I remember coming to church at a church I planted in South Dakota. It was a cold winter morning. Snow covered the ground and was piled deeply. I went inside to get the snow shovel so that I could clear the sidewalk and ramp to the building. When I opened the door, I remember thinking, “Where is the snow shovel? I know I left it right by the door because I used it last week!” I looked and could not find it. As I looked around, I realized something was not right. The welcome desk was not where it normally stood staring at the front door to welcome each person as they came in with announcements, etc. That was when I noticed that someone had been in the building and had moved a lot of stuff. Several things were missing.
As I remember this scene (someone had moved all the stuff so they could vacuum the floor and had simply not put them back), I wonder how many times I have come to church and some things were missing, but I didn’t notice until later.
Paul talked about the Roman church needing some things that were missing. They were missing the power of the Holy Spirit, joy, peace, hope, and the fullness of God. They were missing these things for a reason:
“Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God. For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy; as it is written, “Therefore I will give praise to You among the Gentiles, And I will sing to Your name.” Again he says, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people.” And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, And let all the peoples praise Him.” Again Isaiah says, “There shall come the root of Jesse, And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles, In Him shall the Gentiles hope.” Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:7–13, NASB95)
Did you catch what they were missing? They were not accepting one another. They accepted the people that were like them. They were accepting those with the same pedigree or national identity, but others were either tolerated or outright rejected. Because of this, they were missing the ingredients and were missing an opportunity to show the glory of God to change a heart.
How about your church? Is the power of the Holy Spirit present in your church? I am not necessarily talking about what gifts are present and operating when you gather. That is a debate that many churches would disagree about. But is the power of the Holy Spirit operating in your church? Are sinners being convicted (both the saved and the unsaved)? Are hearts breaking over the sorrows and griefs being experienced by those in your church? Are people being called into ministry? Is Jesus magnified, the Father worshipped, scripture valued, lives changed, and a desire for God to be much and self to be made less?
What about the other ingredients? Is your church full of hope? When you gather, do you hear more complaints about the status of the political landscape of our nation or the perceived future of the Church as God leads a revival that must first begin in your own heart? Do you truly believe the best days of the Church are behind us in the golden era of the 50’s, or does your church believe the best is yet to come? That’s hope that God brings. What about peace? Joy? Is there more than an emptyheaded ignorance of what is really going on, but a joy that is present in the midst of struggle and not just hoping to one day have none?
If any of these ingredients are missing from your church or your own life, why? Do you have broken relationships with other believers in your church? In another church? Are you withholding yourself from others because of where they come from, the color of their skin, or the fact that the sin they struggle with is different than the one you struggle with? Do you withhold yourself, your home, your hospitality from those of different ages, classes, educational levels, or economics? Maybe if we started our journey to revival by looking out, we would find what was going on in our hearts and we could repent. Maybe something is missing, and we are just now realizing it.