Comfort demands we preach and teach the comfortable aspects of Jesus, while His equally important, uncomfortable aspects are ignored. In doing this we create a lesser god, full of grace but devoid of command and consequence, who robs our men of passion and purpose because men need a challenge with consequences to feel alive.

Preaching this lesser god leads to commit-less conversion without the hard work of discipleship. Soon after the conversion inspiration subsides men have nothing to challenge or excite them, and so they disengage. They find nothing exciting about their Christian experience, and thus have no motivation to evangelize others.

The highest calling for men has become church attendance, good morals, being good providers, husbands, and family men, when it should be following Jesus into the great unknown. These mistaken priorities reverse Matthew 6:33, and leave them spiritually confused.

When the sons of Adam, who are predisposed to apathy and abandonment of their God given position, are placed in this type of environment [Laodicean] their curse is catered to. When they fall, Eve is drawn into her curse [desire to take control]. Men’s and women’s roles are reversed, and the fall ensues.

All of this has led to men to chase worldly pursuits: career, hobby, recreation, materialism, and even family that provide the challenges and consequences they need to arouse their passions. At the same time it leads them further away from following Jesus.

Having lost any sense of the power and purpose of the Gospel in their own lives, Christian men try to fight the decay of morality in society through political means. They become “entangled in the everyday affairs of this life,” having given up being “good soldiers” of Christ, and this because they don’t view Him as King.

Go To Top

Laodicean demands for comfort have led church into the goal of conversion, and the model of gathering to teach rather than going into the streets to “make disciples.” Most leaders have become teachers of students in temples rather than shepherds of disciples in the marketplace. The Great Commission suffers.

This classroom model, and the love of materialistic evidence of success causes us to build ever-larger buildings to house as many students as possible and impress the flesh. However, it becomes like a drug where ever-greater fixes are required. It cannot be sustained [reference European cathedrals].

Sheep do not follow teaching alone. They must be led as well as taught. Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd,” and said of His sheep they would “hear His voice and follow Him.” He set the example for shepherding, which “made disciples.” This model has been lost in the temple worship we’ve resurrected.

All activities center around our temples, because that is where the sheep find their shepherds. Sheep always gather with their shepherds, regardless of what the shepherd’s desire is or what they ask of their sheep. Sheep “hear and follow.”

Jesus confronted a system of temple worship much like ours today. He condemned its buildings and its religious system, and took His message directly to men in the marketplace. He didn’t try to fix the system, nor will we with all of our programs. He largely ignored it, and warned His disciples to steer clear.

We believe God is behind our worldwide financial crisis, which will ultimately serve us by doing away with our comfortable idols and temples. Perhaps this will bring about the suffering needed for men to gain a new understanding of who He is, and open doors to incredible opportunities for the Gospel.

Go To Top

The healthy “fear of God” now lacking can be restored once the deceiving riches of Laodicea are removed, and we return to the shepherding model of the true Jesus: Savior and Judge, lover and commander, and dispenser of mercy and consequence. The Laodicean deception must be fought above all other enemies: political, religious, physical, or spiritual. It is the hidden, silent killer of men’s souls because they, like the Laodiceans before them, do not even perceive it exists. We pray for and seek the downfall of Laodicea, because within its environs the sons of Adam have little hope for revival.

Go To Top