Go and Do Likewise

It is in vogue today to recreate the Christian faith, disregard clear Scriptural teachings, and generate an atmosphere that questions everything, including such things as the exclusivity of Christ and the necessity of the born again experience. And on the opposite side it is also in vogue to identify those who dismantle Scriptural truths, document their aberrations, and generally create a class of believers who have long since ceased to seriously examine their own spiritual depth and commitment since they are self affirmed by their own orthodoxy as opposed to those nasty false teachers. It is a vicious cycle that continues to lead the church either into apostasy or stagnation.

Why is it that some of the most gracious and affable people are not believers? Why is it that humility is now seen as weakness? Watch as believers observe their weekly pilgrimage to the designated building, and after supposedly meeting with the Risen Christ, they return home just as they left and resume their unremarkable lives inside a western culture. The exact same scenario is played out at synagogues and mosques, and in fact, the unbeliever awakens Sunday morning just as he will awaken Monday morning with no real change and little if any passion. The entire ritual is an affront to all we say we believe, and a fraudulent expression of the Person of Jesus Christ.

But, thank God, we are orthodox (and not gay). The average believer can be moved to anger with very little provocation, and he will aggressively press his rights in a department store or restaurant. Be rude to him and he may very well return the favor. Professing believers fill their spirits with all sorts of gossip and they love to listen to and agree with the most caustic and virulent talk show hosts who in essence spout the message of antichrist camouflaged as “conservative” values. And they don’t even have enough discernment to know when Christ is being subtly maligned by these same men and women.

And if per chance some believer is persecuted then let the squawking begin. After the Industrial Revolution the average mindset changed and people began to realize that through hard work and business savvy they could improve their surroundings and elevate their personal wealth. And although hard work is a good thing, it quickly became a means for self elevation and the accumulation of wealth, and is now generally accepted as such in the church. No longer were believers consumed with spreading the gospel message and exhibited lifestyles that suggested they lived in a different kingdom. Pastors began to be paid in line with what they could make in the secular world.

The sign of a God blessed church was a building program, usually financed by the fallen world banking system. Things that would never have been considered are now accepted and practiced. The best we can hope for is being a “friendly church”. In my former days I have been to friendly bars and friendly drug gatherings, and if you really want friendly go to a strip club with money in your pockets. Have we lowered the bar as to what it means to be a believer, or have we removed any bar at all?

And what do we sacrifice? Do we go without so that others may hear the gospel? Do we ride in automobiles that are decidedly below our means so that God’s money can be used elsewhere? And one of the more vicious spectacles of hollow humanism is in the arena of politics. Hatred and strife, hubris and seditions, moralism and self touting, wrath and idolatry, and a full compliment of the works of the flesh are practiced and applauded. But, the General has issued His own commands.

Phil.2:12-16 - Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Let us reject the changes that the flesh has made to the church and return to the ancient landmarks. We cannot be salt and we cannot be light if we walk like those who know not Christ. Oh to be like Jesus. And while many love to isolate the narrative of His cleansing of the Temple, the overarching life of the Lord Jesus was humble, gracious, and filled with redemption. Go and do likewise.