Misplaced Trust

Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 7:1-10

We are handed down things from our forefathers that they received from God and held by faith, repentance, and the fear of the Lord. Then, we mistakenly believe that because God blessed us in particular ways that He is now and forever bound to us by these blessings (Jeremiah 7:14). For example, the church in the United States has been one of the great missionary sending forces of modern history. The financial prosperity and Christian heritage of this nation have made this possible. And some assume that because of this God’s hands are tied when it comes to dealing with the spiritual apostasy and evil of our land. The reasoning is that God needs America because the church in America is how the vast majority of mission work gets done.

This is just one example of misplaced trust. It is similar to the error of the Jewish people in Jeremiah’s day who were saying, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,” (Jeremiah 7:4). They felt that they could get away with murder because they were the land in which the temple of the Lord stood. God, in their ill-founded logic, was trapped. He couldn’t really do much to them because He can’t destroy His own temple, can He? Of course, that is exactly what God did. He sent a pagan nation in to tear it all down and lead a remnant into captivity.

I fear too many people are trusting in the fact that their church is biblically and doctrinally sound. They reason that since they are orthodox God will let them stand. Some think that because their church is growing numerically, even though their leadership is corrupt and their practices more akin to the world than the word, God must take a hands-off approach. After all, He wouldn’t want to put an end to one of His most profitable franchises, would he?

Jeremiah chapter seven would be a good place to head to remind ourselves that God isn’t bound by our “temples.” God is bound to His character and nature. And He is holy. He requires holiness from us and repentance when we fall short. The seven churches of Revelation Two and Three heard essentially the same message. Though each of them faced different problems and struggles, Jesus’ called them to repentance. He threatened their continuance if they would not repent. They were not safe because they had past success and inherited the blessing of their forefathers.

Don’t put your trust in the wrong thing and believe God wouldn’t pull the rug on you for your wickedness. The only safe path is repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ.

Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash