Old Rugged Cross

Matthew 5:13-16

5:13 - "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
5:14 - "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;
5:15 - nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
5:16 - "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

The Old Rugged Cross is one of the top 10 most popular hymns of the twentieth century, according to the Christian History Institute. It just so happens to be my favorite hymn of all time.

I can remember sitting, but usually standing in a small country church in south Oklahoma, on Sunday mornings, singing the old hymns, back when we used hymnals on Sunday mornings. And to this day I cherish those old hymns. I joked around with a friend of mine recently that I was born in the wrong decade as I am quite different that most of my generational counterparts.

While I welcome the new technologies that have been introduced over the past 20 years, I also appreciate the time when life was all about the family and not all the hustle and bustle that we have today. You see while technology is always introduced to make our lives more simple all it does is allow us to cram more into our day. Therefore our lives actually get even more complicat-ed than they were before the new technology was introduced.

But I'm regressing now . . . and my friend shared with me that indeed I was born into this generation for a purpose — God's purpose.

Let me get back to the beginning. I really love that old hymn "The Old Rugged Cross," and while I was driving to Dallas a few months ago, to meet a friend of mine for lunch, I noticed for the first time that just south of Dallas on I-45 there stood and Old Rugged Cross on the side of the interstate. I had traveled this journey a number of times before, but I had never noticed the cross until that day.

And it was actually more than the cross that I noticed. You see behind the old rugged cross with its white paint now stripping away from the passing of time and the elements of nature, there stood and old rugged church. An old rugged church, that just like the cross, was fading away with time as it too was losing its paint a little each day as the hours ticked away.

I dont' know if the church building was in use any longer or not, but my guess would be by its lack of up keep that it probably was not. But the thing that struck me the most about this old rugged setting was not the cross, nor the church building. It was actually the old rugged sign that hung from the old rugged cross, which said Come in if you need a miracle.

And you could just think back in your mind to a time when that church building had a fresh coat of white paint and the cross stood straight and tall, just beaming so bright from the morning sun that you would just have to turn your head away or squint your eyes. You can see the people pouring into that small sanctuary and hearing a Word from the Lord and meeting face to face with the Almighty. And you can just picture the folks that would walk the isle, because their heart had been pricked by the Holy Spirit and they had been convicted of their sin and were going to the alter to ask for forgiveness, so that they too may become as pure and white as that once proud church.

But on this day there were no cars gathered in the parking lot. There were no people hearing from the one true God. There were no lives being changed for all of eternity. No today it was just an old rugged church, with an old rugged cross, with an old rugged sign that was nailed to it.

And just like that run down old rugged church today the church has been caught up in the numbers game. No longer are we interested in winning the lost, or seeing the body grow spiritually. Today we are more concerned with how many physical bottoms are filling our pews on Sunday mornings. The conversation when you talk to pastors across the nation is no longer one of how many salvations and rededications that you have during the alter call, if you still have one of those these days. No when you ask a pastor about the church, the answer you get is how many people they are running in their service or Sunday School.

The "salt" of the earth is in real danger of losing its saltiness and therefore its usefulness. Some of the research done by George Barna, who is a Christian sociologist, says there is really "no difference" between the lives of Christians and the world around them.

Instead of being just in the world, Christians are getting caught up with being of the world. And we don't have society to blame for the demise of our culture. We have ourselves to blame because we are no longer willing to take a stand on social ills. Instead of putting our Light up on a lampstand for every-one to see, we are actually doing quite the opposite and what Jesus told us not to do. Today we as Christians are hiding our Light under a bushel.

And not only do Christians not take a stand our pastors don't want to preach on sin anymore, because they might step on somebody's toes. And this week it may be the wrong somebody and they will be asked to leave the church. That can't happen because the pastor has a wife and three kids to feed. So we better just talk about how much God loves us and how we wants us to have abundant life.

Now before you get me wrong, I believe with all my heart that God loves us more than we will ever be able to comprehend. And I believe God wants us to experience an abundant life while we are here on earth.

But, we have to be willing to talk about sin and the consequences of sin. Not only so that the lost will recognize they are sinful through the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but guess what just because we're saved doesn't mean we have been made perfect. And we need to be convicted of our own sin in order to help us move deeper in our relationship with Christ. So that sin can be confessed and forgiveness asked for and given.

Today we are more worried about bringing in the "unchurched" and not winning the lost. We are worried about growing the church in attendance so that we can have a flashy resume when we apply for that bigger and better pulpit.

And I would submit to you that we have it all backwards. While church growth is actually on the increase its not coming from new converts, because baptisms have been on the decline. I saw an article that said SBC churches were down almost 70,000 baptisims in 2002. And if the trend continued in 2003 it was even more than that. But what does that 70,000 mean. That means that's 70,000 fewer people that get to experience the miracle the old rugged sign was talking about. That is 70,000 fewer people that are still on a one-way track to a Devil's hell!

Wake up oh slumbering giant. Wake up because there is still work left to be done. Wake up church there is a harvest that is ripe for the picking. Wake up church member because you have a neighbor that is lost. You have a family member that is one step away from an eternal separation from the God that created them. We must wake up and get out of our spiritual funk.

There is coming a day when the work of the church is going to be done and Christ will return to gather His own unto Himself. And we know in that day there will be a great complacency that is running rampid throughout Christianity, but it doesn't have to be now.

No II Chronicles 7:14 tells us that if God's people, who are called by His name, will humble themsleves, seek His face and turn from there wicked ways and pray that He will hear from heaven and He will heal their land.

You see that same miracle that we could envision back when that church was vibrant and on fire for the Lord is still the miracle that is offered to every wayward soul today. It is still the same miracle that will cleanse the heart and purify the soul for all of eternity. That same miracle is still available today, but our churches, while they may be brand new buildings on the outside, are old and rugged on the inside. The fire that was once there is now gone. The passion that once burned for the lost is now just a chilly breeze of complacency. Oh dear brother and sister, that same miracle that changed your life is still available to your lost father. That same miracle that made you a new creation is still available for your lost co-worker. That same miracle that takes the old and makes it new is still available for your lost son or daughter.

Dear God please give us a heart for the lost, as your work in America and your work around the world is not complete. We must be diligently working until the trumpet sounds and you tell us that the work is finished. Revive us oh Lord!

"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®,
Copyright © 1960,1962,1963,1968,1971,1972,1973,1975,1977,1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission."