If you were pressed to declare what is the greatest matter of concern among the churches in the present hour, what would say? We need more commitment to winning souls? We need unity above all else? Love is more important than anything else in the dynamics between Christians and the lost? I am entirely convinced that it is something far more impactful than all of these things. Here is what I think.
At one point in his redemptive work prior to the cross, Jesus actually put forward this question to the leaders of the religious deadness that had come to characterize Judaism for many generations:
Jesus asked them, Saying, 'What think ye of Christ?'
Matthew 22:42
He listened to their answer, 'The Son of David,' the answer He knew they would give since they wanted so badly to claim that the Messiah was of the Jews, in their minds elevating themselves above all other religious leaders. He then confronted them with the stark reality that under the direct inspiration of God, David himself had plainly called the Christ his own Lord. Jesus was plainly confronting them with their religious hypocrisy. They claimed to revere David, but entirely rejected the idea that Messiah, David's greater Son, was to be revered far more. In reality, their dead religiousness had completely set aside any genuine sense of worship, redefining Messiah to suit their own ends. Jesus was publicly telling them that their misrepresentation of Messiah had to be corrected. Messiah was NOT at all as they had portrayed Him to be.
I am convinced that this very same matter of obvious concern to the Lord then remains today, just on a different platform. Instead of the Christ being misrepresented by Jewish religious leaders, He has been redefined and misrepresented by contemporary American Christianity (among others). The popular Christs in the world today bear little resemblance to the Christ of the Bible.
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