How a Mind-Set Change Can Transform Your World & Mine
I am not one given to visions, but in 1975, upon graduation
from Bible school, I saw a vision of a coming great falling away in the church,
followed by an even greater revival. I have lived to see the first part of the
vision--the falling away--fulfilled. I believe the second part of the vision—the great revival—could be at the door and tarries, perhaps, until we make some much needed adjustments in how
we see and present Jesus.
When I saw the great falling away I
heard the words, “Jesus is a means,
not an end.” I knew immediately and
instinctively that the falling away would be characterized, not by a rejection
of Jesus, but by Him being preached and embraced as a means
to personal happiness rather than as the end
or goal for life.
A means is “how” we reach a desired end or goal. If my end or
goal is to travel from Dallas to New York, there are various means at my disposal for reaching that
goal. The means may vary but the end is stationary, for the end is what is important.
In the vision, churches were filled
with people who had accepted Jesus, not as the end or goal in life, but as a means
for them obtaining their own end of personal
happiness and fulfillment. They were like the people in John’s Gospel who
sought Jesus, not for who He was, but for what they could get from Him.
What’s in it for Me?
In the Gospel of John, Jesus chided
a large crowd for seeking Him as a means
rather than as the end or goal of
life. This happened when He multiplied a lad’s lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fishes
and fed a large multitude. After the miracle, Jesus departed from that area with
His disciples. The people, however, were so enthralled by what they had seen and
experienced that they crossed the Sea of Tiberius looking for Him.
Their motives, however, were all
wrong and Jesus confronted their
distorted perception of Him by saying, Most
assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but
because you ate of the loaves and were filled (John 6:26).
Remember that in John’s Gospel, the signs Jesus performs are indicators that
point to who He is—His identity. It is thus clear that Jesus recognizes that
the people are seeking Him, not for who He is, but for what they can get from
Him. They see Jesus as a means for
satisfying their personal needs and desires, not the End—the Lord--deserving their love and devotion because of
who He is.
This
is Where Repentance Comes In
The preaching of Jesus as a means
rather than the end ignores the
ramifications of the fall wherein our first parents heeded the serpent’s lie
that God’s command was keeping them from personal happiness and fulfilment in
life. They, therefore, declared their independence from God, rejected Him as
the ultimate end of life, and
replaced Him with their own happiness as the ultimate end, i.e., they themselves became the end and goal of life. They became the first humanists.
Since that time, their posterity—the human race--has been in a
continuous search for the means that
will bring them to their end, or
goal, of personal happiness and fulfilment. A myriad of means have been used (and continue to be used) to try and achieve
this end including entertainment,
sports, drugs, power, sex, career, crime, religion, etc.
What is needed, however, is not another means, but a completely different end. This is what the Bible calls “repentance.” In Acts 20:21 Paul
said the he preached a two-fold message—repentance
toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
The word “repent” is from the Greek word metanoeo and literally means “to change the mind.” It refers to a
radical change of thinking wherein self is no longer the end or goal, but Christ is made the
end or goal for life. This was the message preached by Charles G. Finney, the
Prince of Revivalists, who described repentance in this manner.
It
consists in the sinner changing his mind, or disposition, in regard to the
supreme object of pursuit. It is a change in the end at which he aims and not merely the means of obtaining his end.
It is a change from a state of selfishness in which a person prefers his
interests above everything else, to that disinterested benevolence that prefers
God’s happiness and glory, and the interests of His kingdom, to his own private
happiness.
It has been estimated that 80% of Finney’s
converts never backslid. In contrast, a follow-up was done on those who
responded during a modern evangelistic crusade and it was found that, only six
months later, only 5% had any sort of meaningful relationship with Christ.
I would suggest that preaching Jesus as a means rather than as the End is one reason we have seen so many
people drop out of church and let go of their faith. They accepted Jesus as a means to their own personal happiness,
not as the end and goal for their
life. So when they encountered tests of faith, it was all too easy to let go of
Jesus and try something else, i.e., try
another means.
Finding Fulfillment & True Happiness
Jesus and His kingdom are the highest and
greatest value in all creation. This is why we only find true meaning in life
when we give up self as the end and
make Jesus and His kingdom the end.
This is the point Jesus made when he said, If you try to hang on to your life, you
will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it (Matthew 16:24-25; NLT).
I believe the great revival I saw could be at
the door. It tarries, perhaps, until we tweak our message and begin presenting
Jesus, not as a mere means for
personal happiness, but as the Lord and Master of the Universe who calls each
and every one of us to an absolute and unconditional surrender to Him and His
will. Then, and only then, will we see His kingdom come and His will done on
earth as it is in heaven. Only then will we know true happiness and
fulfillment.
Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is the founder of the Revive America Project that is dedicated to reclaiming the vision and reviving the hope for another Great Awakening in the land. His books on revival and American and church history can be found on Amazon and at his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html.
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