Illus: Thinking of the church reminds me of the painter who was hired to paint the outside of the local church. First he waited until it was a bright sunny day to start the job. Then he went out and bought all the paint that he thought he would need, and started to get to work. All was going well at first, but as he was nearing the end, he realized that he wasn't going to have enough paint to finish the job. So, rather than go out and buy some more paint, he decided that he was going to try and make the paint he had stretch by adding thinner to it. So he thinned out the paint a little and continued to paint. Unfortunately, he realized that he still wasn't going to make it so he added a little more thinner, and then a little more, and a little more and a still a little more. Finally, he finished the job and was just cleaning up when all of a sudden a great storm kicked up. Torrential rains poured down from the skies, washing all the painter's work away with it. Needless to say the man was very upset and angry. Here he had worked all day and now he was going to have to redo all this work!
Then, just as quickly, the sky's parted, and the sun was shining again, and the man heard a great voice from heaven: "REPAINT, AND THIN NO MORE."
When it comes to the church, regrettably there are a lot folks that seem to be cutting corners.
In the last sermon, I showed how the church should deal with the lost!
I want to remind you again that the ultimate purpose of the church is for the CHURCH TO REACH THE LOST with the Gospel of Christ.
It is obvious as you look at all that is taking place in the church today, that many folks don’t know the purpose of being here.
Illus: They remind me of a Priest who was called away for an emergency. Not wanting to leave the confession booth unattended, he called his Rabbi friend from across the street and asked him to cover for him. The Rabbi told him he wouldn't know what to say to those who came for confession. The Priest told him to come over and he'd stay with him for a little bit and show him what to do. The Rabbi comes and he and the Priest are in the confessional booth together.
In a few minutes a woman comes in and says
• "Father forgive me for I have sinned."
• The priest asks "What did you do?" The woman says, "I committed adultery."
• Priest: "How many times?"
• Woman: "Three times."
• Priest: "Say two Hail Mary's, put $5 in the “poor box” and go and sin no more."
A few minutes later a man enters the confessional.
• He says, "Father forgive me for I have sinned."
• Priest: "What did you do?"
• Man: "I committed adultery."
• Priest: "How many times?"
• Man: "Three times."
• Priest: "Say two Hail Mary's put $5 in the “poor box” and go and sin no more."
The rabbi tells the priest that he thinks he's got it so the priest leaves. A few minutes later another woman enters and says,
• "Father forgive me for I have sinned."
• Rabbi: "What did you do?"
• Woman: "I committed adultery."
• Rabbi: "How many times?"
• Woman: "Once."
• Rabbi: "Go do it two more times. We have a special this week -- three for $5."
It is obvious today that many in the church do not have the slightest idea of what church is all about.
We found out in the first sermon that there are 160 million people that feel that there are a lot more important things in life to do than to attend church. Of course, that is exactly what the devil wants them to think.
Illus: Officer Tori Matthews of the Southern California Humane Society got an emergency call.
A boy's pet iguana had been scared up a tree by a neighbor's dog. It then fell from the tree into a swimming pool, where it sank like a brick. Officer Matthews dove into the pool, emerging seconds later with the pet's limp body.
• As the Arizona Republic (2/14/95) reported, she thought, “Well, you do CPR on a person and a dog, why not an iguana?” So she put her lips to the iguana's.
• She later said, "Now that I look back on it, it was a pretty ugly animal to be kissing, but the last thing I wanted to do was tell this little boy that his iguana had died." The lizard responded to her efforts and made a full recovery.
• Tori Matthews didn't see a water-logged reptile; she saw a little boy's beloved pet.
We may never see the beauty in some people, but when we realize how much they mean to God, we'll do what we can to keep them from drowning in sin.
The Lord has called THE CHURCH TO REACH THE LOST! Satan is throwing up all kinds of barriers to keep that from happening.
Let’s look at some of these barriers that are keeping the CHURCH FROM REACHING THE LOST. We will deal with one barrier this morning, and several in the next sermon.
First, we need to consider-
I. THE BARRIER OF RACE
All SOCIAL and RACIAL BARRIERS come from PRIDE. Pride occurs in our life when:
• WE THINK WE ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS or…
• SOMEONE TELLS US WE ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS AND WE BELIEVE IT.
Proverbs tells us six things the Lord hates. WHAT ARE THESE SIX THINGS?
We read in Proverbs 6:16-19, “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
Notice, the first thing on the list of the things the Lord hates is a PROUD LOOK!
How do you feel when someone looks at you and they act like they are better than you because of RACE or for SOCIAL reasons?
I know how you feel, YOU DO NOT LIKE IT. If we allow SINFUL PRIDE in our life and we treat others that way, GOD DOES NOT LIKE IT EITHER.
Illus: Someone once said that the most segregated hour of the week is 11 O’clock on Sunday morning in the churches in America.
You can go into most churches in America, black or white and they will SAY, “Yes, we believe that being PREJUDICED is a sin, we do not believe in showing partiality toward anyone!”
If that is the case, then why is it that most of the white churches are practically all white and the black churches are practically all black?
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger and his wife were traveling together one night and they passed a church that was having a revival meeting. It was a huge church and the parking lots covered acres of land and were filled with cars.
Since he usually preaches wherever he goes, he likes to visit churches that do not know him occasionally so he can hear some preaching himself. He said to his wife, “Look they are having a revival meeting, do you want to attend?” She wanted to attend, so they pulled into the large parking lot. There were so many cars that it was difficult to find a place to park his car.
When they arrived, the service had already started. He told his wife they would slip in and sit in the back somewhere.
They walked into the church foyer and discovered it was an all black church, but that was no problem for him or his wife, because some of his dearest friends are African Americans.
As they walked into this huge foyer, there were probably a dozen ushers standing there talking. Not one, I mean not one, even gave so much as a smile to them or expressed gratitude for them coming.
They went into the sanctuary. There were thousands of people there and still no one smiled at them or greeted them.
In fact, people looked like they were thinking, “What are you white folks doing here, don’t you know you are not welcome!”
This did not sit well with Dr. Belger, so rather then sit in the back as he had planned to do, he grabbed his wife’s hand and they walked down the center aisle and sat on the front row.
He and his wife enjoyed the singing and the preaching of God’s Word. Even after the service closed in prayer and people were leaving, no one even said, “We are glad you came.”
They did not know if he and his wife were saved or lost, and it was obvious they really did not care.
He said that he can ride by that church today, and the thing he remembers is that HE WAS NOT WELCOME!
With an attitude like that, a church can never experience REAL REVIVAL!
Christians can close our eyes to the problem of RACIAL AND SOCIAL BARRIERS and pretend they do not exist, BUT THEY EXIST in black and white churches all over this nation. The CHURCH WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO REACH THE LOST UNTIL WE DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM!
The reason we have “WHITE CHURCHES” and “BLACK CHURCHES” is because the church that God placed here to reach the LOST is filled with RACIAL AND SOCIAL PRIDE.
Do not give me the argument that, “THEY HAVE THEIR CHURCHES AND WE HAVE OUR CHURCHES.” That is not IN THE SCRIPTURES!
Let me tell you why this is a problem in today’s church. It is because God has called the CHURCH TO REACH THE LOST, and Satan knows the best way to keep that from happening is to fill the church with RACIAL and SOCIAL PRIDE. This plan of his seems to be working GREAT!
• There are POOR people that can enter some churches and they KNOW THEY ARE NOT WELCOME!
• There are some CHILDREN that can enter some churches and they KNOW THEY ARE NOT WELCOME!
• There are people of different races that can go into some churches and they KNOW THEY ARE NOT WELCOME!
How can any church that professes to be a BIBLE-BELIEVING, BIBLE-PREACHING church expect God to bless them if they think THEY ARE BETTER than other people?
Now I know that this sermon is not sitting well with some folks here today, but that is a problem a church has when they hire a Bible-preacher like me. He is going to tell you what God’s Word says, not what you want to hear!
Look at James 2:1-4, we read, “My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?”
We all have people that we have things in common with and they are our best friends and we spend a lot of time with them. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!
What the Word of God is talking about is people who are UN-CHRIST-LIKE in the way they treat someone because of SOCIAL OR RACIAL differences. This is what this passage in the Book of James is talking about. In this particular passage, they were showing partiality to the rich.
During this time, only the rich could afford to buy clothing that had been dyed. When they would come in with their fancy dyed clothing, they would give them the best seat in the house. If a common man came in, they showed their dislike for him by telling him to go sit in the corner.
This same kind of preferential treatment can be seen in churches today.
Listen, we as GOD’S CHURCH ARE INTERESTED IN REACHING THE LOST. There are millions of them. I Believe God is pleased with a church when He sees:
• We have white folks
• We have black folks
• We have Indians
• We have Chinese
• We have Hispanics
• We have rich and we have poor
• We have educated and we have uneducated
• We have children
• We have young adults
• We have adults
• We have the elderly
The church should be filled with all kinds of people, because Christ died for everyone!
Illus: Our parking lot should have some Cadillacs and Mercedes, but there should be some beat up fords and pick-up trucks out there also.
Because people are filled with RACIAL and SOCIAL PRIDE, we do not see this mixture as we should.
To keep the CHURCH FROM REACHING THE LOST, Satan has filled God’s church with pride. God loves everyone, but some Christians are so proud that they think they are better than everyone else!
Illus: A lawyer and two friends, a Rabbi and a Hindu holy man, had car trouble in the countryside and asked to spend the night with a farmer.
• The farmer said "There might be a problem; you see, I only have room for two to sleep, one of you must sleep in the barn.”
• "No problem", spoke the Rabbi, "My people wandered in the desert for forty years, I am humble enough to sleep in the barn for an evening.” With that, he departed to the barn and the others bedded down for the night. Moments later a knock was heard at the door; the farmer opened the door, there stood the Rabbi from the barn. "What's wrong?", asked the farmer. He replied, "I am grateful to you, but I can't sleep in the barn. There is a pig in the barn and my faith teaches that is an unclean animal."
• His Hindu friend agrees to swap places with him. But a few minutes later the same scene reoccurs. There is a knock on the door. "What's wrong, now?,” the farmer asks. The Hindu holy man replies, "I too am grateful for your helping us out, but there is a cow in the barn and in my country cows are considered sacred. I can't sleep on holy ground!"
• Well, that leaves only the lawyer to make the change. He grumbled and complained, but went out to the barn. Yep, you guessed it! Moments later there was another knock on the farmers door. Frustrated and tired, the farmer opens the door, and there stood the pig and the cow saying, “We are not going to sleep with a lawyer!”
Every week, people of all races and social levels -
• Attend classes together and sit together
• Go to restaurants and eat together
• Go to work and work beside each other
But when it comes to the house of God, THEY HAVE A PROBLEM! WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?
The problem is that Satan is putting up RACIAL and SOCIAL barriers in the church because he does not want the CHURCH TO REACH THE LOST!
Illus: Naaman was a LEPER! He was an outcast that no one wanted to be around. But he had a maid that worked for him and she suggested if he went to see the prophet Elisha, he could be healed.
He did go and when he arrived the prophet told this BIG SHOT ARMY CAPTAIN to go and dip seven times in the river Jordan.
At first he felt insulted, but he was willing to lay aside his pride and dip seven times to be healed.
Listen, PRIDE is a barrier that will block the church from receiving the blessings of God. The BARRIER OF PRIDE will keep the CHURCH FROM REACHING THE LOST.
Conclusion:
We are looking at some barriers that Satan has erected to keep the church from REACHING THE LOST.
We see -
(2a)
I. THE BARRIER OF RACE
(2b)
II. THE BARRIER OF INDIFFERENCE
III. THE BARRIER OF INADEQUACY
