Clowns Amusing the Goats
by Gary Wilkerson - January 16, 2017
When Paul wrote his epistle to Titus, he left
behind powerful instructions for us regarding
Christ's Great Commission to preach the gospel. He
had just left the island of Crete, where he and
Titus ministered together. Paul encountered
persecution on Crete, and when he departed to
evangelize in other cities, he left behind Titus
and some other leaders. Now those young men also
wanted to leave. Like Paul, they found Crete a
hard place to minister.
Their dilemma parallels ours today. Anyone who's
lived in the U.S. for the past fifteen years has
seen a vast decline in religious faith. In less
than two decades' time America's transformation
has been dramatic: We're no longer a Christian
society that has moved to secularism. We're now a
secular society moving rapidly toward paganism.
This is very much what the Christians faced in
Crete. The city was wicked, overrun with
sensuality, and the young leaders' hearts told
them to leave. But Paul instructed them to stay,
explaining to them that it was for good reasons:
"This is why I left you in Crete" (Titus 1:5).
These young men were being trained by Paul. They
had gone to Crete to raise up a church, appoint
elders and establish a Christian presence - all of
which they accomplished, but only with great
difficulty. Paul acknowledged their hardship,
writing, "One of the Cretans, a prophet of their
own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts,
lazy gluttons.' This testimony is true" (1:12-13).
When Paul left, he must have known his young
mentees would suffer persecution. Why would he
leave them in a culture so dark and evil?
Christ has left us in a twisted, fallen world for
a purpose.
If our only mission in life is to have an intimate
relationship with Jesus, we might as well go to
heaven now. We could immediately start having
intimacy with him forever. But Jesus left us in
the world with another purpose in mind. What is
that purpose?
God always has a remnant people in a darkened
culture. Even in the worst of times, he
continually raises up a testimony of light amid
darkness. As Jesus says, we are to be salt, an
agent that preserves life in a decaying
environment. "You are the salt of the earth, but
if salt has lost its taste, how shall its
saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for
anything except to be thrown out and trampled
under people's feet" (Matthew 5:13).
Friend, we're the people God has appointed to be
lights in a darkened place and time. You may not
want to live in a sin-filled culture like
America's or to raise your kids in a society that
rages more and more against God. But Jesus has a
design for your life in this time and place. It
has to do with more than a thriving career or
providing a comfortable life for your family. The
reason you're here right now - the reason you
exist - is for his glory! We are here to be his
testimony, to make a difference, to be his living
epistles to a world thirsting desperately for
love.
Yet there's a major problem in the church today
regarding our mission. Much of American culture -
including the exalted pursuit of happiness - has
seeped into the church's culture. We worship and
behave as if God exists for us rather than the
other way around. We think our obedience to his
Word is about gaining his favor and blessings
rather than a relationship of love. That's
idolatry, plain and simple; it puts material gain
and fleshly satisfaction before a holy, loving
God.
The same thing happened with the church in Crete.
Paul said the Christians there were
"insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers,
especially those of the circumcision party. They
must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole
families by teaching for shameful gain what they
ought not to teach" (Titus 1:10-11). In Crete, the
church had become just as flesh-driven as the
larger culture.
Paul had to confront these false doctrines, which
catered to people's flesh rather than show a way
to godliness. He reminded Titus, "For we ourselves
were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves
to various passions and pleasures, passing our
days in malice and envy, hated by others and
hating one another. But when the goodness and
loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he
saved us, not because of works done by us in
righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by
the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being
justified by his grace we might become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life" (3:3-7).
Make no mistake, the Christians of Crete had been
converted to a living faith. But they remained
immersed in a flesh-driven culture that emphasized
physical appetites instead of the things of God.
Here was Paul's straightforward instruction to
Titus: "Rebuke them sharply, that they may be
sound in the faith" (1:13).
It breaks my heart to consider all the Christians
who attend church whose lives aren't being
transformed by the gospel.
If we believe something beautiful like the Good
News of Christ but don't practice it, we're no
better than the Pharisees Jesus criticized. Those
highly religious people raced to make converts but
never challenged them to conform their lives to
God's Word. Jesus confronted these hypocritical
church leaders, saying, "You travel across sea and
land to make a single proselyte, and when he
becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a
child of hell as yourselves" (Matthew 23:15).
Do you ever wonder why the church doesn't operate
in power today? Why do we have such a weak
testimony in a world desperate to hear Good News?
And why does the church often seem more like the
world than different from it? It's because we've
accepted a gospel of mixture, one driven by
fleshly goals rather than godly ones. What I see
happening drives me to my knees, praying, "Jesus,
turn us around. Touch us, change us, mold us. Make
us pure, different and holy. Set us apart for your
glorious purposes."
In 1974, more than a generation ago, my father,
David Wilkerson, wrote a prophetic book titled The
Vision. He was given a revelation of things that
at first seemed outlandish even to him, but over
the years almost all of what he foresaw came to
pass. I think of two specific predictions he made
that no one believed could ever happen: First,
pornography would be piped into homes. And second,
America would experience another economic
depression. These events happened decades apart,
but God was faithful to warn of the coming of
both.
I was a teenager at the time Dad released The
Vision. I remember two other revelations from it
that I dismissed as too incredible to ever take
place. In recent months, I've seen both come to
pass. I mention them now because I see them as
warning signs to a church in rapid decline.
The first prediction was that witchcraft and Satan
worship would take place in churches. Not long
ago, I watched a video of an Easter pageant staged
in a prominent church. It included seductively
dressed dancers twirling sensually at the foot of
the cross to demonstrate what Satan's hordes did
at Christ's crucifixion. I was horrified at this
scene taking place below Jesus' feet as he hung on
the cross watching it all himself. I realize that
what I watched wasn't actually Satan worship, but
it gave great weight and emphasis to something
shameful. It revealed that ministry's inability to
distinguish between titillating entertainment and
pure worship.
How can we preach a gospel of light when darkness
is presented as the gospel? We're not the first
generation to see this. C.H. Spurgeon, the famous
19-century preacher, saw the same temptation
creeping into churches of his time. He wrote:
"The Devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than
hinting to the church that part of their mission
is to provide entertainment for the people with a
view of winning them.... The church has gradually
toned down her testimony, then winked at and
excused the frivolities of the day. Then she
tolerated them...now she has adopted them under
the plea of reaching the masses.
"My first contention is that providing amusement
for the people is nowhere spoken of in the
Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a
Christian work, why did Christ not speak of it?
'Go ye, therefore, into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature.' Yes, that is clear
enough; so would it have been if he had added 'and
provide amusement for those who do not relish the
gospel'... I do not hear him say to his disciples,
'Run after these people that are leaving. Peter,
tell them we will have some different style of
service tomorrow; something short and attractive
with very little preaching....'
"Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect
the desired end.... Let the careless and the
scoffer who thank God because the church met them
halfway stand up, speak and testify.... Let him
stand up - but there are none to answer. The
mission of amusement produces no converts."
Spurgeon's sermon includes a phrase that gave me
the title for this message: "The time will come
when instead of shepherds feeding sheep, they will
have clowns entertaining the goats."
Friend, Paul didn't leave Titus and his brothers
behind in Crete to entertain the people. And Jesus
didn't leave us on this darkened earth to amuse.
We are here for a godly purpose: to hear from God,
and to live and speak his holy word to cut through
the culture with conviction and power.
Paul says we have three things to do while we
remain in Crete.
Here is the first: "He must hold firm to the
trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able
to give instruction in sound doctrine" (Titus
1:9). The word "sound" here signifies something
immovable, inarguable, rock-solid. God designed
doctrine for us to reliably base our lives on it.
This means it can't be frivolous or merely
exciting to our ears. That kind of doctrine is
here one day and blown away by the winds of
fleshly whim tomorrow. For some in the church,
this may mean putting down the latest Christian
best-seller and picking up God's Word, which he
provided for our everlasting benefit.
Second, we're to live a holy testimony. "I want
you to insist on these things, so that those who
have believed in God may be careful to devote
themselves to good works. These things are
excellent and profitable for people" (3:8). And
third, we're to share the gospel in word and deed:
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people" (2:11).
I ask you: As God's living lights in a darkening
culture - as his salt meant to preserve life - are
we practicing these things? Or have we lost our
holy flavor? Have we reduced his Word to advice on
better living, or do we still believe it has the
power of resurrection life? If we really believe
Christ's gospel is Good News - that he died for
sinners - we'll tell others about it without
apology. And they'll know its power by the
testimony we live. Amen.
by Gary Wilkerson - January 16, 2017
When Paul wrote his epistle to Titus, he left
behind powerful instructions for us regarding
Christ's Great Commission to preach the gospel. He
had just left the island of Crete, where he and
Titus ministered together. Paul encountered
persecution on Crete, and when he departed to
evangelize in other cities, he left behind Titus
and some other leaders. Now those young men also
wanted to leave. Like Paul, they found Crete a
hard place to minister.
Their dilemma parallels ours today. Anyone who's
lived in the U.S. for the past fifteen years has
seen a vast decline in religious faith. In less
than two decades' time America's transformation
has been dramatic: We're no longer a Christian
society that has moved to secularism. We're now a
secular society moving rapidly toward paganism.
This is very much what the Christians faced in
Crete. The city was wicked, overrun with
sensuality, and the young leaders' hearts told
them to leave. But Paul instructed them to stay,
explaining to them that it was for good reasons:
"This is why I left you in Crete" (Titus 1:5).
These young men were being trained by Paul. They
had gone to Crete to raise up a church, appoint
elders and establish a Christian presence - all of
which they accomplished, but only with great
difficulty. Paul acknowledged their hardship,
writing, "One of the Cretans, a prophet of their
own, said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts,
lazy gluttons.' This testimony is true" (1:12-13).
When Paul left, he must have known his young
mentees would suffer persecution. Why would he
leave them in a culture so dark and evil?
Christ has left us in a twisted, fallen world for
a purpose.
If our only mission in life is to have an intimate
relationship with Jesus, we might as well go to
heaven now. We could immediately start having
intimacy with him forever. But Jesus left us in
the world with another purpose in mind. What is
that purpose?
God always has a remnant people in a darkened
culture. Even in the worst of times, he
continually raises up a testimony of light amid
darkness. As Jesus says, we are to be salt, an
agent that preserves life in a decaying
environment. "You are the salt of the earth, but
if salt has lost its taste, how shall its
saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for
anything except to be thrown out and trampled
under people's feet" (Matthew 5:13).
Friend, we're the people God has appointed to be
lights in a darkened place and time. You may not
want to live in a sin-filled culture like
America's or to raise your kids in a society that
rages more and more against God. But Jesus has a
design for your life in this time and place. It
has to do with more than a thriving career or
providing a comfortable life for your family. The
reason you're here right now - the reason you
exist - is for his glory! We are here to be his
testimony, to make a difference, to be his living
epistles to a world thirsting desperately for
love.
Yet there's a major problem in the church today
regarding our mission. Much of American culture -
including the exalted pursuit of happiness - has
seeped into the church's culture. We worship and
behave as if God exists for us rather than the
other way around. We think our obedience to his
Word is about gaining his favor and blessings
rather than a relationship of love. That's
idolatry, plain and simple; it puts material gain
and fleshly satisfaction before a holy, loving
God.
The same thing happened with the church in Crete.
Paul said the Christians there were
"insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers,
especially those of the circumcision party. They
must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole
families by teaching for shameful gain what they
ought not to teach" (Titus 1:10-11). In Crete, the
church had become just as flesh-driven as the
larger culture.
Paul had to confront these false doctrines, which
catered to people's flesh rather than show a way
to godliness. He reminded Titus, "For we ourselves
were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves
to various passions and pleasures, passing our
days in malice and envy, hated by others and
hating one another. But when the goodness and
loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he
saved us, not because of works done by us in
righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by
the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly
through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being
justified by his grace we might become heirs
according to the hope of eternal life" (3:3-7).
Make no mistake, the Christians of Crete had been
converted to a living faith. But they remained
immersed in a flesh-driven culture that emphasized
physical appetites instead of the things of God.
Here was Paul's straightforward instruction to
Titus: "Rebuke them sharply, that they may be
sound in the faith" (1:13).
It breaks my heart to consider all the Christians
who attend church whose lives aren't being
transformed by the gospel.
If we believe something beautiful like the Good
News of Christ but don't practice it, we're no
better than the Pharisees Jesus criticized. Those
highly religious people raced to make converts but
never challenged them to conform their lives to
God's Word. Jesus confronted these hypocritical
church leaders, saying, "You travel across sea and
land to make a single proselyte, and when he
becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a
child of hell as yourselves" (Matthew 23:15).
Do you ever wonder why the church doesn't operate
in power today? Why do we have such a weak
testimony in a world desperate to hear Good News?
And why does the church often seem more like the
world than different from it? It's because we've
accepted a gospel of mixture, one driven by
fleshly goals rather than godly ones. What I see
happening drives me to my knees, praying, "Jesus,
turn us around. Touch us, change us, mold us. Make
us pure, different and holy. Set us apart for your
glorious purposes."
In 1974, more than a generation ago, my father,
David Wilkerson, wrote a prophetic book titled The
Vision. He was given a revelation of things that
at first seemed outlandish even to him, but over
the years almost all of what he foresaw came to
pass. I think of two specific predictions he made
that no one believed could ever happen: First,
pornography would be piped into homes. And second,
America would experience another economic
depression. These events happened decades apart,
but God was faithful to warn of the coming of
both.
I was a teenager at the time Dad released The
Vision. I remember two other revelations from it
that I dismissed as too incredible to ever take
place. In recent months, I've seen both come to
pass. I mention them now because I see them as
warning signs to a church in rapid decline.
The first prediction was that witchcraft and Satan
worship would take place in churches. Not long
ago, I watched a video of an Easter pageant staged
in a prominent church. It included seductively
dressed dancers twirling sensually at the foot of
the cross to demonstrate what Satan's hordes did
at Christ's crucifixion. I was horrified at this
scene taking place below Jesus' feet as he hung on
the cross watching it all himself. I realize that
what I watched wasn't actually Satan worship, but
it gave great weight and emphasis to something
shameful. It revealed that ministry's inability to
distinguish between titillating entertainment and
pure worship.
How can we preach a gospel of light when darkness
is presented as the gospel? We're not the first
generation to see this. C.H. Spurgeon, the famous
19-century preacher, saw the same temptation
creeping into churches of his time. He wrote:
"The Devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than
hinting to the church that part of their mission
is to provide entertainment for the people with a
view of winning them.... The church has gradually
toned down her testimony, then winked at and
excused the frivolities of the day. Then she
tolerated them...now she has adopted them under
the plea of reaching the masses.
"My first contention is that providing amusement
for the people is nowhere spoken of in the
Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a
Christian work, why did Christ not speak of it?
'Go ye, therefore, into all the world and preach
the gospel to every creature.' Yes, that is clear
enough; so would it have been if he had added 'and
provide amusement for those who do not relish the
gospel'... I do not hear him say to his disciples,
'Run after these people that are leaving. Peter,
tell them we will have some different style of
service tomorrow; something short and attractive
with very little preaching....'
"Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to affect
the desired end.... Let the careless and the
scoffer who thank God because the church met them
halfway stand up, speak and testify.... Let him
stand up - but there are none to answer. The
mission of amusement produces no converts."
Spurgeon's sermon includes a phrase that gave me
the title for this message: "The time will come
when instead of shepherds feeding sheep, they will
have clowns entertaining the goats."
Friend, Paul didn't leave Titus and his brothers
behind in Crete to entertain the people. And Jesus
didn't leave us on this darkened earth to amuse.
We are here for a godly purpose: to hear from God,
and to live and speak his holy word to cut through
the culture with conviction and power.
Paul says we have three things to do while we
remain in Crete.
Here is the first: "He must hold firm to the
trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able
to give instruction in sound doctrine" (Titus
1:9). The word "sound" here signifies something
immovable, inarguable, rock-solid. God designed
doctrine for us to reliably base our lives on it.
This means it can't be frivolous or merely
exciting to our ears. That kind of doctrine is
here one day and blown away by the winds of
fleshly whim tomorrow. For some in the church,
this may mean putting down the latest Christian
best-seller and picking up God's Word, which he
provided for our everlasting benefit.
Second, we're to live a holy testimony. "I want
you to insist on these things, so that those who
have believed in God may be careful to devote
themselves to good works. These things are
excellent and profitable for people" (3:8). And
third, we're to share the gospel in word and deed:
"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people" (2:11).
I ask you: As God's living lights in a darkening
culture - as his salt meant to preserve life - are
we practicing these things? Or have we lost our
holy flavor? Have we reduced his Word to advice on
better living, or do we still believe it has the
power of resurrection life? If we really believe
Christ's gospel is Good News - that he died for
sinners - we'll tell others about it without
apology. And they'll know its power by the
testimony we live. Amen.