The Christian Country Club
I do not pray that You should take them out of the world
but that You should keep them from the evil one.
(John 17:15 NKJV)
God did not call us to form a Christian country club and hang out with only those like ourselves, separated from the outside world. If you never spend time in the real world, how can you ever reach the lost?
Too many Christians get saved and then settle down into a nice, comfortable lifestyle. They go to church on Sundays, to home groups and bible studies, and often work and play together. They become insulated, comfortable, believing they are serving God, and all is good. They are convinced God is giving them gold stars for their good behavior and piety. But they hardly ever touch the world outside of their Christian life, hardly ever meet people who are lost, in pain, in darkness, and are desperately in need of a Savior.
From Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado:
When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (Acts 2:1) This is the earliest appearance of the church. Consider where God placed His people. Not isolated in a desert or quarantined in a bunker. Not separated from society, but smack-dab in the center of it, in the heart of one of the largest cities at its busiest time.
We fall into the trap of ritual religion. Sunday church services, Wednesday evening prayer meetings, weekend retreats and believe we are serving God when in fact we are simply hanging out together making ourselves feel good. But where is the longing for Him? To know Him and “the power of His resurrection.”
We should be like Isaiah, “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I! Send me‘” (Isaiah 6:8 NKJV).
In his book, The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer writes:
Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desires must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits so long, so very long, in vain. Every age has its own characteristics. Right now, we are in an age of religious complexity. The simplicity that is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship and that servile imitation of the world that marks our promotional methods, all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.
We also need to be careful we do not become like the Pharisees, avoiding people because they are not like us. God wants us to show His love to the world just like His Son did, not withdraw into religious isolation.He never intended his church to become an exclusive country club. He meant it to be an army on the march, striding into enemy territory, and reclaiming the land usurped by the Enemy.
Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20 NIV).
