AFFLATUS VERSUS APATHY

I Was Just Thinking About – AFFLATUS VERSUS APATHY.

Do you wonder about how the Church became so bureaucratic and micromanaged by denominational edicts? Do you wonder about why the local Church prides itself in its independent spirit? Do you wonder why Churches in many communities split periodically? Do you think it is because of dominant power figures within the local Church who follow a rule or ruin approach and philosophy? What if the Church existed by God’s edicts and for His purposes, would you notice any difference in the Church you attend? If the Church was afflatus, it would be one that came into being by “a divine impulse or inspiration.”

Dr. A.W. Tozer (1897-1963) wrote about: “Each local company (of people) is ideally and should be actually equipped to do anything that the Head of the church wills to accomplish. Wherever such a company is found, there is the true church, the complete church...Each local church is a fellowship in the deepest spiritual meaning of that word…It cannot be produced by organization…Organization did not create the church; it was imposed upon a church already present, a church which had been born out of the preaching of the gospel. For it is always the gospel that produces the church; there can be no church apart from the gospel.

Is his written view Biblical? If so, what is it based upon?

I Corinthians 12:12, 27

“The body is a unit, though it is comprised of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body. So it is with Christ… Now you are the body of Christ, and each of you is a member of it.”

What should the body of believers do if it is to survive and be effective? A verse that addresses this in part is Proverbs 29:14 (KJV), “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Is that why active membership in churches shrivels and ceases to exist? There needs to be the concern and readiness of regaining God's vision for His people and Church.

Can this trend or tendency in a local church be reversed? The answer is, Yes! It will not occur by osmosis but by actively heeding and doing the words of Jesus Christ. What is that word? Start with Revelation 2:1-7, “I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance…But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lamp-stand from its place.”

Dr. D. James Kennedy wrote about Revelation 2:5, “Remember the threefold prescription of our Savior: remember, repent, and return. May God grant that we might remember our first love and from whence we are fallen. What a tragic term “fallen” is. You are a fallen woman . . . a fallen man. You have fallen from your first love. Repent from your spiritual apathy. Return to your first love for Jesus.”

Prayerfully – consider these things with me.