Authentic Christianity

Matt.9:36 - But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Today’s translation:

But when he saw the sinners and their different agendas and their perversions and their open falleness, He was moved with moral umbrage and sought to change them through criticism and the legislative process. He saw them as sheep having no political candidate to vote for.

As you watch the pandemonium around the world, and especially here in America, can we as believers not see the utter futility of man’s solutions? From the liberals to the conservatives to the Tea Party to the Wall Street occupation, it is all a splendid manifestation of fallen man. Do not be seduced by such lunacy, it is all wood, hay, and stubble and it will all burn one day.

It is time for believers to see them with compassion and certainly not join in. We must be light to that sea of writhing darkness whose eternal fate awaits them with the ferociousness of God’s justice. They have no idea. But there is an eternal answer, and His name is Jesus. Jesus died for every sinner, not just some undefined few according to God’s whim. Calvinism and Universalism are two sides of the same false coin. Although most Calvinists are more “orthodox” in other Biblical issues while universalists tend to be more liberal, both of these views compromise evangelism and by definition dilute the already trace evidence of compassion exhibited by believers.

Does inundating ourselves continually with systematized theology show compassion to people? I watched as one of my good friends spent literally hundreds of hours to learn Hebrew and Greek, even rehearsing from note cards while driving. I used to tell him scholars have already done that for him and that time could be spent doing something that was far less introverted. I have come to believe that after a believer reaches a certain point in Biblical literacy, that he should consume it for strength, devotion, and with a vigorous energy to bring his life into complete compliance with it.

The world needs Jesus. They will only read one Bible - us. All these finer points of theology are nothing more than spiritual academia and are in fact self gratifying. What does it say about us when what we know about the Bible is disproportionately greater than what we obey? It says we treat the Scriptures as we do an algebra book as we dissect all the nuances of the Greek voice and tense and cull out phrases to make doctrines. Until we love and obey the English the Greek can wait.

The world awaits an authentic manifestation of Jesus that escapes the pages of theology and is clothed with flesh and blood. Looking at the whited fields with compassion, and knowing the immeasurable sacrifice that Christ paid upon the cross, can we not pour out this one earthly life for Him and for them since we have already been promised eternity? Is the faith of Jesus designed for narcissism and a preoccupation with ourselves? Enter the Christian bookstore and look at the virtual array of books, Bibles, Cds, and all kinds of other Christian artifacts. The western church is infatuated with Christianity and in the process has lost its love for Jesus.

Consider the time we take in studying the Bible, going to church, participating in church activities, listening to Cds, and all the other Christian life accoutrements. But how much time do we spend praying for the lost? How much time do we spend doing good works for them in order to minister Jesus to them? How much time do we spend in sharing the gospel with lost sinners?

Heb.13:12-14 - Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

We have covered our lights with a church shaped bushel. And our membership and participation in a local assembly passes as cross bearing?

Lk.14:27-35 - And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?
29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,
30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.
33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Who counts any cost, and what does this brand of faith cost anyway? In fact, many theologies suggest a profit through Jesus. And what war are we battling? A few moral skirmishes and we label ourselves as warriors? There is a great war taking place in the spirit realm but we are content in living completely in the earthly realm. Our spiritual weapons hang unused in the prayer closet while the evil one ravages our children and deceives the lost.

So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

Let us quickly dilute that verse and formulate some convenient principle that will not interfere with our western lifestyles. No one can seriously believe that the verse means anything close to what He said. I mean we can forsake things in our hearts but still enjoy them in our lives, right? How disingenuous we are when it comes to God’s Word. We proudly proclaim we adhere to Biblical inerrancy while we openly reject the veracity of its teachings!

Radical? Believing and following Jesus is radical. But the bland and benign version that is practiced today is very unobtrusive to the western lifestyle. And the unbeliever lives very nicely alongside our supposed light with little if any curiosity, to say nothing of conviction. Any impartial observer would have to admit that in the light of the New Testament and the clear and unambiguous teachings of Jesus, the often used label of “Christian” is quite a contradiction and presents quite a conundrum.

Our only hope is a complete reexamination of the New Testament, and a complete evaluation of our lives in that light. But until we embark upon that journey, we can take solace in our theology, our fellowship, our activities, and our moral voices in the things of this world.