Authenticity in Faith: Beyond Playing Church

It's time to stop playing church. It's time to stop playing Church. Wayne, it was, bro, it was, it was one of the worst disciplinary beatings that I'd ever received in my young life. Just a few strikes here and there, really, but they were just enough to help correct, adjust, and amend both my behavior and my mindset moving forward. Cedra, I was about 10 years of age, and as was the case during each of my childhoods during the summer, I was spending the month of July in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. [00:50:57]

I grew up in an era where most of you can identify, and some of you can testify, where our parents, our grandparents, our aunts, our uncles, and our older family members, they ain't play with us. They raised us. They didn't play when it came to matters and values of respect. They didn't play when it came to matters of honor, decency, courtesy, politeness, manners, yes sir, yes ma'am, knowing your place, or better yet, knowing a child's place. [00:52:57]

I believe that one of the reasons that some, not all, but some of our young people don't have an appropriate respect both for themselves and also for adults is because from an early age, they were invited, permitted, and allowed to be in adult spaces and privy to adult conversations that they weren't mature enough to understand. And now that they are older, now that they are teenagers, you can't tell them nothing now because from an early age, they've been conditioned and cultured to believe that they've always been on the same level with you. [00:54:29]

It was literally hazardous to your health to behave, act, speak, or conduct yourself in a way that could be even perceived that you were being disrespectful to your elders. You couldn't even look a certain way. You couldn't even look like you wanted to say something back or do something that was contrary to how you were being raised. It was almost as if they were mind readers, and sometimes you would catch heat for stuff you thought, and you didn't even know they could hear what you were thinking. [00:55:21]

If you act out in public, guess what? I'mma show out in public. If you act out in the grocery store, I'mma act out in the grocery store. You act out in the shopping mall, and I done told you before we even got in them all, don't ask me for nothing, but you act out in the shopping mall, I'mma get you in the shopping mall. If you act out in school, then when I have to leave my job to come up to the school, right now, I ain't going to wait till I get you home. [00:56:47]

I learned a new, very important lesson that day, and that not only is God not to be played with, but neither is his church something to be tore or played with as well. However, as I've gotten older, I've discovered that the innocence and the immaturity ascribed to the younger seasons of our lives is not necessarily an excuse for our tendencies in the more mature and older seasons of our lives as well. That is to say, in other words, it is not just children who make the mistake of playing church. [01:04:11]

Coming to church just to come to church, coming to church and just meandering and going through the ecclesial motions with no conviction in our hearts and no conversions in our souls, just serving to be serving, just singing to be singing, preaching to be preaching, praying to be praying, just rehearsing just to be rehearsing, just ministering for the sake of saying we're ministering, showing up just to be seen, just to have a title or position recognized with no real desire to worship, no real desire to discipleship, no real yearning to praise. [01:05:01]

The one place that God has given to us to assemble freely together every week so that we can therein be encouraged to go back out into this crazy world that's just becoming crazier every single day. A world where it seems where everything that's wrong within this country is now being blamed on black people, brown people, and communities of diversity. Violence and criminality have traditionally always been blamed on black people and communities of diversity in this country because of the narrative that is always used against people of color in this country. [01:06:01]

With all that's going on in the world today, here it is, when we come to church, we therein don't have time to play church as we need to be so fully engaged in this experience that we not only come up in here to give God praise as if it's our very last time to do so, but we also come up in here re-energize, revitalize, encouraged, and empowered to go back out into this crazy world for one more week and to try to witness while running this race just a little while longer. [01:08:20]

The Church in Ephesus had lost its way. It was in a city that had lost its regal splendor to poor financial investments, cultural corruption, and spiritual disenfranchisement. And some of the same powers that had successfully worked the city into the brink of ruin were now some of the same powers seeping within to try to the Lord's Church therein. Paul discovered a church that had people in it that were being baptized but who didn't believe in the Lord. He discovered a church that had leaders serving in it who had never even heard of the Holy Ghost. [01:09:44]

Paul discovered all of this, but in the midst of all of this, he also discovered, watch this, that the Holy Ghost was still present, that the Holy Ghost was still at work, that the Holy Ghost was still alive and well and was still desiring to be active in the life and the ministry of the church that was not even serious about the work, but God was still serious about them. Some of us missed our chance to shout right there. Anybody in here glad to know, glad to realize that when you look back over your life. [01:11:01]

The word says that slowly but surely, the people started growing in the fervent faith of the Lord, and the word says that they stopped playing church, and they started taking worship seriously. However, in the midst of all of that, the word says some charlatans, impostors, some phonies whom the writer names as Sceva and his seven sons saw how this church that was once dying was now starting to thrive, and they took it upon themselves to try to get in and capitalize on what God was doing here in this church in Ephesus. [01:13:05]

Sceva anointed himself as an authority over himself. He called himself, he licensed himself, he ordained himself, he trained himself, he started his own ministry outside of the synagogue, founded his own school, made himself both president and dean of the seminary, made himself bishop, made himself apostle, made all of his family staff members and ministry leaders of the church. And the word says that in verse 13, that they all then became itinerate Jews and that they made themselves exorcists and they traveled all throughout Asia seeking opportunities to do ministry for profit. [01:14:47]

They were conduits of a Christless Christianity, facilitators of a fake faith, and graduates of a graceless gospel. They did not even believe in the name of Jesus for themselves. They were ministering in the name that they didn't even believe in. They were preaching in the name, I need you to see this, that they did not even believe in. They were even trying to perform exorcisms in the name that they didn't even believe in. They were literally playing church, for they said, in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches about, we command you to come out. [01:16:15]

You might be comfortable playing church right now, and you may have become comfortable playing church for a long time, but you need to realize on today that though you may have been playing church, that guess what? That the demons in your life aren't going to be playing with you this year. Somebody better hear me on today. The demons in your life aren't in your life for leisure or for a hop. The demons in your family, the demons in your marriage, the demons in your health, on your job, and in your school are there because they are hellbent on destroying you. [01:17:41]

If your religion is real, if your faith is real, and if the gospel you live by is real, then the demons in your life, they not only know the name of the Lord, but they should also know you as well. You don't read that too quickly. You mean to tell me that you've been walking with the Lord all this time, and the demons still don't know who you are? You mean to tell me that you've been in the church all this time, and the demons still aren't even remotely aware of your existence? [01:19:35]

It's a sad commentary to be in the church all these years, and not now demon in hell is concerned about us. It's a tragic commentary to be saved all these years, to be singing in the choir all these years, to be preaching all these years, to be in leadership all these years, to be ushering all these years, to be in ministry all these years, to be an active member all these years, but when we stand face to face with demons, the demons say to us, we know Jesus and we're familiar with Paul, but who are you? [01:21:39]

You got to demonstrate that you have reverence for the name of the Lord. Somebody say reverence. Come on, elbow bump somebody near you, tell them reverence the name of the Lord. Watch the text. I'm done. Sceva and his seven sons all get into trouble because, here it is, they tried to use the name of Jesus without believing, without having reverence for the name of the Lord. It wasn't, it's not the catechism, it's not the lack of license, it's not the lack of ordination. [01:23:50]

If you believe in his name, then at some point you ought to know how to call on his name as well. Somebody ought to help me testify on today that if you call on his name, that things will start shifting in your life. If you believe in his name, somebody in here ought to help me testify that if you call on his name, that things will start changing in your life. If you believe in his name, somebody online ought to help me testify right there that every time I call on the name of the Lord. [01:25:08]

If you going to do it, you can't play with his name. You can't toy with his name. You can't pretend with his name. You have to believe that at his name, mountains have to move. You have to believe that at his name, hills will have to hide. You have to believe that at his name, sickness has to surrender, cancer cells have to go into remission, white blood cells and red blood cells have to come into agreement together. You got to believe that at his name, enemies are scattered, demons are put to flight. [01:27:12]