Leading The Way

Dr. Michael Youssef: Jesus did not establish his church as a spectator sport. Jesus did not establish his church so that people might go to be entertained. No, and a million no. Jesus Christ established his church so that he may be the object, the sole object of worship. He established his church so that he may be the heart and the core of our affection.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Leading The Way with passionate Bible teacher and culture expert Dr. Michael Youssef, the author of more than 50 books. In fact, I hope you've read or ordered *An Unholy Alliance*. That's his most recent. Get your copy of *An Unholy Alliance* or any of Dr. Youssef's available books at ltw.org or call a ministry representative at 866-626-4356.

Now in just a moment, the first episode in Dr. Youssef's encouraging series called "I Belong." You'll quickly come to understand that being part of the church is much more than where you attend on any given week. It's about who you are in Christ. This relevant, practical series will help you comprehend and navigate the challenging face of the modern church and see that the church is God's way to challenge and grow you in your affection for him. So join me now and listening to Dr. Michael Youssef as he begins today's message, "I Belong to Christ."

Dr. Michael Youssef: On an afternoon of an Australian summer day back in 1971, I entered into my home church back in Sydney from the side door following my pastor, Ken Churchwood. And as I stood facing the altar at a certain point where a certain tune began to play, Ken asked me to turn around and look at the back of the church.

And there, at that moment, it's been an overcast day, the sun shone through the side window and I looked down the aisle and I saw the flower girl and then there was a bridesmaid, but neither of them really took as much of a glance from me. My eyes were fixed on the back of the church. My eyes were fixed on the beautiful bride in the back of the church.

My heart was beating with emotions of love for the bride in the back of the church. My thoughts were totally focused on the bride. My commitment were concentrated on the vows that I was about to make to my bride. Something else happened after that day, something happened to me because from that day on, I began to grasp a glimpse of how God feels about his bride, the church.

A glimpse of God's passion for his bride, the church. A glimpse of God's love for his bride, the church. A tiny glimpse of God's commitment to his bride, the church. And soon after that day, I experienced a new revelation. I became totally committed to the bride of Jesus Christ, the church. When I was a Christian, I was what you call a butterfly Christian.

I would go from church to church and from preacher to preacher. Sometimes I would hear two different preachers on a Sunday morning. But after that day in 1971, I began to give up many of my misguided notions about the church. I began to give up many of my unbiblical views of the church. That day helped me to realize that the local church is the visible expression of the universal church, the bride of Christ.

That the local church is where God is calling his children to belong. The local church is with God calling his children to express their commitment to him, to express their passion for him, to be active for him, to be involved with him. And just in case some of you will say, "Well, Michael, you really didn't have much of a choice. You're a pastor. And as a pastor, you have to be committed to the church."

Oh, just for those of you who did not know me, that for a period of 10 years, I was not a pastor. I was in this city during those 10 years. Some of you knew me then. Some of you attended my Sunday school class then in a local church. Know that I was an active member of the local church. Know that I served freely and without compensation in the local church, that I tithed my money to the local church.

But you know, I often wondered on that day back in 1971, what if my bride decided to sit in the back pew of the church for the rest of the ceremony and would not come all the way down the aisle? Have you ever thought about that? What if? What if my bride yelled from the back and said, "I came this far, but no further"?

What if? What if my bride would have said, "I want to make my vows standing here in the back of the church just in case, just in case I want my vows to be conditional upon you meeting all of my needs before I make my vows"? What if my bride would have said, "I'm going to stand near the back door just so if something happens that I don't like, I'll be closer to the door and leave"?

What if? What if my bride said, "I will marry you, but we'll have to live our separate ways"? What if? I can hear some of you already saying that would be an absolute farce of a marriage. My sentiments exactly. But I want to tell you today, beloved friends, listen to me, I want to tell you today there are so many believers who do the same thing in the church, the bride of Jesus Christ.

Because the relationship with God is a me-centered, therefore the relationship as bride of Christ is me-centered. They want to pick and choose. They want to come and go without accountability. They want the church to be there for them if and when they need it. They want to date the church instead of committing to the church. They want benefits without involvements. They want the privileges without responsibilities.

They want the ceremonies without the vows. They want to be consumers instead of being the bride of Jesus Christ. So they hop from church to church. I read several books of recent times about what's going on in the church. I read some interesting stories. One of the stories I read was about a man who goes to two services on Sunday morning.

He goes to church number one because he likes the music. Then he goes to church number two because he likes the preaching, without any involvement in either place. At the first church, he would slip in just as in the beginning to get the songs and then he would slip out as the last song is winding down. And then he drives five minutes away to the next church.

He even factored in a time in which he can stop at McDonald's to get an Egg McMuffin. This man timed it so well so that he will be entering church number two just as the preacher begins to preach. The sad part of this is that this man doesn't realize the incalculable loss that he is incurring not only to himself but to others. Please listen to me.

Jesus did not establish his church as a spectator sport. Jesus did not establish his church so it may be periodically visited. Jesus did not establish his church so that people may go to be entertained. Jesus did not establish his church so that people may treat it as a smorgasbord. Jesus did not establish his church so that people may drop in on the way somewhere else.

No, and a million no. Jesus Christ established his church so that he may be the focus of our attention. He established the church so that he may be the object, the sole object of worship. He established his church so that he and he alone be the subject of discussion. He established his church so that he may be the very center of our devotions. He established his church so that he may be the heart and the core of our affection.

And any church, if the focus and the center is any other than Jesus, it is not the church of Jesus Christ. Now some of you know this, that I have been trained academically to learn and spot trends, to study trends and changes in culture and society. All my graduate degrees in that area. And I want to tell you what breaks my heart is that the main reason that our society is in the mess that they're in is the church.

The reason why with all of our megachurches today, we are becoming irrelevant to culture and society is because the church shifted its focus from Christ to me and my needs. The reason why with all of our megachurches we are not impacting society is because the church has shifted from serving Jesus to self-serving.

The reason why with all of millions of Christian books and radio and television and I do all of that, the reason we are not making a dent on the moral decay of society is because we are seeking our glory not his, that we are seeking our agenda not his, that we are seeking our plan not his, that we are seeking our program and not his.

I know sometimes I feel like a voice crying in the wilderness, but I promise you I'm going to keep on crying. I'm going to keep on speaking. I'm going to keep on giving and I'm going to keep on challenging and I'm going to keep on serving. And I'm going to keep on doing this until a genuine awakening sweeps the church of Jesus Christ across the land.

I was thinking about this and what's going on and I thought of a story I read by one of my favorite preachers who went to be with the Lord several years ago by the name of Vance Havner. Vance Havner tells the story of two Indians who were watching intently of how a lighthouse being built on the coast of their town.

Day after day, they would go and they were watch how this lighthouse is rising on the top of the hill on their coastal town. And then after two days of the lighthouse being finished and operational, two days, that coastal area experienced the most incredible fog that they've ever experienced in their lifetime.

And so one Indian turned to the other and he said to him, he said, "Light shines, bell rings, horn blows, and the fog came in just the same way." And Havner, who was a keen observer of the church, went on to say we have never had more light shining, we have never had more bells ringing, we have never had more horns blowing as we have in the church today, and yet we have never experienced more fog.

The main reason for that is the changing of the purpose of the church is the shifting in the purpose of the church. I am reminded of that saintly man, the Catholic priest by the name of Thomas Aquinas, a great saintly man. He was invited to visit the Vatican in Rome. And this man in all humility accepted the invitation and the cardinal who was taking him on a tour of the Vatican.

Because of who he is, he began to open the storehouse and show him all the treasures of the Vatican. All the gold and all the silver, all the priceless treasures that they have accumulated. And then the cardinal turned to him and said, "You see, Thomas, the church no longer can say silver and gold have I none." And this godly man put his head down and said, "You're quite right. You're quite right. Neither can the church say in the name of Jesus of Nazareth rise up and walk."

When Jesus asked the disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Some of them said Elijah, some of them said prophet. Peter comes in and says, "You are the Christ, the son of the living God." And Jesus responded to that confession by saying, "Upon this solid rock foundation of this confession, I build my church."

And the church of Jesus Christ is all about Jesus. Not my likes and dislikes, not how comfortable they make me feel, not how they adopt my agenda or not or how hip the church may be, or how much they claim that they can meet my needs. I am not saying that needs are not important. I am not saying that needs should not be met.

I am not saying that at all. I would have been a hypocrite if I say that. No, no, no, no, no. I am saying that there is a genuine meeting of needs and there is a make-believe of meeting of needs. Let me explain this. When Jesus is the focus, when Jesus is the center, when Jesus is the focal point, then needs will be met permanently.

How? Because confession of sin and repentance is going to take place. And when confession of sin's taken place and repentance takes place, forgiveness is going to be ordered by heaven. Healing will follow. Broken hearts will be mended. Broken lives will be healed. Broken relationships will be restored and true joy becomes permanent.

But also the opposite is true. When the need and the program that claims to meet the needs becomes the focus, meeting of the need becomes only temporary. Only temporary. A band-aid. A mere perspective. And throughout this series of messages, I will be teaching about not only the purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ for his church, but his purpose for every one of you to fulfill that purpose.

Because that's the way he chose it. When we fulfill our responsibilities, we are fulfilling the very purpose of Jesus Christ for the church. The Bible said that each one of us are the stones in that building. We're the bricks in that building. Can you imagine a building that has some of the stones and the bricks missing? Imagine how drafty that would be.

You see, you and I have a major role to play in the plan of God. Because it is only when each of us begins to care for another, when each of us begins to minister to the other, when each of us becomes connected with each other, when each of us becomes involved in each other's lives, only then the lifting up of Jesus will become effective not only throughout this city but throughout the world.

Please listen to me. We cannot fulfill God's purpose by coming to church 10 minutes late and leaving 10 minutes early. Have I stepped on your toes? That's all right. You know I'm telling the truth. We cannot fulfill God's purpose for the church, this cannot happen unless each and every one of us commit to being an active member of the body.

I'm going to be saying a whole lot more throughout this series of messages, but please begin. Begin today by asking the Lord, "Lord, what role would you have me play? What part would you have me connect with?" Stop dating the church and commit to be the bride of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Is Jesus worth it for you to spend the time being committed to his church? Is your salvation worth it? Come on now. I'm going to tell you this story and I'm going to conclude. It's a secular story, not a Christian story, but the principle in it is so powerful. And I've read it several years ago and it kind of left an indelible mark on my heart and on my mind.

Frank Reed was taken hostage in Beirut, Lebanon, you remember back during the days of the Civil War, several Western journalists and operatives were taken hostage and Frank Reed was one of them and he was held hostage between 1986 and 1990. For months at a time, Reed was blindfolded, living in complete darkness and most often in silence.

On one occasion, they have moved him to another room, yet after three weeks being in that room, did he dare to try to peek and see and he discovered that chained in the same room were Terry Anderson and Tom Sutherland. Although Frank Reed was beaten, was made ill, though he was tormented on the regular basis, yet what Reed felt most desperately was the feeling that no one cared. That no one cared.

In one of the interviews that he gave after he was set free, he said the biggest pain was thinking that nothing mattered to anybody. He said I began to realize how withering it is to exist with not a single expression of caring around me. You read that story, you can't forget it in a hurry. Then he went on to say, and I quote, he said I learned one overriding fact: caring is a powerful force.

Please listen to me. Jesus did not say just go and care. He said I'm giving you my Holy Spirit to live on the inside of you to empower you to be a caring man and woman, boy and girl. And that's what God is calling us to do to begin with: to belong, to connect, and be involved.

I prayed in the middle of the night and I've been praying for each one of you that the Holy Spirit of God will come. For some of you, the Holy Spirit will be like the balm of Gilead that will bring healing and encouragement. To some who have hard hearts who've never surrendered to Jesus Christ, I pray that the Holy Spirit will begin to pound away at that crusty, hard heart.

The prayer in the scripture says take this heart, stony heart, and give me heart of flesh. That was the prophecy about the coming of Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ can do that and the power of his Holy Spirit can do that with every one of us.

Guest (Male): Words from Dr. Michael Youssef are echoing in my mind. Stop dating the church and commit to be the bride of Christ. Thank you for joining Dr. Michael Youssef for this episode of Leading The Way audio. And hey, if you ever miss a teaching from Dr. Youssef, you can catch up online through the Leading The Way mobile app or you can subscribe to the Leading The Way podcast.

Learn more about each of these options and more at ltw.org. You can also explore spiritual questions with us. All you have to do is go to ltw.org/jesus. Commonly asked questions are addressed really clearly right there and you can even connect directly with a pastor or a counselor. That's ltw.org/jesus.

Okay, we understand that not everyone's a regular listener to Leading The Way. Maybe you stumbled on Dr. Youssef's content today or maybe somebody encouraged you to listen. Well, if you are new, let me introduce you to who and what Leading The Way is all about. Leading The Way is the worldwide media voice of internationally known Bible teacher and author Dr. Michael Youssef.

Michael was born and raised in Egypt during a volatile time there. Dr. Youssef fled Egypt following God's call into ministry. And after attending and graduating from Bible school and beginning a ministry service in Australia where he met his wife Elizabeth, he immigrated to the United States, continuing seminary training and continuing in gospel ministry.

And he fulfilled his lifelong dream of becoming a United States citizen. As their family grew, doors opened to begin the Church of the Apostles in Atlanta. Soon after, Leading The Way was born and now more than 35 years later and 28 languages later, Leading The Way is reaching the lost, equipping the saints all around the world.

Local Leading The Way teams across six continents are sharing the gospel and along with trusted partners, discipling and helping believers in their faith journeys. So we encourage you to learn more about Dr. Youssef and his story, learn more about the growing ministry arms of Leading The Way, just go to ltw.org. You can also partner with Dr. Youssef. We invite you to do that. Call us at 866-626-4356. This program is furnished by Leading The Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, passionately proclaiming uncompromising truth around the world.