Are We What We Say We Are?

On occasion, it is good to consider our true identity.

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John 5:2-3 – Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.   In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

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From the Hebrew language, the word “Bethesda” means “house of kindness.”  When you consider the conditions around the pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed the cripple man, the multitudes who came, or were brought there day after day, only to leave in the same condition in which they came, I hardly see Bethesda as a house of kindness.  It may, at some point in the past, have been precisely that.  But it was not so on the day Jesus came to the cripple man.  With that in mind, let us examine what we call our churches today.

We call our churches “houses of worship.”  Are they?  Is the place we call our church truly a “house of worship,” or have we made it a stage for entertaining, complete with lights, colors, and various other stage crafts?  Mark me – we can, and I believe should use every tool we have for the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And that includes all manner of stage craft and arts that can truly be used to bring forth the saving, healing, delivering truth of God’s Word.  But once again I ask you to consider, are our churches TRULY “houses of worship?”

We call our churches “houses of prayer.”  Are they?  Jesus said they should be, but are they really known as places where prayer is made and God’s answers are manifest?  We may “say a prayer,” but are we really praying?  We may say we’re having a prayer meeting, but how much of the meeting is actually given to prayer?  I can still remember, as a child, attending what everyone called a “prayer meeting” on Wednesday nights.  And yet little time was ever given to prayer.  We would sing, have testimony time, give an offering, and hear a message from the pastor or a selected speaker, but the only prayer heard was a short prayer for the offering, a brief opening prayer at the reading of the Word, and a concluding prayer when the speaking was done.  Little attention was really given to prayer, but it was still called a “prayer meeting.”

My question is simple.  Are our churches TRULY what we call them?  If so, let us rejoice.  If not, perhaps it is time we re-examined our purpose as God’s house.  Yes, we also call our churches the “house of God.”  Is it, or do we only expect Him to come for an occasional visit?

Manna for Today – John 5:1-17

Houses of Kindness? Really

Is it time we asked ourselves some strong probing questions?

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John 5:2-3 – Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.   In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

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For the sake of today’s writing, I ask you to consider the meaning of the name, “Bethesda.”  It means “house of kindness.”  Please don’t think this a harsh consideration, but let’s examine for a moment what was happening around the pool of Bethesda, and to do so, let’s look at a day in a doctor’s office.  I have a good personal physician.  He is a fine Christian doctor.  We often speak of his work, and he always asks about my ministry and strength for it.  He has a true heart for the work of the Lord.  When I go to his office for an appointment, I fully expect to see him, and I do.  My time with him is usually short, my being there for a routine check-up.  I am thrilled to say I am healthy and strong, and that my doctor understands how the pressures and stresses that come against ministers can be so impactful.  I find him to be a very compassionate and kind doctor.

 But what if I needed to see him, and instead of an appointment, I had to be taken to his office daily, left in the waiting room where there is shelter from the elements, water, and a restroom, hoping against hope that I might be the only person he would see that day?  (I know for a fact that hundreds of patients are seen in his office daily.)  Would you call that a “kind” place?  I think not.  Rather it is a place that barely keeps hope alive, and that only for the ones who survive.

Now think of the pool of Bethesda (the pool of the “house of kindness”).  Multitudes came (or were taken) there daily.  All that kept them coming was a glimmering, though constantly waning, hope.  Faith was not a present entity around that pool.  Can any true kindness be seen in such a chance meeting with the power needed to heal?  I can’t tell you why this continued to happen with an almost hopeless irregularity.  I can’t tell you why the people kept coming.  But one thing I know is the pool of Bethesda really didn’t live up to its name.

How do our churches relate to this scene today?  Is salvation, healing, deliverance, and miraculous provision only occasional events?  Are attendees coming in faith, or only in a waning hope?   Are our churches truly houses of prayer, or are they places where it is said, “we commune with God,” while in fact we are dreaming?  I know these are strong questions, but it is time we ask them of ourselves.  A great work needs to be done, and only by the hand of our Lord will we see it.  Are we willing to honestly inquire of ourselves as to our next steps, and then, are we willing to take them?  Pray, my friend, pray! 

Manna for Today – John 5:1-17

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Houses of Kindness

How does the world identify 21^st century churches?

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John 5:2 – Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

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Our Text for Today comes from a larger passage with which, I am certain, most Christians are at least somewhat familiar.  As a minister of the Gospel of Christ, I realize, perhaps more than most folks, the keen importance of words, and in particular NAMES that are given to people and places.  Of course, a person’s name is generally chosen immediately after birth, if not before.  My mother chose my name years before I was born.  Often the Lord has instructed a parent as to the name they were to give their child.  Regardless of the manner of choosing a name, they mean something.  Abram (father) became Abraham (father of nations).  This is clear throughout the Scriptures.  Consider the name of the pool in our Text for Today – Bethesda.  It means “house of kindness.”  Think of that; “house of kindness.”

And what was this “house of kindness?”  (1) It was a pool with five porches; (2) a place where an angel was known to come at a certain season to trouble the water; (3) a place where the first person in the water at its troubling was healed; (4) a place where everyone else, including many who had lain there for a long time were NOT healed; (5) a place where the healing of only one on rare occasions drew multitudes of possible recipients; (6) a place of waiting without any guaranteed outcome; (7) a place where only a glimmer of hope held multitudes captive.

Dear one, I intend no critical commentary of any kind toward any church on our planet.  I simply want to draw our attention to how much our churches across our globe, in general, have become their own “Pool of Bethesda;” at best, a “house of kindness,” and that likely in name only.  How many houses of worship are populated, not by willing worshippers thrilled with the opportunity of experiencing the manifest presence of the Lord, but by people in deep places of need with just enough hope to come week after week with the hope of possibility that something might happen to stir a service where they might be the one who receives that marvelous touch that heals?  Sadly, I believe this has become more of a norm for our churches of today than that place where Jesus shows up and “heals them all.”  I know I have offered some deep food for thought.  Allow the Lord to take you where you need to be in your thinking and action.  You may be that person in a crowd who will offer your loaves and fish to the Master Who doesn’t just meet the needs of one, but of EVERYONE.  Consider this, and consider your role. 

Manna for Today – John 5:1-17

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