Christianity Without the Bible

VIOLA!

CHRISTIANITY WITHOUT THE BIBLE

Disdain and contempt and mocking are the indispensable currency of politics, however they are not the way of Jesus. However those behaviors have found their way into the body of Christ. Even many preachers engage in such practices, while others fellowship with and invite men who make a wonderful living through that kind of carnal speech. All of which begs the question, “Is the Bible even relevant anymore?’
The answer is simply, no. The Bible is no longer relevant in the western church. We cannot even be honest about it since we can no longer read the New Testament with any semblance of a literal application. Oh, we can loudly and robustly claim the Scriptures are meant to be taken literally, and even proudly strut our “inerrant” credentials. But the exhortations and commands of the New Testament are no longer practiced literally. We have taken what we like and altered what would be “absurd”.
For instance, Jesus said this:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
That is considered too absurd for a western culture. Those words cannot actually mean what they say or else Christianity cannot be a part of the culture in which we live. Even if we make some wiggle room for a little “just in case” savings, that does not exonerate the vast sums we have in savings and retirement accounts. And why do we have such sums? It is because we desire to live comfortably after retirement, and we cannot rely on our children to care for us, and ultimately we cannot trust God. And because of those reasons and more, the words of Jesus must conform to the accepted ways of this culture.
You see the words about the Trinity are to be taken literally and without any compromise, but teachings like these are an incursion into our lifestyle so they must be interpreted with accommodating alterations. Let us leave that since it really is way too absurd to even consider. But here is another Scripture which is altogether ignored:

Col.4: 5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

Just listen to believers talk in the halls of the church and you will see how irrelevant these are. In fact, listen to many sermons which castigate lost sinners and disdain and mock certain elected officials. Need I quote the “Honor the king” verse? Please spare me the “I believe the Bible is God’s Word” cloak. The only real part we believe is what we obey, all the rest is doctrinal bluster. Let a preacher state that the Bible condemns homosexual behavior and the crowd goes wild as if they had written that themselves. Light the torches! Release the dogs! But there is a much lower level of enthusiasm for the more personal exhortations.

I Cor.13: 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
And we can read those words and still be involved in politics? Why? Because the church treats God’s Word in piece meal fashion. Nationalism and politics are immune from certain verses even though we apply the Scriptures with effervescence to others. What kind of religion have we created? It as a monstrous invention made with cunningly crafted paths that avoid Scriptural obstacles that would alter our lives. And even though we avoid and ignore a whole host of Scriptures and their applications, we still can embrace the monikers like Bible believers, orthodox, and even followers of Jesus. Wow, that is some audacity!

I Tim.6: 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
Eph.4: 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Can there by any group of people who complain more than professing believers? We complain about gas prices, interest rates, liberals, traveling distances, food prices, neighbors, spouses, finances, the lost, Obamacare, health, Hollywood, church members, and on and on it goes. Oh, and did I mention the issue that engenders more complaints than most others? Yes, let’s hear it for the gay community! If complaining was as powerful as prayer the gay community would already be saved, or burning hell collectively! Again, the Bible means nothing anymore, and the religion that is practiced in America may be called “Christianity”, however it cannot be seriously considered Biblical.

Eph.5: 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

And just what are these unfruitful works of darkness? How many millions of believers will trot out this weekend and give God’s money to watch a movie which is risqué? So as long as we do not participate in public nudity we can watch others do it? Our grandparents would have never watched such things, and just what will our children watch when they replace us? We are paving the way even while condemning the practices that entertain us. And can there be any darker practice than American politics? Lies and innuendos, exaggerated accomplishments otherwise known as lies, unwholesome words about opponents, slick advertisements designed to manipulate, and an obscene amount of money which this year may be in the billions. And this cannot be considered the “unfruitful works of darkness”?
We seem to have constricted the definition of works of darkness to the Sandusky’s of this world while we play church and enjoy a variety of hedonistic practices. And yes, the Bible is now a sort of spiritual talisman that insures a ticket to heaven and can be used to batter those who will not give lip service to it. Even the word “evangelical” is a lie considering how many evangelicals actually are actively witnessing. It is a sham to be sure.

Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

The context of that verse from Luke 18 addresses the woman who continually bothered the judge until he acquiesced to her plight. And then Jesus makes the application about saints praying day and night to God. But, He says, will He even find that kind of faith upon His return? Rhetorically He asks whether His followers will be praying when He returns. He now has His answer.

Pray without ceasing.

If we just had this one three word verse it would indict the western church. You see even though Jesus said His house was a place of prayer, prayer does not pay mortgage interest rates. Prayer does not fill the seats. Prayer does not make unbelievers comfortable. Prayer limits our down time. Prayer takes too long to see the results we desire. Prayer is an ancient practice whose time has passed. And yet with that and other verses demanding our obedience, we have managed to secrete them carefully out of our church practice and hide them skillfully in the “I believe the Bible” museum. That museum is now the ecclesiastical Smithsonian.
Believers by the millions castigate people who do not believe or follow the Constitution as they see it. Millions upon millions of evangelicals embrace the Constitution with uncommon allegiance. Men and women, believer and unbeliever, call loudly for a return to believing and obeying the Constitution. They claim the country is rapidly moving away from what the founding fathers designed.
But all the while the church has moved away from what the Author of the Bible designed. Where are those clarions calls demanding a return to Biblical Christianity? Oh yes, I forgot. We all already believe the Bible. Never mind...