What Else Do You Need to Know?

What don't you know yet about God?  How long have you been a believer in Jesus Christ and what do you still not know?  What is it you are still trying to learn?  Why do you go to church?  Why do you go to classes at church?  Why do you go to Bible studies?  What is it you are seeking?  What is it you are wanting?

In class at church Sunday, we were reminded of the words in James:  "Do what it says."  We were reminded that we don't need new information;  we need hearts that desire transformation.  This is all stuff we know; we've heard it before.  We already know what we are to do.  

So, what don't you know yet that is keeping you from doing what the Word says?  

Why does Jesus say there will be those who show up to enter Heaven, thinking they belong there because they did a whole lot of good stuff in His name, but will be turned away because He doesn't know them?

I've shared this before but it needs to be shared again:  The church has become to the people what the government has become to the people, but there doesn't seem to be the uprising among the Church to oppose it as the Tea Party has opposed the government ... because we (generally speaking) like it the way it is.

Come to church.  We will teach you about God.  We will guide you into worship with music that will stir up your emotions. We will provide a place for your babies and children so we can be undistracted from all the noise.  We will teach your children about God for you so you are free to hear God's Word and also to serve.  We will offer resources and classes for every issue you face.  We will offer you ample opportunities in which you can serve.  We will teach you how to serve.

I am not anti-church.  I am not anti-Sunday School.  What I am is completely perplexed at the silence in the church when it comes to teaching parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., Deuteronomy 6.  The government is failing as it doles out money to those who simply want a handout, instead of requiring personal responsibility from them ... and the church is doing the same ... and I believe it is very unintentional.  May I ask, what is your church doing to make people see their own responsibility in teaching their own children ... instead of simply and ONLY offering classes to do it for them?  Sunday School is wonderful for those children whose parents do not go to church as well as those who do ... but at what point are these parents being taught it is THEIR own responsibility and not that of the church???  

Which is good ... and which is best:  Sunday School for children, or parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc., taking Deuteronomy 6 seriously and passionately?

If, 30+ years ago, I felt completely ignorant and unqualified to teach my own children as Deuteronomy 6 commands us to do, is it any better today ... 30+ years later?  Do we (believers) understand better today that we are shirking our responsibility given us in Deuteronomy 6 than we did decades ago?  In all the sermons we have sat under, and all the classes we have attended, and all the Bible studies we have studied for decades ... how have they helped us understand this passage of Scripture ... and impressed us to obey it?

When you teach someone how to do something for themselves, there is a wonderful feeling that comes along with it.  When you teach someone how to learn from Jesus Christ Himself instead of teaching him only ABOUT Jesus Christ and what he is to believe ... and he GETS it ... the feeling is indescribable.  

I can write here and tell you how wonderful it was for me last week to have the privilege to work four shifts with the Feed My Starving Children organization ... and it was absolutely wonderful; I look forward to doing it again next year.  This pales in comparison, however, when I think of how I almost missed the boat with my grandkids.  I almost sat back and let the church be my grandchildren's teachers (in addition to the small amount of time I was devoting to their spiritual training at my home).

Finding The Child's Story Bible (Catherine Vos) at the beginning of this year and reading it to my grandchildren has awakened me as I've never been awakened before.  Suddenly I understand what I didn't understand for decades.  Finally, in my 50's, I understand that when you teach a child not just about God but how to learn from God ... not only does he learn, but so do you.  When you have to answer hundreds of questions, you realize just how much in YOU needs to change.  And when you see the excitement in those eyes and you hear the excitement in those voices, you begin to want this for everyone else in your life ... whether they're children or adults and whether they are childless or not.  

I thought it was all about teaching my grandkids, and what I learned is that it is so much more.  "To whom is given much, much (more) is expected."  Jesus never called me to go to church for the rest of my life to be fed and fed and fed.  He never called me to go to a class for the rest of my life so I could become completely full and puffed up with His knowledge.  He never said I should go to a Bible study for the rest of my life so I could become spiritually obese.  What He told me was to ... bear fruit.  What He told me was to ... make disciples.  What He told me was to give away to others what He has given me.

What I know for sure today is that I do not need anymore information.  What I need to do is be busy obeying what I already know.  What I need to do is, "Do what it says."

When I am still and quiet enough to see a picture in my mind of Jesus standing in my church ... looking around ... listening ... what I want to see, I don't.  What I want to see is a look of satisfaction on His face, but what I actually see is the tables laden with a lot of good stuff on them being overturned.  Not being negative or pessimistic, just real.  We are all ready and eager to feed children overseas who are starving to death ... and we should and MUST be.  But if we are not feeding our own children the Truth of Jesus Christ in our own homes because we are too busy doing so much good stuff, AND because we were never taught it was our own responsibility, maybe the sign out front should read, "Welcome to the Church of Laodicea.  Come on in.  We'll make you feel as comfortable as you are at home."

What else do you need to know before you are ready to do what He told you to do?