One of the deadly infections any local church can have is the clique. The clique can become terminal, ripping apart local churches of all sizes. It begins as most church diseases start with nearly innocent motives. It is only natural that we seek out others within the congregation to befriend us, and getting along with others is an essential part of our Christian faith.
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Posted in Christian Doctrine, Christian Living, Our relationships with other Christians
Tagged 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, Teachings of Paul
False salvation can happen to anyone. The worst part of all, false salvation can leave a person asking if God is actually real. False salvation does not satisfy the soul but leaves it empty and longing for something to fill it. Yesterday evening, I was on the phone with one of my best friends, Ron. And during that call, he asked me about a recent Facebook post I had made over the weekend about becoming a Christian in 2006. He has known me since 2000 and was surprised to learn that I was not saved.
In my own personal story, in 1988 I was looking for answers. My father had moved in the middle of my senior year of high school. That summer, I entered into college and was searching for answers. I knew there was more to life and began to experiment in everything that life on the college campus had to offer. Many people who experience a false salvation have a similar experience. They are aware that there is more out there and search for it. Unfortunately, many real Christians, some are even ministers, have little understanding of how to show someone the way to finding the Jesus of the Bible.
Within the gospel of John, there’s a key verse: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6). When you’re searching for answers and when you know something is missing, it is easy to get caught up in an emotional experience. This is what happened to me. I was already searching, had someone share the gospel with me, then invited me to church. Once in church, I walked down the aisle, knowing in my heart that something was missing. I was simply responding because I knew it was what I was supposed to do. I prayed a certain prayer at the altar with another man of the church – because I was supposed to do it. Later, at the evening service, I was baptized but felt no different on the inside then I had before.
There’s a verse in the gospel of John that goes along with one of the things I had to learn the hard way. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you (John 14:26). When a person has a false profession of faith, no matter how much preaching they hear, no matter how much Bible reading they do, or regardless of how many services they attend, a person who is not saved will never have spiritual growth. Think of it this way, one cannot fill a flower-pot with dirt and expect a plant to grow if there has never been a seed planted.
The writings of Paul discusses the inner spiritual battle Christians have. For the believer, the battle between the sinful nature of mankind and the desire to live as Jesus has called us to do is a real, constant one. For someone who has a false salvation, there is no such battle. There’s the battle of knowing that something shouldn’t be done, but no real guilt afterwards. There may even be a justification along the lines of “God knows I am only human,” or “all Christians struggle with some sort of sin…” It is not a matter of how smart someone is or even if they know what being a Christian means. It is a heart matter. Until someone is truly ready to surrender their entire existence to Jesus, there cannot be any hope of salvation or redemption. Without redemption, there can be no spiritual growth.
The lost world has a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity. Its understanding actually impacts how some who self-identify as Christian live their lives. There’s a song performed by Carrie Underwood called, “Jesus, Take the Wheel” that perfectly illustrates what anyone seeking genuine salvation has to do. There’s a couple of verses that comes to mind: Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able (Luke 13:24) and, And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).During His earthly ministry, Jesus was asked how someone could get into Heaven. The gospel of Matthew records Jesus’ response: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37).
These verses paint a very disturbing picture for someone who has a false salvation. They may have the head knowledge of who Jesus is but their heart remains affixed to this world. They are carnal in their lifestyle and/or in their thoughts. Before I was saved, I wanted to have both – the assurance of an eternal home in heaven and to be able to live my life according to my own terms. I didn’t know it then, but Paul had actually wrote about this very thing: Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:16). What I didn’t realize at the time was that I really didn’t have the control I thought I had over my life. I was a slave to sin.
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Posted in Christian Doctrine, Our relationship with God
Tagged 1 Corinthians, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John, Luke, Matthew, Proverbs, Romans
The lost generation is not a myth. I have heard many talk about this developing phenomenon for years but it truly became real to me in February. As many of you know, I teach history at a local community college in rural Kentucky. While I do not openly discuss my faith in Jesus Christ in class, when a student comes to me during my office hours or will contact me outside the classroom and asks, I will boldly and with great excitement, share my faith in Jesus as the opportunity provides itself. The apostle Peter reminded the early Christians, But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear (1 Peter 3:15) and it is still good for us today to be ready to share the gospel of Jesus when the moment makes itself available.
This semester has been incredibly challenging to me for several reasons – and it hasn’t even reached mid-terms! Like most semesters, I have had to deal with the average problems most college instructors would tell you about: lack of fundamental writing skills, a diminished work ethic (doing just enough to get by), poor attendance, and so on. That’s not where the challenge has been; the challenge has tried to balance the role of college instructor AND counselor to a group of young people who are having an incredibly difficult time in various aspects of life. Earlier this semester and after a lecture on the emerging role of the black church after the Civil War, a young female student came up to ask questions. At first, the questions were about the lecture materials and what books I could recommend her read about the development of the black church but soon developed into more personal questions about the generalities of Christian faith, human psychology of religion, and my own personal faith.
In our conversation she said something that shook me to my core: “I’m 23 years old, grew up here in Henderson and past by a dozen or so churches every day. I’ve never been to church…” Immediately my mind went to a verse in Deuteronomy: And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deuteronomy 11:19). Now I understand that as Christians, we are under grace and not the Law, there is still great wisdom in following the precepts of the Law and in this case, to use every moment to teach our children – the younger generation – about the goodness of God. This young woman was asking questions that she needed answered. She needed to be heard.
It wasn’t that I was offering her any advice that any other Christian couldn’t. It was that I was taking the time to engage in conversation with her, on a personal level, and took the time to understand what she was asking and trying to say. We live in a fast-paced world where we are bombarded with electronic communication, we get our news from 30 second sound bites, and our dinners take only a fraction of the time to prepare than did the meals our grandparents and parents shared just a few decades ago. Everywhere you turn, you see someone talking on a cell phone, posting to Facebook and Twitter. Yet it is the younger generation that in spite of all these means of communication, has become the lost generation. They are unsure how to ask questions in a personal dialogue in front of another person; they search for answers on the Internet but realize that even if they are reading truth, something is still missing from it. They are seeking answers, are asking questions, but too many Christians have also become wrapped up in the Internet world and are helpless to respond to the questions.
A while back I heard an older person at Wal-Mart make the comment that the younger generation are ungrounded in reality and have no understanding of what life really is about. The conversation then turned into a discussion about sexuality, entertainment, work ethics, and ended with an indictment against the new emerging (and fleshly) focused culture. While I was in agreement with much of what this man and the cashier were discussing, I began to think of how the younger generation – this lost generation – is looking for answers to their questions. Jesus taught, For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Luke 11:10); it is important to remember that when people seek, not only does the Lord reveal himself, but Satan will reveal counterfeits to whatever the Lord offers. I cannot help but to wonder how many young people chose the counterfeit because it was easily available at hand, was appealing, and seemed to offer what they were seeking.
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Posted in Christian Doctrine, Our relationship with others, Personal Evangelism
Tagged 1 Peter, 2 Corinthians, Deuteronomy, Hebrews, Luke, Mark, Proverbs, Psalms
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