I Will Not Leave Jesus – But I'm Done with the Church
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat music)
00:00:02.580 | - Today's clip comes not from a sermon,
00:00:07.460 | but from an interview with John Piper,
00:00:09.620 | and it's an interview that was led by Pastor Norm Funk
00:00:13.420 | at Westside Church in Vancouver, British Columbia.
00:00:16.500 | We jump into their conversation
00:00:17.780 | as they were just talking about the local church
00:00:20.020 | and leaders who have failed in the local church.
00:00:23.340 | So what do you say to someone who says,
00:00:24.540 | "I'll never leave Jesus,
00:00:26.220 | "but I've seen the failure of a pastor,
00:00:28.560 | "and I'm done with the local church."
00:00:30.680 | Here's a very short clip from that conversation.
00:00:33.780 | - Specific to that, they go,
00:00:35.460 | "Pastor John, I'm not walking away from Jesus,
00:00:38.180 | "but I'm done with the church.
00:00:39.740 | "Can't trust the leadership,
00:00:42.640 | "held this guy in high esteem,
00:00:44.580 | "so I'm not gonna walk away from Jesus,
00:00:47.340 | "but I'm done with the organized aspect of church life."
00:00:50.020 | - If you do that, you're walking away from Jesus.
00:00:52.260 | Here's the reason.
00:00:54.300 | To say that I love Jesus,
00:00:57.100 | but I don't submit to his word is a lie.
00:01:01.100 | He who loves me will keep my words.
00:01:05.380 | Jesus founded the church.
00:01:07.340 | I didn't.
00:01:08.580 | Paul didn't.
00:01:09.420 | Jesus founded the church.
00:01:11.900 | He established apostles to be, according to Ephesians 2.20,
00:01:15.540 | the foundation of the church.
00:01:18.660 | And then he built it with prophets and teachers and pastors
00:01:24.820 | and ordained that there be a structure of local churches
00:01:29.820 | in the body of Christ called the church.
00:01:34.380 | This is not man's idea.
00:01:37.820 | There are a lot of young evangelicals
00:01:39.780 | who are cool, hip, and leftward-leaning
00:01:42.700 | who think they can substitute organized,
00:01:47.180 | substitute something for organized church.
00:01:51.340 | Well, I would have to look at what they're substituting
00:01:53.660 | and say, "Well, really, are you just creating church?"
00:01:57.580 | Trying to create church.
00:01:59.060 | If you're trying to create church, just create it biblically.
00:02:02.300 | Start a biblical church.
00:02:04.260 | And that means listening to your master
00:02:06.780 | and his word and his apostles.
00:02:09.260 | So the choice of Jesus over church
00:02:14.260 | implies a choice of your opinion over the Bible
00:02:22.620 | because the Bible is where we meet Jesus.
00:02:24.980 | You can't make Jesus up.
00:02:27.260 | You can't make him up.
00:02:28.420 | He is the Jesus of the Bible
00:02:30.860 | or he's the Jesus of your imagination.
00:02:33.220 | If he's the Jesus of the Bible, you take the whole Jesus.
00:02:36.020 | You can't carve him up in pieces.
00:02:37.460 | And the whole Jesus is the Jesus who loves the church.
00:02:40.580 | He died for the church.
00:02:42.300 | Hard to say it much more clearly than that.
00:02:45.180 | This short clip was sent in to us by Michael Bailey,
00:02:48.660 | a podcast listener.
00:02:49.740 | Thank you, Michael, for the clip.
00:02:50.900 | It's taken from a recent video
00:02:52.900 | which we added to our YouTube channel titled
00:02:55.660 | Reflections on Mark Driscoll and the Church.
00:02:58.860 | You can check it out online.
00:03:01.060 | Well, what is the sin of gluttony?
00:03:04.380 | And what are some signs in which food
00:03:06.020 | has become an idol in our lives?
00:03:08.460 | That's the question I will serve up on the table
00:03:10.700 | tomorrow to Pastor John.
00:03:12.660 | And yes, that is a bad pun.
00:03:14.220 | I'm your host, Tony Reinke.
00:03:15.820 | Thanks for listening to the Ask Pastor John podcast.
00:03:18.420 | (upbeat music)
00:03:21.020 | (upbeat music)
00:03:23.620 | [BLANK_AUDIO]