Week 1: A New Beginning

There's something to be said for starting over. For better or for worse, last year is now part of our past. Ahead of us, 365 new days await. Surprises, disappointments, challenges, and blessings lie just over the horizon. Of course, it's impossible to know what storm clouds await, just as none of us can possibly predict how many sunny days we'll enjoy.

But I can't help but wonder--12 months from today, will we really be any different? Perhaps a better question might be, "Are we really any different now than we were 12 months ago?" For most of us, the answer is "no" or "not really." And the sad truth is, for those of us who didn't notice much growth over the last year, there's really no reason to expect that this next year will be any different. It's not that we can't change--nor that we don't want to change--it's just that we probably won't change. We'll be too busy, or too tired, or we just won't think about the areas in our life that need change. How ironic that for all the high-stress and constant activity of everyday life, most of us change very little from year to year. The roads we travel down so furiously lead only in circles, for in the end we find ourselves no further along than when we started.

Nowhere is this seemingly more true than in our spiritual lives. While many modern-day Christian churches are booming, many more have "gone bust." Many large buildings that once filled to capacity now are barely filled at all. Of those who still attend church, few seem to have much interest in it. For most, church is little more than a once-a-week ritual motivated by habit, guilt, or emotion. At home, our unread Bibles sit on the shelf. Do we believe in God? Of course. Do we believe the Bible is, as Hebrews 4:12 puts it, the "word of God?" Yes. Do we read it on a regular basis? No. Do we believe that we can talk to God through prayer? Definitely. How often do we pray? Rarely.

Around A.D. 95, the Apostle John wrote the book of Revelation. In the second and third chapters he delivers a series of powerful messages from the Lord to seven ancient churches located in Asia Minor. Over the years, some have theorized that these seven churches may represent various periods in church history up through the present time. Though I have yet to subscribe to this view personally, I find the words written to the last of the seven churches quite intriguing. Read them for yourself:

"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." (Revelation 3:14-22)

The similarities between the church in Laodicea and the church of today are painfully striking.

If not a prophetic view of Christianity in our day, this passage serves as an embarrassing indictment of it. Have we made so little spiritual progress in the last 1,900 years that we still resemble this ancient church? Or has the church as a whole been on a steady decline from its past pinnacles of spiritual success, and now we find that we have arrived back where we began.

Oh, there are many reasons today for why we don't get that excited about church or read the Bible on a regular basis or seldom pray. The church just isn't relevant or is too full of hypocrites or we don't have the time or we tried going to church once or we just don't think about it . . . the list is endless. My question to believers in the lukewarm culture of today isn't "do you believe in God?," but rather, "would your life be any different if you didn't?" The lack of those who attend church, read the Bible and pray are merely outward signs--but signs nonetheless of an inward problem in the spiritual lives of many.

But there is hope. And that hope comes from Jesus Christ who says, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock." This is the message we need to be reminded of at the start of this new year. Christ is knocking at our door. Will we open the door of our hearts to Him? Will we "be earnest and repent?" It's not about being good or trying hard. It's not even about church attendance, Bible reading or prayer. It's about knowing the God we claim to believe in and allowing Him to change us from the inside out.

Will this year be any different from last year? I hope so. But it's going to take more than just hope for change to occur. Are you ready for change? Do you want to grow?

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)