I recently heard a talk by Christine Cain where she made the statement, “Why do we need the devil when we’ve got Christians?” It is very sad how true this remark actually is. While we are encouraged in the Bible to be a unified body of believers (John 17:11, Ephesians 4:1-3), the reality is that we have become anything but that; the modern church is a fragmented body of denominations marked by warring factions of worship styles, missional focuses, and political agendas. We no longer rally around the commands of Jesus, but rather flock to like-minded individuals or comfortable surroundings.
Matthew
The Church in Sardis
I was studying the book of Revelation recently, and was reading the passage that contains the letter dictated to the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6). As I read, I could not help but see the parallels between them and the current American church. I encourage you to take a moment to read the short passage above to provide context to this post.
Think on These Things, Part 2
In my previous post (see “Think on These Things, Part 1”) we discussed the importance of what we allowed into our minds. I’d like to continue that discussion today. If you recall, we focused our attention on Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.” (HCSB). So what does this look like as we apply it in our daily lives?
When Life Gets in the Way
It’s a new year and you’ve made the determination that this is the year you are dedicating your life to follow Christ. No more playing around, this time it’s for real. And then you lose your job. Your spouse tells you they don’t want to be married anymore. Your kid is diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly the thoughts of commitment to God are far away. Despite your best intentions, life jumped up and smacked you in the face. While the previous examples may be on the extreme side (though certainly in this day and age any one of them is within the realm of possibility), the challenge we often face is how to stay focused and committed to Jesus when life gets in the way.
Fraud
My father used to have a sign on his desk that read, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” If you are a Western Christian like myself, there’s a good chance the answer to that question would be ‘no’. In fact, from what I have seen and read, a large number of those professing to believe in Jesus are actually frauds. We claim to follow the teachings of Christ, but in practice we do anything but that. Jesus had strong words for the hypocrites of His day (Matthew 7:4-5; Matthew 15:5-9; Matthew 23:13-15); do you think His position has softened over the years?