Copyright
© 1988
Warren Litzman
(Christ-Life Fellowship). The first chapter of the book Jesus Lost in the Church by Warren Litzman. Used by permission.
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Jesus Lost in the Churchby Warren Litzman
Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and His mother knew not of it (Luke 2:41-43).
We are living in the most religious hour
we have ever known -- a day when people have a form of godliness but deny the power of God. The denial of the power of God is so great that we have a problem figuring out the mission of the church. In fact, one of the greatest arguments now is whether the church should become more involved in politics and civil rights. Recently, I read a statement made by a presidential press secretary. He said that he was very proud to see preachers getting involved in the civil rights strife because he felt that the church could have no greater mission.
Too Many Side Missions | |
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Why has the church today become involved in so many side issues? Why are we so far away from the New Testament pattern and truth that many do not believe in men being called to the ministry, or in a message for which we lay down our lives, or in reaching the lost? It is because we have lost sight of Jesus Christ in His position as Head of the Church. He has lost His place and His purpose. We have lost Jesus somewhere in our process of training or studying theology. Men have philosophized and analyzed so much that Christ has been lost in our intellectualism.
But He hasn't lost His place in the eternal plan of God, for the Lord is still the center. He is still the Lamb of God for sinners slain. He is now, He was at Golgotha, and He will be throughout the endless ages. Christ has never ceased to be in the center of God's plan. No man can find peace, no mortal can find joy, no soul on this earth can find eternal life or salvation unless he finds it through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is no other way, there is no other plan, there is no other purpose for living than through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only source of life and help there is on the face of this earth.
No Jesus Theology
Jesus is not the center of theology in these days. He is not the center
of the church program, nor is He the center of the average believer's life. Because our Lord has been lost in the church, the church has become ineffectual in meeting the need of humanity. Less than five percent of our American population, it is believed, has had a born-again experience. You say, "That sounds like an outlandish statement," but it is so. If you can find five people out of a hundred living near you who are genuinely born again, you have done well. If you can find five out of a hundred working at the factory who are genuinely born again, with whom you can fellowship, despite church difference, then you have done a tremendous thing. Even in a religious city like Dallas,
Texas, we have a form of godliness but not the power of God.
What has happened is, the church has been outdated by the acceleration of knowledge and understanding in our modern world. I heard a theologian make the statement recently on a national telecast that the Church is not meeting the need of humanity today because the world has progressed into a modern and scientific age in which the Church is like an ox cart being driven in a generation of jet planes. Oh, how we have lost the divine purpose of God! We have lost Jesus Christ. When we lost Him out of the church, we lost the only reason and purpose the church had to exist.
The facts are much the same today as they were in the story of Jesus' getting lost in the temple nineteen hundred years ago. I want us to go on a search for Jesus as Mary and Joseph did. You will readily see the spiritual parallelisms to this message as we make the search, for Mary and Joseph are much like you and I. Even we who believe and advocate the truths of the Christ-life are prone to lose Jesus from our grasp, though talking about Him all the time. We are still in our houses of clay and must guard our hunger for Him and spend time in His Word lest we become castaways.
Lost Even in Fundamental Circles
The saddest plight of the world is not that Jesus is lost to the
modernist, for the modernist has never really known what to do with the Lamb of God for sinners slain. Nor is it so sad that Jesus is lost in our theological institutions, for, in general, very few have ever been Christ-centered. But it is a sad and degrading fact that Jesus is getting lost in fundamentalist circles. Although we use His name, we doubt His vicarious nature, His suffering, His crucified life, and His dying heart that bring us into His eternal life. In the past He had a position in our circles, people lived for Him. Now His name, His person, His blood, and most of all, His cross, are only words rather than living motivations inside us.
Now, let us search these Scriptures. Mary and Joseph had come up to Jerusalem, as was the custom of the feast. They brought Jesus with them, for He had reached twelve years of age. "And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and His mother knew not of it" (v. 43). What a sad thing this was. Jesus was doing something else while they were doing what they wanted to do. Jesus was about the Father's business while they were taken up with their own business.
In fact, Mary and Joseph were so taken up with their own lives and their own business that they did not even consider that Jesus might not be with them. They didn't intentionally leave Him out, for "supposing Him to have been in the company, [they] went a day's journey" (v. 44). They simply became preoccupied and busy. They lost Jesus because they took Him for granted. They were like Samson of old who laid his head in Delilah's lap and had all his
locks shorn off. When he heard that the Philistines were upon him, he
supposed that he had power, but when he rose, he was powerless.
This is a picture of the modern-day Christian Church. The Church supposes that because it has lifted up the name of Jesus, it has power and strength. But you cannot suppose that you have Christ.
The Church has lost Jesus Christ because it has taken Him for granted. We think that because we sing about Him, because we pray to Him, because we have Him in our poetry, because the preacher talks about Him in the sermon, and because the little children learn memory verses about Him, we have Jesus with us. But there is a vast difference between supposing that you have the Lord with you and knowing that you are in Christ.
I asked somebody the other day whether
he was born again and he replied, "Well, I think I am. I'm pretty sure I am." But you cannot suppose; you must know in whom you have believed. There will be many who come to the Lord in that day who will be supposing. They will say, "Surely I'm one of Your own, Lord. I've healed the sick, I've cast out devils, I've raised the dead, I've prophesied, and I've done every bit of it in Your name." The Lord is going to say, "I do not know you. Depart from Me. You are not one of Mine." My friend, you cannot suppose your relationship with Jesus. You cannot suppose you have received a blessing from God or that you are filled with the Holy Spirit or that you are overcoming. These are things that you know. You know, beyond a shadow of doubt, that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. It is not enough to suppose these things, or to hope that you have these things; you must know that Christ is in you or else you may find yourself many days' journey away from Him.
Danger of Preoccupation
Preoccupation with the journey is dangerous. I am remorseful that I spent most of my life preoccupied with the journey. The first sixteen years of my ministry, I was more interested in the visible results -- how big the crowd was, how large an auditorium I had, and whether I met expenses. I was more interested in the journey than in knowing where Jesus was. I know some people who are so interested in the journey that all they are doing is advocating that the believer ought to be healthy and wealthy, and that if he isn't, he's not where he ought to be with God. This is being more interested in the journey than in Jesus. I think the Lord can give you health and wealth, but I think it is much more important for you to know Christ than to know something He is able to do. You see, you can be many days' journey away from Jesus and still know what He is able to do, but you won't know Him, and that's the great difference.
Mary and Joseph were preoccupied with the journey. If you had told them that they didn't love their Son or that they weren't interested in Him, they would have been shocked. They would have quickly shown you all the provisions they had for Him on the journey -- plenty of clothes and food. Besides, hadn't the journey been especially for Him since this was His first feast? But the fact remains that they were more interested in the journey than in having their Son with them. This is what has happened to us in the church. We have become so interested in the journey that we are more interested in fellowship with others along the way than we are in fellowship with Jesus. For this reason, we don't care about things that concern Jesus -- reaching the masses and bringing His life to others.
As a fellow in a national magazine said some time ago, "It's easier to join the country club in my city than it is to be passed by my church board for membership." We have surrounded ourselves with so many undertakings for the journey. We have all the programs and money and people we would need to reach the world, but what do we do with it all? We use it on our buildings so that the journey will be more comfortable and entertaining. We have forgotten the purpose of the journey, where we are headed and what we are supposed to be doing. Oh, may God help us! Mary and Joseph lost Jesus even though they had the journey under control. They had the trip well planned. They had enough food and water, but they didn't have Jesus. My friend, if you don't know Jesus as your life, you are missing the purpose of living and you don't really have anything.
Kinfolk Religion
There is another thing I see about Mary and Joseph here. When they
missed Jesus, they immediately "sought Him among their kinsfolk" (v. 44). Surely He's right here where He's always been? They were bound by the system. "Yes sir, if anybody's going to have the Lord, it's our church. He's here in our constitution and bylaws, and if He isn't here, He's not anywhere." You see, that's what happened to Mary and Joseph. They were so idealistic that they thought if Jesus got lost at all, He had to be with some of the relatives. So they started looking for Him in their own camp. It won't take long to find Him. We won't lose any time on the journey. He'll be right here.
That's what I thought, too, when I started searching for Jesus and a deeper understanding of His life. Years ago I couldn't find Jesus, though my soul was craving Him. I got all kinds of advice and help, but the meetings, the speakers and the books didn't give me what I needed. Then one day I realized that I wasn't going to find Jesus among the kinfolk. I was going to have to step out in faith. I was going to have to get alone, away from the mob and the multitude. I came to the place where I was willing to go all the way back to Jerusalem to find Jesus, and I thank God that He gave me grace to go back and find Him.
No Place for Quitters
Mary and Joseph didn't find Jesus among the relatives. When they didn't
find Him there, did they throw up their hands and quit? No, you can't give up easily -- not if you love Him, not if you have known Him. They went looking for Him. You probably won't find Him where you are; you, too, will have to go looking for Him. The pattern is clear in God's Word. Entering into a higher relationship with God takes a period of waiting, of setting aside the usual activity. Abraham, Moses and Paul all spent time in the desert. Joseph learned the Lord in prison. The Lord may put you on a bed of affliction so that you have nothing else to do but seek Him. You will probably have to decide to move up and out to find a deeper walk with Him. It will take time and effort, but I
urge you to begin seeking, begin hungering, because Jesus will be found of all who seek Him. Paul told the men of Athens that the Lord had "determined the times before appointed... that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every one of us" (Acts 17:26b-27).
It is significant that they "turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking Him "(v. 45). It is just a historical fact that they left the journey and went back to Jerusalem. It stands to reason that they would not have found Jesus had they looked in the wrong place. The place was of utmost importance in finding Him. In the fourth chapter of Galatians, Paul talks about two Jerusalems: the Jerusalem steeped in Mount Sinai's bondage, which he compared to Hagar, the bondwoman, and her children; and the New Jerusalem from above, which is free, which he compared to Sarah, the free woman, and her children.
Now if you are going to Jerusalem seeking Jesus, you need to be careful which Jerusalem you go to, for there are two Jerusalems. There is one on earth and there is one from above. There is a Jerusalem in God's plan and there is a Jerusalem in man's plan, a carnal Abrahamic plan that will breed bondage and death. You will have to make up your mind which one you are going to. In either
one of them, you are likely to find Jesus. However, the Jesus you find in the earthly Jerusalem will not meet your need. Make sure the city you seek is that Jerusalem which is from above, where Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father.
What Is the Right Church?
Where do you go to find Jesus? A man said to me the other day, "Preacher, it doesn't make any difference what church you go to as long as they preach about Jesus. I think all churches are all right." He probably thought that he was being tolerant and full of love for everybody, but he couldn't have been more mistaken. Most of the "isms" and cults talk about Jesus. For that matter, everybody talks about Jesus.
You see, it does make a lot of difference what kind of Christ you are seeking. Some like to go to a church where the fire falls -- a place where they can see God. Just because you see blind eyes opened, deaf ears unstopped, and the lame walk doesn't mean that you see Jesus. You may have merely seen where He's been and
what He's done. That isn't the Jesus of the now. A miracle is a by-product -- a fruit of the tree; it is not the tree.
There is only one way you can see Christ, and that is for the Holy Spirit to reveal Him to you. Only the Spirit can reveal Him. So you see, it makes a difference what kind of Christ you go looking for. Are you looking for something He's done or are you looking for Him? Are you just a curiosity seeker, or are you seeking Jesus? Do you want to know Christ, or simply what He'll do for you? Which Jerusalem are you headed for?
A Long Search
For two years I searched for Jesus, but I did a lot of other things on
the side. I went around the world, preaching almost every morning and night. I made money, bought things... I just wasn't hungry enough to set aside any part of the journey. Paul said, "I have suffered the loss of all things, that I might have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord" (Philippians 3:8). The day I finally reckoned myself dead and said, "Litzman, you'll search the Scriptures until you find Jesus, or you'll quit the ministry," was the day my mind began to be renewed, and I saw the plan of God for the first time in sixteen years of preaching and teaching.
I found Jesus, as did Mary and Joseph. I found Him right in me. Though I now know that I am a son of God, I cry with Paul, "Oh, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death"(Philippians 3:10). I have not attained or apprehended what He called me for, but I do hunger after Him. May God awaken such a hunger in you that you will set aside the journey and search for Jesus.
Copyright © 1988 Warren Litzman; used by permission. The Bible text in this publication, except where otherwise indicated, is from the King James Version. This article appears on the site: http://www.peterwade.com/.
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