Allen Jackson - Game of Thrones - Part 2
Is it safe to say that Jesus’s friends that made that journey with him for 3 years saw his suffering, his death, his resurrection, had that time with him, that they are changed? This is not the same crew following him through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Jesus comes to give John this revelation, and John records it for us, and he’s perfectly comfortable with his presentation of Jesus. It sounds a great deal like what Paul said about him in Colossians. He has the name above every name that he said in Philippians. How have we come up with like an institutional Jesus? How have we come up with a Jesus where we quibble about secondary things and we get so bent out of shape about stuff that we withdraw from the people of God as if we aren’t ambassadors for a King? What has happened to us, church?
«Well, Pastor, are you saying I’m not saved»? No, I’m saying you’ve been way too focused on that. It’s like getting a driver’s license and saying you’re a good driver. Come on, I go to church with you. That’s why I wait and leave late. I’m not questioning your conversion. I’m not questioning the reality, the significance, the importance of it. I’m telling you that’s not the whole discussion. We are servants of the Most High God. I want to take the minutes I’ve got left before they’re gone and I wanna, I tried to understand that. I said, okay, so we’re not there. That is not where we live. That’s not our common discussion at the break room when we’re at work Monday through Friday or whenever you go to work.
That’s not our common discussion in the corridors of the universities. That’s not the language we use when we have free time. So there’s a gap. I think the language I would use is mission drift. You know what that is. It isn’t that you lost sight of who you are or what you’re called to, you just, somehow, you get disoriented and you’re still marching. You’re just marching in the right direction, you lose a sense of your true mission and purpose. You become co-opted by secondary concerns and considerations. And our efforts and our resources become directed towards objectives which don’t further the assignment. Not that we’re not busy, not that we’re not expending energy and effort. It’s just we’ve lost alignment with the target.
Does that feel more accurate? Lots of churches, particularly part of the world where we live. And yet Nashville’s becoming known for its godlessness, not its godliness. We can’t thump our chest and go, «We’re the buckle of the…» If we’re the buckle of the Bible Belt, our pants are about to fall down. Well, Revelation, the book of Revelation begins with a course correction for seven churches. They are the intended recipients of this revelation. And that’s intended in heaven. It’s heaven initiated. God said, «I have a revelation I want to give, and how will we do this»? And Jesus steps forward and he said, «Well, I’ve got somebody I trust with the revelation. His name’s John, he’s my friend».
And then the revelation is directed towards these seven churches at the point of distribution, and every one of these seven churches is given an evaluation. God says to them repeatedly, the Spirit of God says to them, «I know your deeds». Do you live with the awareness that God watches us? In the case of every one of these churches, he says specifically in some rather elaborate language, there’s angels assigned to you. And if you don’t maintain your assignment, if you don’t maintain your course, you will forfeit the support you have from me. That’s all right there in these seven churches. So, I just gave you, four of the churches got very clear course corrections. Significant missionary, folks, we do this all… I can’t tell you how many times I had… I talk to churches and work with churches, and they’ve lost any sense of purpose and mission.
It’s about where we park and the style of our worship and how long the service lasts and we don’t like this and the color of the carpet wasn’t good, you know? What? We’ve lost complete imagination of who Jesus is. Do you really think when you see the King, you’re gonna say, «You know, I wanted to go to that church, but their carpet, agh». Revelation 2, it’s the church at Ephesus. This is what God said to them, he said, «I hold this against you». Can you imagine God holding something against the community of believers? That sobers me. He said, «I hold this against you: You’ve forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you’ve fallen»! You’ve lost your focus. You’ve lost your enthusiasm. Well, you haven’t denied me. You haven’t just walked away. But you’ve lost something. The church at Thyatira, the names, I started to use names of local communities, but I was afraid I’d get too much mail. Says, «I have this against you».
This wasn’t some random, these are churches that God deemed worthy of a message. We need to process that. The fact that God said, «Listen, you’re not walking really well». And let’s not make this about something else. If we can all hold this to our lane, our role. This is about our revelations of Jesus and who we are in the world. The church is a people initiative before it’s a collective initiative. Healthy, growing, vibrant churches are comprised of healthy, growing, vibrant people. Not flawless, systematic theology or perfect organizational structure. It’s about people in our hearts. If we’ll get that right, the rest of those things find their place. But he says to this church, «I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel. She’s leading my people into sexual immorality. You tolerate immorality».
The contemporary church would say that was an expression of grace. We don’t wanna say that like there’s moral and immoral because people would be turned off and how would we get to tell them about Jesus so they could get their driver’s license? To the church at Sardis, in Revelation 3, he said, «To the angel in the church of Sardis, write this: These are the words of him who holds the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you’re dead. Wake up»! That’s God’s invitation: Wake up. Strengthen what you have or you have atrophied to the point that if you don’t wake up, he said, you’re gonna lose your ability to move.
Again, these are churches deemed worthy of a message, chosen, revered, known in heaven with angelic support. He’s saying you’ve lost your first love, you’re tolerant of things you shouldn’t be tolerant of. You’re asleep when you should be awake. And then in Revelation 3, he says, «To the angel of the church in Laodicea: These are the words of the faithful and the true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. I know your deeds, you’re neither hot nor cold». You know what I find when we pray about this kind of revelation is we always want God to pay attention to somebody else’s deeds. God, are you watching? And then you fill in the name, because there’s somebody you think God ought to be checking on. For some of you, it’s probably me. Appreciate those prayers. But it changes the equation completely if you’ll just keep pushing your name into that blank.
What would I do differently if I knew God was watching my last week? How would I approach this week? «I know your deeds that you’re neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! But because you’re lukewarm, you’re not hot or cold, I’m about to spit you out of my mouth». This is a church that’s really struggling. He said, «You say you don’t have any needs. That you’re affluent and wealthy and connected and you’ve got everything, and he says, 'But I say to you, you’re blind and pitiful and naked and in need of all things.'» They have no awareness. No awareness. And again, these are esteemed churches. These are churches being celebrated. They’re commemorated in scripture. There’s a message being delivered to them for the world. And I think it’s worth noting they’re relatively new churches. Scholars argue a bit, a little bit, about when Revelation was written, but I’m gonna go with the younger version of that. They’re within just a few decades, maybe they’re 30 years old at the most, but I mean they’re young churches.
These aren’t hundreds of years old with great cathedrals that are dusty and musty. The people that are involved are the people that gave birth to it. That’s why he can say you’ve lost your first love. That’s why he can say you’re tolerant of something. He didn’t say you’ve become immoral. He said, no, no, no, you’re tolerating something you didn’t used to tolerate. You can’t become lukewarm unless you were warmer. He’s talking to a group of people that have mission drift. They’ve lost purpose and they’re a long way away from that exalted language that we’re reading from our friends, that Paul gave to the church in Philippi or Colossae or that John wrote about in Revelation 5.
So I have another question for us. Is there any evidence that the contemporary church is in a condition similar to the churches in Revelation? This is personal to me. I’ve spent my professional life, I’ve spent my adult life, in the church and I wouldn’t imagine that I’m an expert, but I’m at least entitled to an opinion. And I would have to say yes. I think there’s some very, very uncomfortable similarities between contemporary expressions of the church and what we read about in those opening chapters. And I’ll start with the churches. The churches have rejected in far too frequent instances the authority of scripture. Churches, with signs that identify the buildings and the gatherings of people as churches, rejecting the authority of scripture.
Technically, I don’t believe you are a church if you reject the authority of scripture. I understand how uncomfortable that is. I live in that world, that we set aside biblical definitions. How do you set aside the authority of scripture? How do you reject it? You set aside biblical definitions, fundamental things like marriage were introduced to that in the opening chapters of Genesis. We don’t decide that. God did that. He told us how marriage is to be understood. God defined for us moral and immoral. Or we find churches unwilling to engage in our culture. Unwilling to speak to trends that are clearly ungodly. We refuse to stand up for biblical ideas like equality, that the ground at the foot of the cross is level and that every person is welcome. And everybody would have an equal opportunity in that kingdom.
That’s a remarkable thing. It’s changed human civilization. We’ve replaced that with an idea called equity where we get equal outcomes and it really doesn’t matter about input, that there are other factors. Folks, you cannot align that with scripture. And yet it’s flourishing in the contemporary church. I’ll give you some cultural expressions. The battle about our nation, the role of the church in our nation, there’s so much hateful language around that. If you pray, «God bless America,» people get angered. I’m not saying he should bless us to the exclusion of blessing anyone else. It’s just the place God planted me. He chose the place of my birth. I didn’t. And I believe a part of my assignment is to invite his blessing here.
I’ve labored in other nations around the world and invited God’s blessings there. I have friends around the earth. But what we’re watching is very unsettling: open borders, a tariff system in place which punishes American workers, which incentivize global corporate structures, that diminish the families in our own nation. You put those two things together: an open porous border and a tariff system that punishes American workers and you are intentionally dismantling the strength of this nation. Now this is where I think this matters to the church. The United States is founded upon a biblical worldview. I’m not saying it’s been perfect. But there’s really no question about that.
And the trajectory of our history is an experiment in self-government where we have openly integrated the Bible into our government, education, and legal systems. Because we have little information we imagine that the whole world is like that. And the whole world is not like that. The Chinese government in the world today, the Chinese people are precious to God. But the system of authority they’re under is communist, which is a completely different moral code than the one that has been predominant in our culture. Today, they enforce slavery. They have led the globe in forced abortions. Civil rights are minimal. There are very oppressive social controls on the people of that nation.
And I think it’s not only unwise, I think it’s ungodly to subject our nation to an authority structure that proposes those things. I haven’t offended you yet. The European Union, once a bastion of Christianity. Not any longer. They’ve almost universally rejected Christian values. It is a very, very weakened church that exists. I’ve been there to speak. They hand me a list of things you’re not allowed to say. Simple biblical principles. The church has very little cultural influence or leadership across Europe these days. Let’s pick another arena: education. One of the strengths of our nation has been our commitment to educate our children. And I’ll stay on the side of the lane where I have the most experience: Christian schools and universities for the most part no longer train our students to be Christian.
Well, they incorporate those things in their names and there may be some classes that are options or some degree programs that kind of fit in that lane and maybe the mockery of a Christian worldview is lesser, but they’re not really training their students to be Christian. Bible survey class is not the equivalent to training young people to trust and believe the Bible. And why would we send our children and students to schools and universities that label themselves Christian and exact a toll for that and then don’t teach the students to trust and believe the Bible? And we stay silent. Now I happen to believe that should be a part of public education, but that’s for another day. We’re reluctant in Christian settings to train our children on the exceptionalism of Jesus.
We’ll teach them more about the exceptionalism of the institution to which they belong. That’s messed up. We’re in the church, but there’s nobody else, there’s no closet where help is coming from. I believe Christian schools and universities should establish priorities derived from a biblical worldview. And they should be taught to the children. Children should be trained in these values and these principles, radical stuff like humility, service, generosity, the value of hard work. I think it should be explained to them from the authority of scripture why the pursuit of things like simply accumulating financial resources or the pursuit of fame will bring destructive forces into their lives. That’s why we call them Christian institutions.
You see, my suggestion is that the church is intended to lead a culture towards the reality of the kingdom of God. Not to submit to the demands of godless expressions of authority. So again, the question I ask: is there any evidence that the contemporary church is in a condition similar to the churches of Revelation? I think the evidence is abundant. But here’s the good news. In the halls of heaven, from the throne of God, the imagination existed that those churches could be redeemed. And I’m of the opinion that the purposes of God will go forward in the earth. The question is whether we will join him. Whether we will join him or we’ll simply take a screenshot of our driver’s license and say there’s nothing else for us to think about. I couldn’t think of a better way to conclude this than with those songs from heaven. If they’re good enough for the angels to sing, I think the hillbillies in Middle Tennessee can tune up, huh?
So I’m gonna ask you to stand with me. I put it at the bottom of your outlines as a proclamation, but I took it directly out of Revelation 5. And I left the phrase in there that «in a loud voice they sang» so we could warm up with that. If the angels are willing to use a loud voice to give honor to Jesus, I think it’s okay for us, huh? Not in a disrespectful way, but in a way that clearly communicates our intent to give honor to our King. Let’s live as if Jesus were real. Let’s live as if his opinion makes a difference in our world. Let’s have the courage to take him with us wherever it is our assignment will take us this week. The church isn’t who we are when we gather in a building for a few minutes on the weekends.
The church is who we are when we’re distributed. The real measure of the church is who we are when we go to work, when we go to school, when we gather with our friends. It’s in those places, are we salt and light? Are we ambassadors for a kingdom? Even pagans can slip into a setting like this and blend in perfectly. With just a minor modicum of self-control, they can slip into this environment and we’re all good. The real measure of the church isn’t this place. The measure of the church is when we leave this place, amen. Can we say this together? «In a loud voice they sang: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! And to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! '»
Hallelujah, hang on a minute, we’re not done. I know you gotta go to your car. It’ll be okay. All right, I want us, the people in the back, if you’re in the stadium seating and if you’re in All Nations or New Harvest or you’re joining us digitally, we can hear all of you. We’re gonna read this and let the other people hear it. I want it to begin to wash over us. Once is not enough. It needs to get stuck in our head.
When there’s a challenge in your life, when there’s somebody that you know doesn’t want to hear that, it’s got to be so real and you know that there’s 100 million angels saying it, I’m gonna use my voice. You with me? Now, I’m in the room with those of you in the stadium seats and I’m gonna listen carefully for All Nations and New Harvest. So will you all, you know, can you do this in a loud voice with me? The rest of y’all, you just receive, huh? This is our King we’re talking about. You ready? «In a loud voice they sang: 'Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! And to him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! '»
Amen. Hallelujah, we’re warming up. Those of you on the floor, turn around. I know in church you can’t but I’m suspending the rules. I want you to see not only the people in the back of the room, but to see the people on the other side of those lenses. Can you believe they’ve been eating while we’re having church? Could you see that? The nerve of that. Now we want to say this to you. Take it home, say it over your family. Take it to work tomorrow. If there’s not another believer there, you just say it over the place where you work. If there’s another believer, say, «My pastor’s about half nuts. Would you read this with me»? If it’s not safe inside, you sit in your car and say it. Take it to school with you. Walk around your neighborhood and say it over the neighborhood where you live. I intend to declare Jesus is Lord in the world where we live with a new reverence and a new authority. Are we ready? Choir, we gotta do this. In a loud voice they sang:
Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever! Amen.