do it together. Start praying today for a banishment of apathy in our hearts. Let’s do it for the glory of God and the joy of the world and the legacy to our children.
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