The Curse of Cultural Christianity | Mark 11:12-25

Summary

Guest speaker David Platt joined us to teach from Mark 11 and challenge us to consider whether we can participate in religious activity while still missing God. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple exposes a faith that looked active on the outside but lacked the fruit God desired. Because Jesus died and rose again, everyone who trusts in him can experience life with God through his Spirit. Rather than settling for casual cultural Christianity, we are invited to seek God and live with reverent worship, ongoing repentance, faithful prayer, forgiveness, and a heart for all nations.

Key Takeaways

Four things that were missing from the temple (and can be missing from us today):

• Reverent, fearful, awe-filled worship. The temple was the dwelling place of God’s glory, yet people had grown casual about his presence (Mark 11:15-17). Today, followers of Jesus are the temple of the Holy Spirit, individually and together (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19). Knowing who is with us should shape the way we worship and live.
• Sorrowful confession of sin. Religious activity can become a cover for holding on to sin. True worship means seeing God for who he is, seeing sin for what it is, and responding with honest confession and repentance (Jeremiah 7:23-24). We do not have to hide our sin because Jesus went to the cross to pay for it and bring us into communion with God.
• Faithful and forgiving prayer. Jesus called the temple a “house of prayer” and taught his disciples to pray with faith in God’s power (Mark 11:17, 22-25). The gospel also frees us to forgive; when we understand the mercy we have received from God, there is no room to keep holding bitterness and unforgiveness toward others.
• Intercession for and mission to all nations. God intended his house to be “a house of prayer for all the nations” (Mark 11:17; Isaiah 56:6-7). Now that the Holy Spirit dwells in his people, we do not wait for the nations to come to a temple—we go to them. God calls us to pray, give, and go so that people everywhere can know and enjoy his glory.

Discussing and Applying the Sermon

• Where are you most tempted to go through the motions in your relationship with him?
• What does reverence and awe of God look like in your everyday life? Where have you grown casual about his presence?
• Is there a sin you have started treating as normal instead of taking seriously? What would honest confession and repentance look like this week?
• How would your prayers change if you more fully believed you were speaking to the God who can do the impossible? What is something you need to ask him for in faith right now?
• Are you holding on to bitterness or unforgiveness toward anyone? How does remembering the forgiveness you have received through Jesus change the way you view that person?
• What do your time, attention, prayers, and finances reveal about how much you value God’s mission to all nations? Where might God be asking you to respond differently?
• David contrasted being a participant with being an observer. What would it look like for you to actively seek God this week through worship, repentance, prayer, or mission? Share one specific step with another believer and ask them to help you follow through.

Quotes

• G. Campbell Morgan: “We cannot organize revival, but we can set our sails to catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon his people once again.”