WHEN THE CHURCH LOOKS LIKE THE WORLD

How do we go about making things right when the church looks like the world? Where are people in search of truth to go?

Elisha Cures A Poisoned Pot of Stew - 2 Kings 4:38-41

At this time there is a drought in the land. Elisha and the prophets in training are touring the land and engaging the culture. They they are on their way back to Gilgal, the place known for encountering the GOD of TRUTH. But Israel had turned from God and joined the culture. Taking Notes from the pagan beliefs that surrounded them, they had been worshipping other gods. In fact, this drought reflected the spiritual status of the hearts of God's people.

Arriving in Gilgal, Elisha and the prophets are tired and hungry. Being in a drought, they struggle to find food. Elisha instructs them to search for viable food sources and take what they find and make a stew.
But as they began to dig in, they find that it has been somehow poisonous. They shout, "there is death in the pot!"

Tracking down the source of the issue, they discover that one of the prophets found a wild and unrecognized vine with gourds on it. He had gathered as many as possible and sliced them up in the stew. Now Knowing the source, Elisha by God's wisdom and power was able to add just the right ingredients and cure the pot of stew. Now they were able to eat and be satisfied.

WHAT IS YOUR SOURCE OF TRUTH?

The disciples response shows the heart of our solution. Jesus had been teaching and proclaimed "unless you eat my body and drink my blood, you'll have no part with me."
Being a confusing and difficult statement to accept, many who had been previously "all in" walked away and stopped following Jesus, along with the truths He spoke.

He immediately turns to the disciples for their response. Pressing them He asks, "will you leave me too?" They respond, "where else can we go? You have the very words of life."

And there is our solution. A heart that realizes that Jesus and His Truth is our only viable source of Life! All other available sources will bring death for these other sources lack the compatible reality of our spiritual construct. We were made in the image and fashioned in the likeness of God. So we only survive on the truth from God.

Too much these days, the church has adopted the mindsets and commercialized ideas and tactics of the world. So much so, that we don't look or even behave much differently. Because we only do what we believe, we can look at behavior as a sight-glass into the heart of what we believe. What we gather is what we ingest and if what we ingest is not compatible to our spiritual physiology, it will ultimately bring us to death.

What is the practical solution? There is already "death in the pot". How can the church get back to stay focused on what is the true and lifegiving Word of God?

Elisha put flour in the stew and it became edible again. It was the gourds from the wild and unknown vine that had brought the death. The flour counteracted the chemical imbalance.

We obviously won't fix this issue by throwing around baking ingredients. So what can we learn here?

Elisha knew what to do by listening to God. It wasn't necessarily what he did that fixed it. It was the fact that He was connected to and trusted God for the answers.

Where do you go for answers? Does God's word seem relevant to you? Or do you struggle to take what He has to say at face value?
Why is that? What mindsets do you have that may be in conflict with what God says? Where did these mindsets come from? Can you trust the source?

Know what you believe and why you believe it. Don't let any mindset go unchecked. Just because someone you love and trust said it, doesn't mean it is true and it could very well be the cause of spiritual drought.
Life isn't easy and we are going to go through tough times. Where do you go for your truth?

Testing our Thoughts
Here is small test of mindset. Read this passage of scripture from Proverbs and gauge your internal response. This is Proverbs and was written by the wisest man who ever lived. Obviously he didn't just make up these mindsets. They came from his source, God.

After reading it, determine this: Do I really trust what God says? Everything? If not, why? If any statement in this Proverb seems outdated or I fight the urge to reexplain it or outright overlook or dismiss it, why? What is the source of the resistance? Can you trust this source?

Course Correction
How do we fix this issue in the church?
You are the church. We are a reflection of what we believe and if we are ever to turn this around we have to start with ourselves, evaluating our mindsets, determining our sources and coming back to the only true source. Where else can we go? He has "the words of life."