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Introduction: Right now, even as
we speak, we are in a life and death struggle, in which our souls
hang in the balance. Paul described the battle in Ephesians
6:10-13. Satan will stop at nothing to send our souls
hurtling into everlasting torment. We see his attempts all around
us. Our peers apply pressure. Satan is behind that. Hollywood
glamorizes immorality. Satan is behind that. Our society degrades
God’s word. Satan is behind that. Satan is making a bold frontal
assault on those who would serve God. But, even Satan knows that
some will not fall prey to such obvious maneuvering. And so, he
has another tactic, a more subtle approach, with which he
hoodwinks his victims and then devours them. Satan has subtly
deceived numerous would-be followers of God into believing they
are serving Him, when in fact they are only serving themselves.
And teenagers, Satan is particularly targeting you with his
treachery. Churches everywhere view you as the lifeblood of their
future. Churches, therefore, want your membership. But with this
mindset comes a dangerous shift. Too many churches today are
focused on simply having you as a member of their church and are
not necessarily focused on making sure you go to heaven. Church
growth has become a business, it is about marketing. Churches are
asking, “How can we attract young people to our church? What can
we give them and provide for them that will get them committed to
this church?” The question is no longer, “What can we teach
them that will devote them to Christ Jesus?” Church leaders
think to themselves, “Maybe if we build a gymnasium, a baseball
diamond or a soccer field, we can attract those who like sports.
Maybe if we have a fellowship hall, a game room or pizza parties,
we can attract those who like social activities. Maybe if we
sponsor a tutoring service or academic scholarships, we can
attract those who want to further their education. Maybe if we
have plays, musicals, bands and choirs, we can attract those who
want to be entertained.” No doubt, churches say that Jesus is
the reason they are doing all of these things. But, who is really
being served by these secular attractions? God or man? Teenagers
everywhere look at churches and ask, “What is in it for me?”
Frankly, I do not blame you for such a question. I think our
society has trained you to ask this question. After all, how many
times have you heard your parents ask church leaders what their
church has to offer you? But can I encourage you to ask a better
question? When you look at a church and the works it sponsors, do
not ask what is in it for you. Rather, ask, “What is in it for
God? Is what is going on in the church really about serving God or
is it about serving me?” Discussion: I.
The root of
the problem. A.
Satan wants
to convince you that as long as you go to a church, any church,
then your eternity is secure. He wants to persuade you that as
long as a church is sponsoring an activity it is pleasing to God.
He wants you to believe that as long as you say Jesus is Lord, you
can do what you want and you are glorifying Him. But, do not be
deceived, that is not true. B.
In Matthew
7:21-23, Jesus looked to the Judgment Day and spoke about
deceived souls. Jesus said that many would tell Him all about the
religious things they had done. But He would say to them, “I
never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” C.
They were
going to church, they were doing seemingly spiritual things, what
was the problem? The problem was they were not doing the will of
the Father. They were doing what they wanted in religion. There
was nothing in it for God and their religion was useless. D.
Satan wants
to convince you that you are honoring and glorifying God, even if
your hearts are far from God. He will do this by getting you to
follow manmade religions and teachings (Matthew
15:8-9). “But I go to church,” he wants you to say,
“and we honor God at my church. So we must be serving Him!”
But are you? Or are you really serving yourselves? What is the
work and worship of your church really about? Is it about what’s
in it for you? Or is it about what’s in it for God? II.
God has a
pattern and Satan wants you to believe it is unimportant. A.
Have you
ever asked yourself, “Why did God give us the Bible?” Notice
God’s answer in II
Timothy 3:14-17. God gave the Scriptures to make us wise
for salvation. They teach us, reprove us, correct us and train us
in righteousness. The Scriptures equip us for every good work. God
has provided a pattern for us, a blueprint of how to serve Him. B.
Notice I
Timothy 3:15. Paul told Timothy that he was explaining how
one should conduct himself in the church. He was providing a
pattern for serving God. The New Testament is a pattern. We must
not pass over this lightly. When we do something other than follow
the pattern of God in Scripture, we are serving ourselves and not
serving God. C.
God expects
us to follow this pattern. But Satan wants to minimize it. He
wants to convince us that the pattern is unimportant. Consider
some of the following statements. Have you ever heard any of them
or perhaps even thought any of them? 1.
“God gave
us the Bible just to tell us that He loves us. And all He wants in
return is for us to love Him as best we can.” 2.
“Surely a
loving God is not going to care if we do just a few things
differently.” 3.
“We are
all going to heaven; we are just taking different ways to get
there.” 4.
“Do not
spend too much time worrying about the letter of the law.” 5.
“As long
as Jesus is your Lord, nothing else matters.” 6.
“God just
really wants us to be happy. So if what we are doing feels right,
then it must be pleasing to God.” 7.
“I know
what the Bible says, but I just can’t believe God would condemn
us for this.” 8.
“It is all
about getting people to turn to Jesus. Surely God wants us to do
anything and everything we think might cause one more soul to
learn about Him.” 9.
Do you see
how all of these statements minimize God’s pattern, exalting our
own opinions and desires? The service any church offers to God
must be authorized and approved by His pattern, the Scriptures.
Otherwise, we are serving ourselves, not God, and we will be in
that group of people mentioned in Matthew
7:23. III.
Does God
really care as long as we are honoring and glorifying him? A.
Churches
today have pizza parties and they call it fellowship. They have
gymnasiums and basketball camps and they call it evangelism. They
have show choirs and dance teams and they call it glorifying God.
How can there be anything wrong with any of that? After all, as
long as we are honoring and glorifying God, does He really care
what we do? But we have to ask ourselves, are we really honoring
and glorifying God, just because we classify it that way? B.
Ask Cain. In
Genesis
4:2-5, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground
to the Lord. It was called an offering, how can there be anything
wrong with that? But God did not respect Cain’s offering. The
text does not tell us exactly why Cain’s sacrifice was
displeasing. But what we do learn that God does care how we honor
Him. Just because we call something an offering to the Lord, does
not mean He accepts it. C.
Ask Uzza. In
I
Chronicles 13:6-11, David was moving the ark of God to
Jerusalem. They placed it on a cart and Uzza and Ahio, men of
Judah, were driving the cart. Uzza touched the ark and God struck
him dead. These people thought they were serving God. But just
because we think we are serving God, does not mean God accepts it. D.
Ask Nadab
and Abihu. In Leviticus
10:1-3, Aaron’s two sons were ministering in the
tabernacle of the Lord. They made one small change. They
“glorified” and “worshiped” God by using strange fire. In
an instant, they were devoured by fire from heaven. Moses told
Aaron that this is what God was teaching, “By those who come
near to me I must be regarded as holy; And before all the people I
will be glorified.” You may call something “fellowship”,
“evangelism” or “glorifying God” that does not mean God
accepts it. E.
Now, let me
ask you, does God care? Romans
15:4 says these things were written for our learning. We
learn from these passages that God cares how we glorify Him. If we
are not following the pattern He has established, then no amount
of justifying, explaining or renaming what we are doing authorizes
our actions. We are only glorifying God when we do it His way.
Anything else is really serving ourselves, not God. IV.
“What’s
in it for God?” A.
The devil
has deceived far too many today. And he is actively striving to
deceive the young. The fact is, you are at a very difficult and
turbulent age as you are trying to find your place in the world
and in the Lord’s church. You do not simply want to follow in
the footsteps of your parents and yet you are not quite sure of
your own footing. You desire to serve God fervently with all of
your heart and be an active part of his people. But by sheer lack
of time on this earth, you have not yet been able to learn all of
God’s pattern for us. The devil wants to capitalize on this
difficult age by appealing to your emotions and desires. He wants
to offer “fun” and “good times” and convince you that in
following what appeals to you, you are following after God. If he
can get you to commit to that emotionally while you are young, he
knows it will be difficult for anyone to convince you scripturally
of the truth, even when you are old. B.
I know that
a lot of what you see in churches today seems good: the parties,
the fellowship halls, the family life centers, the game rooms, the
theme park trips, the movie nights, the Super Bowl halftime
devotionals, the donuts and coke in Bible classes and much, much
more. I know how preachers have reclassified these things to seem
good. But remember, the devil himself can appear as an angel of
light (II
Corinthians 11:14). How much more then will he strive to
make these works seem right. But there is nothing in them for God.
They are not about glorifying God. When you examine them, you will
find that they are about pleasing people. C.
Ask yourself
about every action of the church, “What’s in it for God?”
And remember, there is only something in it for God if we can turn
to a book, chapter and verse and demonstrate that God wants us to
do it. Otherwise, we are like Cain, Uzza, Nadab and Abihu. We will
be like those in Matthew
7:21-23 who called Jesus Lord with their mouths, but acted
with lawlessness. In the end, we will hear, “I never knew you,
depart from me.” Do you want to hear that? Then do not be
deceived, glorify God and not yourselves. Do not let Satan tempt
you with Hollywood style entertainment worship. Do not let him
tempt you with cheap attempts to buy your membership with fun and
games. Do not let him tempt you with all kinds of activities that
profess to be based in concern for your soul, but are not based in
the word of God. Conclusion: Perhaps you are here because someone invited you. Perhaps you have wondered why your friend’s church does not have the choirs, solos, cantatas, youth groups, fellowship halls, bands, parties and trips that your church has. Or perhaps you have grown up in this congregation and looked longingly at your friend’s churches that have all those things and wondered why we do not. I hope you have seen why. Because at the Franklin Church of Christ, our concern is not to entertain you. Our concern is not to provide you with recreation. Our concern is not to provide you with fun and games. Our concern is with glorifying our Father in heaven and with saving your soul. We cannot accomplish either of those goals if we allow Satan to turn us from the pattern God has set for us. Instead, if we follow in the footsteps of mainstream churches today, we will condemn your souls and lose ours as well. We have made our choice at this congregation. We will not attempt to buy your membership in this congregation with secular attractions. Instead, we will work to draw you to Christ with the teaching of the gospel (John 6:44-45). Now, you must make your choice. And please remember, you will stand before God in judgment and answer to Him for the choice you make. Will you serve yourself, pretending that you are devoted to God? Or will you submit to what His Word has authorized and serve God His way?
Glory
to God in the church by Christ Jesus
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