Where the Church Gets Its Power (cont.)

John 17:6-19


The church gets its power from the world's need and also from the fellowship we have together. At least the fellowship we ought to have.

Author and pastor Charles Swindoll tells a powerful story about an old Marine Corps buddy of his who, to Chuck's surprise, came to know Christ after he was discharged. Chuck was surprised because his buddy cursed loudly, fought hard, chased women, drank heavily, loved war and weapons, and hated chapel services.

Sometime later Chuck ran into this fellow, and after they had talked awhile, his buddy put his hand on Chuck's shoulder. and said, "You know, Chuck. the only thing I still miss is that old fellowship I used to have with all the guys down at the tavern. I remember how we used to sit around and let our hair down. I can't find a anything like that for Christians. I no longer have a place to admit my faults and talk about my battles where somebody won't preach at me and frown and quote me a verse."

It wasn't one month later that in his reading Chuck came across this profound paragraph and I quote: "The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit that there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give his church. It's an imitation dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality but it is a permissive, accepting, and inclusive fellowship. It is unshakable. It is democratic. You can tell people secrets, and they usually don't tell others or even want to. The bar flourishes not because most people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and be known, to love and be loved, and so many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers. With all my heart," this writer concludes, "I believe that Christ wants his church to be unshakable, a fellowship where people can come in and say,"I'm sunk, I'm beat, I've had it." Alcoholics Anonymous has this quality our churches too often miss.

"Now before you take up arms to shoot some wag that would compare your church to the corner bar," Chuck Swindoll continues, "stop and ask yourself some tough questions, like I had to do. Make a list of some possible embarrassing situations people may not know how to handle.

A woman discovers her husband is a practicing homosexual. Where in the church can she find help where she's secure with her secret? Your mate talks about separation or divorce. To whom do you tell it? Your daughter is pregnant and she's run away for the third time. She's no longer listening to you. Who do you tell that to?

"You lost your job, and it was your fault. You blew it, so there's shame mixed with unemployment. Who do you tell that to? Financially, you were unwise and you're in deep trouble,. Or a man's wife is an alcoholic. Or something as horrible as getting back the biopsy from the surgeon. and it reveals cancer, and the prognosis isn't good. Or you had an emotional breakdown. To whom do you tell it?

"We are the only outfit I know that shoots its wounded ," Chuck concludes. "We can become the most severe, condemning, judgmental, guilt-giving people on the face of planet Earth, and we claim it's in the name of Jesus Christ. And all the while, we don't even know we're doing it. That's the pathetic part of it all.

That's a pretty powerful indictment of the church at its worse. But it's not the kind of fellowship we are seeking. And its not the kind of fellowship Christ blesses. We want to be a fellowship that lifts up one another and then seeks to lift up those outside our doors. We want to be a fellowship that draws people with real problems into its fellowship and surrounds them with Christ's love. That is the second place the church gets its power: from our fellowship in Christ.

Tomorrow we will look at the third place

In His Service,
Terry Phillips