As we have seen in the second part of this brief series, when the substance is reached it provokes a life changing experience. Jesus was referring to this sort of occurrence when He spoke with the woman at the well. As He pointed out, the shadows were about to give way to the substance—at least, in the life of the true worshipers. The validity of worship would no longer be determined by a geographical location but rather by a moral position.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23,24).
The fabric of true worship
What does “in spirit and in truth” mean? Let me answer through an example.
Imagine a grey room having no windows and with nothing inside except a grey bench, no smart-phone, no computer, no piano, no television, nothing. Now, there are Christians who enter such a room and touch glory. They see the Shape, so to speak, and hear the Voice. Their fellowship with the Godhead is so real that time seems to vanish away. Theirs is an ineffable bliss and a sublime worship. Therefore they love the grey room and seek to spend as much time in it as they can.
But there are other Christians for whom such a room represents a place of absolute boredom. They hate it and find nothing interesting in it. Their worship can only be engendered by materialities. Bring these bored Christians to the right concert and you will have them worshiping in no time. But worshiping what? Here lies the question.
Studying the Scriptures
Let me return to a scripture previously quoted.
“You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39,40).
Here Jesus is talking to Jews, and as I have already mentioned most of them loved the Scriptures. They read and studied them meticulously; taught them and had long discussions about them. But for most of them the Scriptures were only descriptive and informative; and it was so because they were coming short of touching the substance. Now please, let us not judge these people too harshly, because we evangelicals fall in the same trap relatively often. We read the Word, study it, talk about it, fight over it, and all this without reaching the “spirit and life” Jesus refers to when He says:
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63).
A possible scenario
Brian, Dennis and Richard
Let me exemplify a modern evangelical tendency through a fictitious story.
Brian, a faithful member of The Lamb’s Church, decides to enter a Bible School where he will study for four years. His decision inspires Dennis who frequents the same congregation and before the month is over both have boarded the same School.
Richard, on the other hand, continues to frequent The Lamb’s Church. He lives a humble life owing to the fact that he works only four hours a day. His lodging place consists of an old fashion apartment and most of his clothes are bought in secondhand stores. He works a part-time job because he wants to have time to fellowship with the Word in prayer and to evangelize his neighborhood. As a matter of fact, thirteen members of The Lamb’s Church have come to salvation through his ministry.
Studying hard
As the months pass Dennis finds himself striving to pass his exams, the main reason being the eons he spends in the grey room. Everyday he goes there for several hours to fellowship with his Beloved, but since he is a responsible young man he has not flunked a test yet. It must be said that at times he must escape his meal to study. But he doesn’t mind the sacrifice.
For his part, Brian passes all of his exams with ease. His success is due to his great intellect and to the fact that all his time is invested on his studies, for among other things Brian hates the grey room. He calls it the necropolis.
The graduation
At last, both students get their diploma. Brian graduates with honor and receives a monetary award for his brilliant accomplishment. Actually, he is planning to enter Rothberg International School to study Hebrew, and if his experience is positive he intends to proceed to Trinitas Classical School where he will learn Greek. As for Dennis, he plans to return to his hometown.
Six years later
On a solemn Sunday, reverend Mr. Allan—pastor of The Lamb’s Church—announced that he will retire in five months. Needless to say, the elders passed to action immediately. After having searched far and wide for possible nominees they came to the conclusion that a member of their own congregation would be the best candidate.
After long considerations they oscillate between Brian and Dennis. In spite of the fact that Richard has led by now 32 people to the Lord, they didn’t consider him a possible contender since he doesn’t have a diploma.
Dennis or Brian?
Considering both candidates:
Dennis has been a faithful brother for many years and preached in different occasions. The problem with him is that you never know what he will preach about, and it seems he doesn’t know either until he comes out of the grey room.
Another drawback resides in the fact that when Dennis preaches he is unflinching and speaks with authority. This has caused some problem in the past. Actually, two people got offended at his message last year and left the church. Their last words were: “This is a hard saying, who can take it?” Added to his lack of pastoral ethics Dennis doesn’t know Hebrew and Greek.
Brian, for his part, has also preached many times. Contrary to Dennis his pastoral ethics are so finely tuned that everybody loves him. He always speaks with a soft and agreeable voice and never touches on conflicting subjects. In fact, he always tells the congregation: “You might be right.” Added to that, he has graduated from the Bible school with honor, and if that is too little, he has earned a diploma from Rothberg International School in Hebrew, and from Trinitas Classical School in Greek.
So after having considered Dennis’ and Brian’s respective credentials, the elders choose unanimously Brian as pastor of the church and agree on a 15–years contract.
Overlooking the problem
The amazing thing is that Brian—who has not experienced the Substance for a decade—has become the pastor of the church. He has spent his last ten years in fellowship with shadows and descriptions. In point of fact, his personality sends forth the smell of paper more than the fragrance of heaven.
Brethren! Such tragedies are becoming popular among us evangelicals and hardly anyone seems to realize what is happening. May God help us to react and assume our responsibility before the final curtain comes down.
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