Window-dressing.

One of the practices of dysfunctional people, families, communities, churches, nations, etc, is to engage in 'window dressing.'  It is the attempt to paint the best possible picture of a person or a situation.  It ignores the obvious wrongs in that person and situation, and uses all kinds of verbal gymnastics to re-frame the description that you wish to portray or promote.

Take the police as an example.  How they spare no efforts to sell a public service that is just a little bit short of being perfect so that the leadership can be applauded as worthy of honour.  How great are the police we adore!

Or take politics as another.  Politicians employ the best "spin doctors" aka communications directors to demonstrate the great successes their employers have had in the political realm.  The country never was better, the economy is growing, crime is down, young people are getting jobs, and look at our success in the Olympics.  How great are the politicians we adore!

Take a look at the churches too when you're at it.  Was they ever a time in recent history that churches were so pathetic, so apathetic, so unfaithful to the Lord and His saving Gospel!  Listen to church leaders when they give their annual reports - the church is in very good heart, they tell us.  The Gospel is being preached, prayer meetings are being held, new members are being welcomed into church membership, so many baptisms have been carried out, and so on.

But in all these situations, this is mere 'window dressing.'  And who is it that engages in such theatrics?  Dysfunctional people, organisations, societies and churches.  If your church does this kind of thing, then be assured that it is fundamentally dysfunctional.  It is certainly not what it appears to be or claims to be.

What is needed? First, for a deep humility that will lead to honest acknowledgement of sin and disobedience to the Lord's Word.  Without this, there will be no remedy.  In Nehemiah's day (Ch.9), the people, in humility, acknowledged their rebellion against the living God.  Second, true heartfelt confession of sin that brings guilt must follow.  Until we have acknowledged sin, there is nothing to confess.  Third, the church must identify the rubbish that has accumulated and get rid of it - all!  This could be in the form of worldliness masquerading as being contemporary; it might be the receiving into church membership notoriously godless individuals who make a credible profession of faith to elders who may or may not know them; it could even be attitude of mind and heart that our church is better than all the others; or it could be the "what's in it for me" mindset where members take everything they can get from the church and more, yet contribute nothing to it.  This must be removed because the channels for receiving blessing from the Lord are obviously being cluttered up.

Fourth, there must be deep heartfelt repentance that breaks every stubborn and wilful heart.  Repentance includes, at least, a turning away from that which has been acknowledged as wrong and sinful.  It is also a turning to the gracious Lord Who has been so patient with you.  The church, as church, is not above divine judgement, a fact that is often forgotten by the window dressing church leaders.  Churches that have compromised themselves with theological liberalism must also repent of this sin; but they must not stop short at repentance - that would be too easy and utterly ineffective.  They must then put into action those actions that are necessary to rid the churches of such a poison.  Also, they must remove from their congregations every semblance of commitment to unbiblical ecumenism.  Alas, this very kind of ecumenism is being actively promoted by evangelicals who are held in high esteem by the gullible.  The church must distance themselves from every hint of these and all other varieties of worldliness.

Then, fifthly, and finally, there must be renewed commitment to biblical, as opposed to merely confessional, Christianity; if there is to be confessional religion, that confession must reflect accurately the teaching of the Word of God.  Perhaps this might well call for a covenant renewal of dedication to the Lord and His work - which is by definition wider than commitment to any denominational work.  A new commitment to Christ and His Gospel will be in order.

But be assured of this.  Those churches that engage in window dressing will not do any of these things, because they that are righteous have no need of a physician.  Something to think about, eh?