Google that–the number one sin of the church–and almost all the responses will be the same: Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle telling Mark Buchanan the church’s leaders are not on their knees crying out to God for the outcasts of this world–the prostitutes, the gang leaders, the druggies.

Included among all the Cymbala citations, I found only two other mentions of the church’s primary sin.

Scott Peck said the number one sin of the church is its arrogance and narcissim, the attitude that we have God all sewn up, that all truth resides with us.

Another pastor said it is “tolerance to the point of obsequious stupidity.” Obsequious: “fawning,” a “servile attitude,” “sycophantic.”

Each of those makes a great point. But here is my candidate for the primary failure of the church in our day.

The greatest sin of the church today is that it does not take itself seriously enough.

By that I mean, it does not take its Lord, its message, its identity, and its role seriously.

Go into almost any city in the land and drop in on church after church. You will find some great congregations and hear the occasional excellent sermon, to be sure. However, again and again, you will walk away shaking your head, convinced that instead of visiting the power center of the planet, ground zero for the actions of Almighty God, you have just sat in on something akin to a family reunion, a civic meeting, or a community improvement session.

A weak sister of the Oprah self-improvement society.

Instead of a sense of urgency, you saw half-heartedness on every side.

Instead of prayers that reached Heaven with earth’s needs, you heard sweet, harmless platitudes addressed to a friendly but impersonal Lord off out there somewhere.

Instead of enthusiasm and sacrifice in the bringing and giving of offerings, you saw a robotic, mindless dropping of envelopes into plates hoisted by zombie ushers.

Instead of messages of fire and passion, you heard and saw something incredible: teachings of God’s Holy Word made dry and lifeless, congregations of the redeemed lulled into lethargy by uninspired dronings, readings of the great prophets rendered toothless and boring.

It takes real skill to turn the most exciting message in the universe–the Creator so loved the people of this planet that He sent His Son to become the Savior of all who will repent and turn to Him–into something more boring than a 30-minute infomercial for real estate bargains.

Toward the end of the services, instead of urgent invitations to repent and turn from wicked ways, you saw pastors tack on the public invitation with hardly a word of explanation or a note of concern. When no one responded to their altar call, if anyone cared there was little evidence.

The number one sin of the church today is its casualness about the things of God.

The eighth century prophet Amos put it well: “Woe to those who are at ease in Zion.” (Amos 6:1)

That’s us: at ease.

The Lord God has situated His church in this world as its greatest resource, as His agent in the redemption of this planet and its inhabitants, as His children, His priests, His arms, His hands. We are His beachhead, sent into a hostile culture to take it for Jesus.

To our everlasting shame, even those of us called to be its leaders give only half-hearted service.

It’s our vocation. We’re interested in our careers.

We treat it as our hobby, something to tend to when our more important work has been done.

The Church, one of many good ways to do God’s work in our world. Important, yes. Essential, no.

Deacon David Cato asked me to call on his aunt Bernice Nicely. I knew her. She was getting up in years and lately had been in the hospital more than out of it. I figured she was concerned about the approaching end of her life and wanted to talk with the pastor.

The next morning, I drove across town to her home.

Mrs. Nicely said, “I know I’m saved, pastor. I gave my heart to Jesus as a young girl. But, pastor, I haven’t done right by the church.”

For some reason she had strayed from the church as a young adult and had never come back. She said, “I raised my son without the benefit of the church, and really came to regret that.”

In these latter years of her life, our congregation had ministered to her through her times of illness, and she sensed the fellowship she was missing. She wanted to put her membership in our church, promising to pray for us and send her offerings, even though she would rarely be able to attend services.

We gladly received Mrs. Nicely as a member. A couple of years later, at her funeral service, I told about our little conversation.

The day of our visit, all the way back to the church office, I asked myself–a veteran pastor, understand–if I had done right by the Lord’s church.

Think of that: “I haven’t done right by the church.”

As a youth, I heard it said that church was optional for Christians.”You don’t have to go to church to be a Christian.”  “You don’t have to go to church to be saved.”  “You don’t have to go to church to go to Heaven.” The implication was that in ideal circumstances, it was better to go to church, but not necessary.

Then at the age of 19, I began reading my Bible on this subject.

Interesting how the Scripture shoots down so many of our misconceptions.

I soon began making discoveries about the value the Lord puts on the Church.

The church is the Bride of Christ, according to Revelation 19:7 and 22:2,7.

The church is the Body of Christ, according to Ephesians 1:23 and I Corinthians 12:27.

The church is the family of God, the household of faith, according to II Corinthians 6:18 and I Peter 2:9-10.

“Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her” (Ephesians 5:25). This certainly did not sound like He considers the church one of many options for this world.

“The congregation of those who believed were together, of one heart and soul” (Acts 4:31-32).

“I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18).

What kind of lie has the enemy pawned off on the Lord’s people that we would consider the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ optional and render it only half-hearted service!

Satan has won a great victory in our congregations, I fear.

Reading the Bible, I have been struck by three insights in particular about the Lord’s relationship with His church–

—When anyone persecutes the church, Jesus takes it personally.

In Acts 9:4-5, Jesus said to the murderous Saul, “Why are you persecuting me?” Saul–soon to become the Apostle Paul–quickly thought of those he had been persecuting. Why, it was nothing but a rag-tag group of ignorant followers of the dead Nazarene. “Who are you, Lord?” he asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting!”

That day, Saul had the comeuppance of his life. When he touched a believer, he learned, he was striking out against Jesus. The Lord took personally what anyone did to His Body.

–Likewise, when anyone ministers to the Lord’s people, He takes it personally.

One of the great promises in Scripture contains this very insight: “God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love that you have shown to His name in having ministered to the saints and in still ministering” (Hebrews 6:10). Help one of the Lord’s children and God sees it as something done to Him.

—When we bring our offerings to the Lord’s house, He takes it personally.

In calling us to give our offerings to the Lord’s work, Jesus says, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven….” (Matthew 6:19-20).

The verse we pastors cite when urging people to bring their offerings, Malachi 3:10, gives as this incentive: “…that there might be meat (provisions) in my house.” We bring our offerings to the house of God, and the Lord considers it an act directed to Him.

Anyone wishing to honor Jesus Christ would do well to honor His church.

At every opportunity, I urge leaders of churches to do several things:

1) Give the church back to Jesus. He died for it; you didn’t; He wants it back.  Pastors will be pleasantly surprised at how liberating that is!

2) Honor Him in everything you do in the church and out of it. Your reputation is not on that church; His is.  If you are mowing the lawn or leading a choir or rocking a baby, do it as unto the Lord.

3) Make your constant prayer: “Lord, what do you want done with your church?” Become a person of great prayer and insist that large portions of the services, events, and committee meetings be given to serious, passionate prayer.

Likewise, I urge members (the laity) of the Lord’s congregations to get serious about their service to the Lord:

1) In church and out of it, continually ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”

2) Treasure the unity of the congregation. So many churches have been torn into shreds by members who decided to impose their will on the rest of the congregation.

3) Choose good leaders, then trust them to do their work.  Quit nitpicking them to death. Encourage them!

4) Get on your knees daily and implore Heaven to take special note of you, your church, and its leaders. Ask God to make yours a safe place for the outcasts, the hurting, the weak, the hungry, and for little children. Ask Him to impower the sermons, freshen the worship, motivate the offerings, and strengthen the fellowship.

I am not one who believes the church building is the equivalent of the Old Testament temple. However, reading in Scripture of God’s use of that worship center can teach us great lessons for today’s church. Here’s one small example….

In the day of Nehemiah (the 5th century B.C.), the Israelites were neglecting the house of God (see Neh. 10:39). With their worship of the Lord seriously lacking, their lives were correspondingly weakened. So, following their leader, they committed themselves to bringing their offerings and reinstituting worship. So far, so good.

However, in practice, they found it difficult to keep that commitment. Times were hard in Jerusalem, enemies were everywhere, and the temple was not a safe place. The people of God grew lax in their obedience, and something scary happened. The enemy, a fellow named Tobiah, moved into the temple and set up his own office (Neh. 13:7-8). When Nehemiah heard of this, he threw the man out and rebuked the people. “Why is the house of God forsaken?” (13:11)

When the Lord’s people grow lax in their service to God (“at ease in Zion”), look for the enemy to move in and set up shop.

Only a thorough-going repentance and house-cleaning will get the job done. Thereafter, the Lord’s people are to serve Him with gladness, pray to Him with great faith, sing to Him with a joyful heart, and to love Him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

God hates lukewarmness. It was the sin of Laodicaea in Revelation 3. “Because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (3:16)

Does anyone think the Lord has grown to appreciate lukewarmness and half-heartedness more today than in former times? “I change not,” He told the people of Malachi’s day (Mal. 3:6).

We need to consider again the choices Elijah laid before the Lord’s people on Mount Carmel: “How long do you want it both ways? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow Him.” (I Kings 18:21)

Time to choose, church.