Pastor's Circle - Chris Lohrstorfer

Dr. Chris Lohrstorfer is the pastor of Hinds Independent Methodist Church and an adjunct professor at Wesley Biblical Seminary. He joined The Matt Friedeman Show to talk about Epiphany. Here are the "CliffsNotes" of his interview.

What is Epiphany?

It's actually an ancient feast going way back into the early centuries of Christianity. 

It commemorates the Magi coming to visit Christ. I think that story is important for a couple of reasons.

It's about the revealing of Christ to the Gentiles. The Magi come out of their pagan place to visit the King, and God was drawing them. 

It's a great picture of a God who wants to reveal himself.

What are some application points from this story?

First of all, I notice when the Magi come to Jerusalem, they ask for the King. But the people who should have seen him had not. It took the pagans coming in.

Second, Herod asked the religious leaders where the Messiah was born. Why didn't the religious leaders run to Bethlehem? 

I see the church in that. We say we believe, but we just sit there in the pew a lot of the time.

Another thing I see is that when those kings go and visit the Christ, they go back another way. And that's so true. When you see Christ, you cannot go back the way you came.

The primary thing I see in this text is that you cannot be king and worship the King. 

Now, the Magi weren't really kings, but when you look at them in contrast with Herod, they're willing to bow down to this baby who is King. Herod can't.

Because in order to worship him, in order to make him number one, you have to be something less than number one. 

When it really comes to giving him our lives, we have to lose our lives. And most of us would rather not.

This is going to cost you. It's going to matter in your life. The main problem is that we don't really want to lose anything when we receive revival.

People don't want to move out from the pew into the world, because it costs too much.