A Scary Church: The Danger Of A Life-Changing Faith

For the last few weeks, I’ve spoken about ‘Scary Church;’ these churches failed their members by not teaching them proper biblical teachings and practices and not leading them in the past of discipleship. These were ‘scary churches’ because the Christians were either uninterested or incapable of sharing their faith and representing their faith in the presence of others!  

              

Today, though, I will talk to you about a different type of ‘scary’ church – a church that takes its responsibilities of training Christians seriously and leading them on a path of discipleship, and service. Let me begin with a true story, as told by a popular campus minister several years ago:

             

In the past, William Willimon, the Campus Minister at Duke Ministry, told of an intense phone call with a student’s father. The father had complained that his daughter, a bright student with a bright future in the business world, had decided to change her life’s plan and become a missionary to Haiti, an impoverished nation between Cuba and the Dominican Republic. He screamed in anger, “I hold you responsible for this!”  What follows is a brief recounting of the conversation:  

             

Willimon asked him, “Why me?” The father stated clearly, “Because you ingratiated yourself and filled her mind with all this religious stuff.” The minister asked the father, “Sir, weren’t you the one who had her baptized?” He replied, “Well, well, well, yes.” “And didn’t you take her to Sunday School when she was a little girl?” “Well, well, yes.” “And didn’t you allow your daughter to go on those youth group ski trips to Colorado in high school?” “Yes. . . what does that have to do with anything?” “Sir, you’re the reason she’s throwing it all away. You introduced her to Jesus. Not Me!” The exasperated father exclaimed at this, “But all we wanted was a Presbyterian.” 

 

The minister closed the conversation by saying, “Well, sorry, sir, you messed up. You’ve gone and made a disciple!”

 

That is the result of a ‘scary’ church! An individual who takes their faith seriously seeks God’s call on their life and then, if necessary, sacrifices their former plans to follow God’s leading – no matter what! 

That is the result of a scary church, and that is the result of a scary faith – a faith that disrupts one’s life plans and leads them to a life of sacrifice, and service. . . and blessing! Jesus said this in one of his sermons, in Matthew 10:37 ff: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 

 

And he who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. 

He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it.”    

 

Jesus fully intended for us to be a part of a scary church that taught us to follow Him and to become a scary Christian who would stop at nothing to follow Him. History has shown that scary Christians are an often unstoppable force behind some of God's greatest movements in history! Let us all be diligent in the practice of our faith and choose to be obedient to God’s call every day.  

 

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Thank you for listening. We will see you next week!