The Danger of Fake Worship [37]

Host: TJ Freeman

Summary: In this episode of Back to Rurality, TJ Freeman addresses the struggles of being open and authentic in a small-town church. He shares the story of Ananias and Sapphira from Acts to illustrate the dangers of faking external appearances while hiding inner struggles. TJ emphasizes the importance of authenticity, transparency, and building genuine relationships within the church. This episode encourages rural Christians to be real, support each other, and work towards establishing healthy, vibrant churches.

Connect with Us:

• Website: backtorurality.com
• Social Media: Facebook
• Email: tj@brainerdinstitute.com

Transcript

I can't open up to the people at church? Not about this. I know what they'd think about me and the gossip would be all over town in no time. If you've ever struggled with not feeling like you could be open with people in the church, stay tuned because this episode is for you. Thanks for joining us for another episode of Back to Rurality.

My name is TJ Freeman and I am a rural pastor. That means that just like you, I live in the middle of nowhere, something that sometimes I'm thankful for. Other times I really wish I was a lot closer to a Chick-fil-A and we had a few more sunny days out this way, but that's okay. This is where the Lord has me and I'm happy to be here.

You know why? Because making God known in the middle of nowhere matters. It's a responsibility that he has given to mankind and specifically to his people, Christians, and most potently or most powerfully through the local church. Churches in the middle of nowhere are so important and you might not have a healthy one in your town.

That's what this podcast is for. I am here just to encourage Christians, especially people who live in the middle of nowhere and don't have easy access to a healthy church. Now, I don't know what your church condition is like, but I do know that the Lord does mean for you to be encouraged by the church, for you to encourage the church, and for it to be a place where you are really authentic. And that is a tough thing to be, especially in a small town.

When you live in a small town, it can be tempting not to be as transparent because you're going to be around these people all the time. And you don't want them thinking the wrong thing about you. And you kind of have the impression that other people aren't dealing with the kind of stuff that you're dealing with. You don't want to become the center of the town wide gossip.

You wouldn't want the people at church to start to judge you for the things that are going on in your heart or the struggles that you're really having. So a lot of times you keep them inside. In a small town, it's easy to try to protect your reputation in a way that you might not have to think about if you lived in a larger area. 

But here's the danger. When you start to hide things on the inside, you have to fake some things on the outside. That's actually not good. There's a couple that did that in the book of Acts chapter four. Maybe you've heard of them. Their names are Ananias and Sapphira. Not great names in history because these two get wiped out by the Lord prematurely for trying to look one way on the outside but being really different on the inside.

And it's a pretty extreme case. So it's early in the life of the church and it is the sweetest, most beautiful church you've ever seen. People are sharing. It says that everyone has one heart and one soul. Those are the kind of relationships you want. I wish I had more relationships where I feel like I'm one heart and I'm one soul with the people around me.

Man, do they have that in this early church. They're pooling their resources together so that anybody who needs anything can just have it. And there's great sacrifice going on because they love each other and they know how much Christ has sacrificed for them. So this guy named Barnabas, that's a nickname.

It means son of encouragement. His real name's Joseph. And Barnabas is sitting there one day in his field and he's going, I don't think I need all this land. In fact, if I sold this land, I could give it to the church and they could use it to help take care of people and see to it that the gospel goes forward.

Plus, this guy's a Levite. You could go back and study what it means to be a Levite, but they were not given an inheritance of land, so it was uncommon for them to have land, and when they did, they were pretty unlikely to get rid of it. This Levite, son of encouragement, Barnabas, sells his land, brings it to the church, gives them the money, and the church uses it for the advancement of the gospel.

It's beautiful. This is the kind of church you'd want to be a part of. Until Dun, dun, dun! Enter Ananias and Sapphira, Acts chapter 5, verse 1. They sold a piece of property too, only they held back some of the money, which actually isn't the problem. You find out in the text that holding back the money isn't the issue.

Peter even tells them, hey, that was your property. You didn't have to sell it to give the money to the church, and when you did, you didn't have to act like you gave us all the money. You just could have been like, here's my 10%. I wanted to give this to the church, and we would have been happy.

But here's what they wanted. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to look good on the outside. They saw the kind of love, the kind of sacrifice going on in the church, and they wanted a piece of that. They even wanted to be recognized as being a part of it without having a heart on the inside that matched what they were doing on the outside.

Do you ever go to church and feel like, I just want to blend in? I don't want the people here to know what I did last night. I don't want the people here to know that thing I've been struggling with. I don't want the people here to know what my marriage is really like. I don't want the people here to know about my depression.

I don't want the people here to think about how I'm raising my kids at home and how I feel like I'm just about to fall off the cliff as a parent. And I want the people here to know that. So what do I do? I go into church, I sing the songs, I follow along for the scripture readings, I close my eyes during the prayers.

I look the part. I look just like everyone else there. I blend in. And nobody can tell that what they see on the outside does not match what's going on in the inside.

And here I am, acting like I'm all in, when I'm really holding back a portion. That is not how we're meant to function, and the warning of Ananias and Sapphira is good for us. The Lord acts swiftly, and for this lie, he takes them out. Peter points out some interesting things, like lying to these people is actually lying to God, which is a pretty big deal.

And then Luke, the author of Acts, tells us that when this couple died, fear gripped the whole church and everyone who heard it. And that's meant to happen to us a little bit, too, isn't it? When we read a passage like this, we should have a part of us that's like, oh no, I wonder if there's anything that I'm doing today that's like what Ananias and Sapphira did that day.

That should scare us a little bit, but it shouldn't scare us because we're thinking, Oh, maybe God's going to just arbitrarily wipe me out. Oh, maybe I'm not good enough to please the Lord. It's not that. What should scare us a little bit is our willingness to have the approval of man. Which makes us look good on the outside and not even care about our real standing before the Lord and what our faking it in public says about the genuineness of our faith and our willingness to do what God says with our struggles, which is share our burdens with the church around us. Be open. Be transparent.

Be invested in the lives of the people around you and let them be invested in you. We are here to be and to make disciples of Jesus Christ, which requires a lot of authenticity. So I don't know if you have a healthy church in your town or not. By the way, if you don't, please email me tj@brainerdinstitute.com. 

I want to know where the communities are, where there's not a healthy presence of the church, because the mission of the organization I serve is to see a healthy church in every rural community. So if you're in a rural community and there is no healthy church, I really would like to talk to you.

We want to try to help do something about that. So if you've got one, you've got a gift. And if you're withholding a part of yourself for the sake of your reputation or fear or whatever. It's time to move on from that and start building relationships where you can be honest and where you can grow and where you can help others grow.

That's essential to what the church needs to be all about. If you don't have that, get together with some other Christians in your town. I'm sure there's at least one other one. And you're not going to be able to do the full on what the church does yet. But you can start praying for that and you can start being transparent with each other, encouraging each other, holding each other accountable, helping each other share the gospel, being there to support each other.

The value of one other Christian in your community is huge. Pray that the Lord will bring that person to you. Pray that you and that other person can help get some momentum going toward there being a healthy church in your community. If you're having to drive somewhere else, that's a bummer. And I'm sorry that that's happening.

It's probably better than nothing, but really start praying about more gospel activity right there in your own town. God wants to be glorified through it. And he wants to be glorified through you authentically making him known, giving him your whole heart so that your worship on the outside matches what's going on on the inside.

If you'd like to talk about this or anything you've heard on any episode of Back to Rurality, I'd love to talk to you. This again is a ministry of the Brainerd Institute for Rural Ministry. We indeed want to see a healthy church in every rural community. We're trying to raise up men and to provide resources to help make that happen.

We'd love to talk to you. Thanks for tuning in. For now, let's get back to life. Back to rurality.