A couple of months ago my husband and I were talking with a new couple to our church. At their last church, they had started an emergent service. My interest was piqued and I was peppering him with questions about their experience. At one point he made a comment about the worship going on at college campuses, how it was real, relevant, fresh, sincere; he said that college campuses are where God is really at work. Surprisingly, I was offended.

 

I’ve now been out of college for 11 years, but it still seems like it was just yesterday. I remember well the wonderful times in worship I experienced in large and small settings; those were real, relevant, fresh, and sincere too. God was moving in our midst, He was at work, I cherish those times, but they didn’t end there. Since then, I’ve had wonderful times of worship in church, with other believers, in my own living room with my husband, and on my face before the Lord, all by myself, in the middle of the night. Who says God isn’t really working in me, in my family, in my church? I acknowledge that God is moving in college campuses all over the world and I praise Him for that, but He’s also working in churches and families! I’ve seen Him! Spiritual revival is not limited to college-aged kids! But I remember well being a college kid and realize now how arrogant I was. How I came home and questioned my parent’s faith. God was working, and I could see it so clearly in that college bubble, but rather than resulting in humility, it caused arrogance as I critiqued the places where God’s presence wasn’t quite as visible. I made assumptions. I’ve seen other collegiate Christians fall into the same trap. The experience is so unique and it’s so easy to begin to judge others who are not a part of the intense worship and evangelism and kingdom work as not really being sold-out for the Lord. 

 

I’ve grown up a bit; I see more clearly now. I was once instrumental in creating a contemporary worship service at a traditional Southern Baptist church. I was vocal in my criticism of things like taking a moment to say hello to the people around you. In my eyes, nobody was sincere; it was all formality and unnecessary tradition. Ten years later, I really miss the old hymns and I enjoy shaking hands with those around me, and I’m sincere about it. 

 

I’m not as arrogant about certain things as I once was (although I’m still not free from it), but recently, I’ve been offended by other people’s arrogance.   There is a movement in the church to be fresh and relevant and inviting to unbelievers, to be free from the old baggage and seek God wholly and fully. The motives are pure, the desire to know God is admirable, but it is being accompanied by an arrogance, the kind of arrogance that I had in my college days. There is an assumption that the old way of doing things is ineffective and insincere. There is an assumption that the traditional, orthodox, denominational churches are full of hypocrites and Pharisees who put God in a box. There is an assumption that other believers who are not a part of the movement are not seeking God wholly and fully. I’m offended because I know it is not the case. There are sold-out, Bible believing, faith-filled, Christ following, miracle-seeking, sons and daughters of the King in every denomination. 

 

Baptist churches take a lot of flack. I’ve seen my share of legalism and been wounded deeply by it, but it is an unfair assessment that all Baptist churches are legalistic. God is at work in Baptist churches. People are still being saved in Baptist churches. God’s Word is proclaimed and the Truth is taught in Baptist churches. 

I think about my 60-something dear friend, Val, who is such a godly woman and loves the Lord with all her heart, is seeking Him moment by moment, day by day, traveling to Moldova twice a year to minister, share the Gospel, teach, bring healing, and fresh, clean water. There are few Titus 2 women like her who have ministered to so many young moms and loved so many orphans. I think of the hours I have spent in Bible study with her or staying up late talking about Spiritual things around the kitchen table.   

It is for her sake that I am offended by the arrogance of others! 

 

I consider my dear 50-something, sister, Cheryl, and the work that she has done at the Pregnancy Care Center, the number of women that she has served and loved, the babies and women whose lives have been saved because of her service, the times she has challenged me and corrected me and encouraged me as she has done with so many others, the way that she depends on the Lord daily.

 

 

Presbyterian churches are often critiqued for their lack of warmth, being dubbed God’s “frozen chosen.” God is at work in Presbyterian churches! People are being discipled and sanctified in Presbyterian churches! 

I think of my adopted, Christian grandpa, who married a widow and adopted her children, taking them as his own, raising a godly daughter who then brought my mom into her home where she too was “adopted” and loved to the Lord. There was nothing frozen about that home. Rather, there was a tangible sense of God’s presence! This man exudes warmth and love and is a living picture of Christ! His wife was such a strong example of Christ’s love that there were lines of people at her funeral. And even though he is now in his 80s, he still teaches 1^st grade Sunday School as he has for the past 30 or maybe even 40 years. 

 

These three that I have mentioned are not fresh and relevant. They’re all quite old-fashioned, very conservative, and extremely orthodox.  But they are neither hypocrites nor Pharisees and God has used them and continues to use them! 

 

These are just three examples; the church as a whole is full of such! I’m sure I could find others in every denomination! I know first-hand of individuals and families in Baptist, Presbyterian, CMA, Bible, United Methodist, E-Free, Episcopal and non-denominational churches who are striving to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love their neighbor as their self. They love God, they love His Word, they have a heart for the lost. Those who are seeking to be fresh and relevant would do well to consider their testimonies before they make sweeping generalizations.  

 

In the book of Revelation, Jesus dictates seven letters to seven churches.   In these letters, Jesus points out specific things that the churches have done well in addition to specific things that he “has against them.” No church was perfect. No church ever will be. There is much insight to be gleaned from studying Jesus’ assessment of these seven churches, and we would be wise to follow His example of not merely critiquing the flaws that we see in various churches, but also recognize their strengths as well. If anyone had a right to be arrogant, Jesus did; instead, while He was on this earth, He exemplified humility. 

 

God is alive and at work in the modern church and the traditional church. He is willing to use any who surrender themselves to the Lordship of Christ, whether they love hymns or wave their hands in the air while singing praise songs at the top of their lungs. Whether their prayers are quiet or delivered with passion, God hears them.  There are great prayer warriors in the blue-haired class and the purple haired evangelist with tattoos up his arms would do well to enlist their prayer support rather than criticize their generation. 

 

This arrogance is not limited to the modern church, believers of all sorts can fall prey to pride when they try to impose the convictions that the Lord has laid on their hearts upon others. Whenever God moves in our heart to convict us or to draw us nearer to Himself and cause us to desire HIM more it is an amazing thing. Regrettably, we often respond, not with humility, but with arrogance. “God convicted me to stop watching CSI but she’s still watching CSI; she must not be as spiritual as I.”  or “God convicted us to get rid of our TV but they still have a TV; they must not be heeding God’s conviction.” “God’s convicted us to not drink alcohol, how can she call herself a Christian and still drink wine?” Arrogance!  And for the record: Just because God called me to homeschooling does not mean that it is a sin to send your child to public school. Godly parents are raising godly children in the public school system! Can I get an, “Amen!”?

 

This does not mean that we advocate relativism, there are precepts and standards in God’s word to which all of us are accountable, but the application in our personal lives is not always going to look the same.  We must continually guard against the arrogance that says they must.   To be completely honest, this is a concept that I’ve been struggling with since I was a child, and I can clearly hear my mother’s words in my ears, “Angel, you can not measure other people with your own personal yardstick. Just because God has convicted you of something doesn’t mean He’s convicted others of the same exact thing!” I’m finally beginning to get it! Sometimes it takes seeing your sin in someone else before you really recognize how ugly it is. Lord Jesus, forgive me of the arrogance that I have had in the past, and help me not to be so prideful and judgmental in the future. 

 

“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro all throughout the earth to strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” (2 Chronicles 16:9) Only God can judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Let’s leave it up to Him to determine whose worship is sincere, whose service is relevant. Let’s allow the Holy Spirit to be the Holy Spirit and move in the hearts of His people to bring conviction and change. Let’s allow Him to use us all in the unique and different ways that He has created us to be used, according to His purpose for each one of us, and let’s come together as His body, not looking down on one another! Let us all strive to be more like Christ.