1. Purpose and Scope

Firstly, let me start off by saying that the original intent behind this writing was more of an effort to collect my thoughts into one place.  I find that my method of mentally filing things away frequently lends itself to lost ideas, and so it behooves me to record them as they come.  In contemplating the things written herein, I became aware of a deep conviction that has been troubling me for some time now.  This work was, as stated above, intended for myself, but I thought it might also prove helpful to others.  And so I have compiled this letter.

What has been troubling me over the past few years is the state of the body of Christ, particularly among the Evangelical circles.  We have become weak, lazy, self-entitled, and unfaithful to our Lord and Master Jesus Christ. This letter will seek to address the reasons for this lapse, seek to offer loving reproof, and will hopefully incite change in those that require it.

As a disclaimer, I am not a theologian, nor am I a particularly wise man.  I apologize in advance for anything I say that might prove false.  I do, however have a great love for God and strong desire to discern spiritual truth.  I will not delve into the realm of theology except when it is helpful in making a point, as it goes beyond the scope of this writing.  This letter is written for the Christian who is under grace through faith in Christ and should be read as such.  I will assume that everyone who is reading this has an accurate understanding of the Gospel and what it means to truly be born again.

“I am what I am by the grace of God.”

2. Admonishments and Exhortations

As I have already said, I see a big problem in the church today.  The symptoms are many and they all point to a great sickness among the body of Christ.  As Christians, we are called to be set apart, to be sanctified, to be separate from the world.  Yet, in a 1999 study, the Barna Research Group concluded;

“Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics experience.”

Certainly this should not be! But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Christians acting just like everybody else in the world. When I think of things I’ve done or said in the past or when I think of the cowardice I’ve shown in the face of adversity, I am sincerely ashamed.  Take a look at what Jesus says in Matthew 5:13-16;

13″You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. 14″You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  15nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  16Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

I see a lot of dim lights these days.  Instead of putting up a fight, many today are more apt to capitulate, trading the truth that has been imparted to them for worldly comfort.  Christians these days seem to find it very easy to live with one foot in and one foot out saying, “I’ll follow Jesus as long as it doesn’t interrupt my life too much.”  As the great Augustine prayed in the days before his conversion;

“God, give me chastity and continence - but not just now.”

As ridiculous as that prayer may sound, many of us pray that same prayer every day.  It just might sound more like, “God, I really want to follow you and get up for church, but this bed is just so warm and I’m just so tired.”  That may sound simplistic and mundane, but I know I’ve said that to myself many times. Imagine, I have the chance to go fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ, revel in the Lord, and learn the very words of the living God, yet I will sit in bed and probably not even crack my Bible that day.  Again, that may seem like a mundane example, but stop and think about the seriousness of that situation.  How can we call Him Lord, when we won’t do the simplest of commandments such as gathering with the brethren or reading our Bibles?  Let alone trying to discern His will for our life and carry out our calling as a slave would to his master.  We have become entirely lazy and self-absorbed.  We pull God out of the closet when we need Him, and stick Him back in when things are going well.  Remember, we are here for God.  He is not here for us.

Part and parcel to this is the seeming use of Christianity as some sort of vehicle for self-fulfillment.  I am not saying that fulfillment is not the result of our belief in Christ, it surely is.  What I am speaking to is the disturbing trend of weeding out anything that doesn’t fit with our agenda or view.  We see extreme versions of this thinking all through history in the likes of Marcian of the 2nd century, or Thomas Jefferson of the 18th.   Men have been twisting the Bible or cutting parts out ever since the beginning of the church to fit their own views.  Certainly though, that type of flagrant heresy is the exception rather than the rule; but, what about the churches that never speak of Hell?  What of the churches who never use the word “repent” in their Gospel message?  What of the churches who don’t tell folks to count the cost?  If our church leaders can’t stand up for the Word of God, how can we expect their parishioners to stand up to the world? C. H. Spurgeon said it well when he spoke these words;

“Avoid a sugared gospel as you would shun sugar of lead. Seek the gospel which rips up and tears and cuts and wounds and hacks and even kills, for that is the gospel that makes alive again. And when you have found it, give good heed to it. Let it enter into your inmost being. As the rain soaks into the ground, so pray the Lord to let his gospel soak into your soul.”

More often than in the past it seems that Christians attend church for the sake of “finding spirituality”. Why is it that most Christians are more willing to read The Purpose Driven Life,  (which has a weak gospel message but tells you that you’re important), than read the Bible, the only writing that has any authority whatsoever?  That, my friend, is a huge problem in itself.

WE ARE NOT READING OUR BIBLES!

I wanted to make that crystal clear.  We live in a world where we have access to numerous translations of the Word, access to great expositors, and access to books that serve to explain the Bible itself. We have a wealth of knowledge at our very fingertips.  We have absolutely no excuse for not reading the Word of God!  I find it sad that the early church, though only possessing fragments of what we have today, were willing to die at the hands of the brutal Roman Empire to call themselves Christians.  And we, who are so abundantly endowed with the Word of God and who have freedom of religion, shrink back in fear of being labeled “Christian” that we might offend a coworker or make that nice atheist uncomfortable.  Christianity is a religion of peace with God, not peace with man.  This can be seen in Matthew 10:32-39 which reads;

32″Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven.  33″But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.  34″(Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  35″For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW;  36and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD.  37″He who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  38″And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  39”He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”

We need to take up our cross and follow our Lord no matter where it leads.  This is not a matter of choice; it is a matter of obedience.  As Christ was obedient to the will of the Father even unto death on a cross, we are to follow that same example.  We are to be obedient.  Paul likens this obedience to the relationship of a slave to his master in his epistle to the church in Rome.  We see this thought in Romans 6:16-18;

16Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?  17But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed,  18and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

What we read here is that we have two options.  We are either slaves to sin or we are slaves to obedience.  There is no in-between.  We are slaves either way.  A faithful slave will carry out his duty before his master and will fulfill that which is required of him regardless of how much it puts him out. There is no question.  There is no complaint.  There is no idea of doing it some other way than that which the master has commanded.  How often we question God when we don’t like something that has happened to us, or when we are called to service, or when we don’t like some particular doctrine.  By what divine right have we to question He who created the Heavens and the Earth by speaking them into existence?  How utterly arrogant!

Perhaps the problem is that we don’t fully comprehend the nature and ramifications of sin.  Again, this goes back partly to the problem in the pulpit (though I do not seek to lessen the responsibility of the parishioner in finding these things out through the reading of the Word).  What we do know from the Bible is that sin is an affront to God.  Sin is in direct violation to His nature.  In fact, so serious is the problem of sin, that the redemption of mankind through the God-Man Jesus is counted as an even greater work of God than the creation. We are not to tolerate any sin!  Whether that sin is of us or we are sitting around laughing at some lewd joke told at work around the water cooler.  If God does not tolerate sin, how can we, who are His children, tolerate it?  For us to tolerate or commit sin in any form would be contrary to our profession in Christ. Don’t get me wrong, I am not preaching sinless perfection as that is wholly unbiblical, but we are told to uphold the law even though we are not under it.  We will fail.  We will fall.  Hence, the death of Jesus on the Roman cross.  We are to strive for godliness and holiness through the strength of the Holy Spirit.  This is the process of sanctification to be completed upon our exit from this material world into the embrace of our Savior.

I think that too often people hear that all to common phrase, “God loves you and has a plan for your life.” Well, that’s fine and all, but it is certainly incomplete in relating God’s will for one’s life.  If one hears that enough, without the need for repentance and without the truth of impending judgment, how is one expected to develop a healthy fear of the Lord? How about, “You are a wretched and vile sinner who actively rebels against God, by which whom you are deemed an enemy, and you must repent and place your faith in the blood of Jesus who died and rose again and now sits at the right hand of the Father.  Only then will you be made at peace with God.  Only then will your life have any meaning.” I am sure that the pews would probably not be filled as full, but those who would be saved would end up with a much more accurate view of the relationship between God and man and might take their “walk” a little more seriously.

3.  Parting Words

My brethren, I sincerely hope that this letter helps encourage you to persevere and to fight the good fight. In writing this I found that I was cutting into my own heart and exposing the errors in my own walk, but that affliction is good and should be heeded as a sage.

It was my purpose in addressing a few problems in the church that I feel have done great damage to the body of Christ, but ones that are easily remedied.  It would be a great thing indeed if Christians really started reading their Bibles everyday and spent everyday in prayer.  The Bible tells us that the giving of our lives to God is our “reasonable service.”  That’s all we have, but yet, what less could we give to our Lord and Redeemer?  Has He not earned our lives?  Does He not have every right to every part of our lives?  I think we could at least study the scriptures and invest more of our time in prayer, rather than in this world.  For doing so is merely “chasing the wind”.

Sincerely yours in Jesus Christ our Lord,

SEB