John 14.15 If
you love Me, keep My commandments.
I want to deal with something that I have been thinking
about for some time. I hope through much
prayer and thought I can convey my thoughts.
I already know through research and study this may take several entrees
to cover all that is on my mind.
I have been raised in church and been actively involved in
service for over 40 years. Of those 40 years I have been a pastor in some capacity
for more than halve that. As a youth pastor, summer camp director, and senior
pastor I have had to deal with many people of all ages. I will admit this does not make me an
expert. Yet it gives me a little room to
deal with my subject matter.
I want to talk about Christianity and where we are as a
church. Let’s talk about the church of God
I have been reading a lot of articles, prayerfully paying
attention to events and people of out time.
Watching and listening to today’s church leaders. I have been paying close attention to the
messages of local church pastors and churches that we have attended in their
services. I have to ask the
question. Is the church shaping our
culture or is American ideals and culture shaping the church? It seems history keeps repeating when it comes
to humanity and our relationship with God.
Humanity follows God, then after a few generations it loses sight of God
and forsakes His ways. Then there is a remnant that sparks revival and a return
to God, and then once again the cycle repeats.
We can see the same in church history since its beginnings,
yet over time there has been corruptions and deceptions that the church has
never broke free from, and it has in my opinion shaped today’s modern
church. In saying this I want to be
clear that I do believe in God’s kingdom message. That by recent statistics the
world we live in is far better off than ever before, despite of what we may
hear in our sensationalized news media. There is more harmony and universal cooperation
than ever before. Yet that brings me to
my earlier question. Is today’s events, culture, and universal cooperation
causing the church and modern day Christians to live in the gray areas of truth
and spiritually.
Jesus commands his followers to be light in a darkened
world. Jesus even mad the claim that he
was true light and if we followed him there would be no darkness in us.
Mat_5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that
is set on a hill cannot be hidden.
Mat_5:16 Let your light so shine before men that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.
Joh_8:12 Then Jesus spoke again to them, saying, I am the
Light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall
have the light of life.
Where there is true light there can be no
darkness. So what is a gray area? The
lack of full light, shadows caused by something between us and the light. There is a culture that tries to live in
light and darkness at the same time, trying to change the meanings of God’s
Word to fit into our ways of life. Being
light in darkness is a stark difference the two can not dwell together. I believe we can say Jesus commanded that our
lives to be different in stark contrast to our culture.
After travels to other countries and reading
about believers in countries where it is not easy to be a believer, yet their numbers
are growing. Then look at the American
church and see how easily the term Christian is used, and how comfortably easy
it is to be a part of a church. It seems
we have an American version of the gospel. Could we even say like Jews of old, it has a
form of religion and God, but denies the very core truths of God and His Word? Using a phrase from a writer I have grown to
love and respect. “Christianity is the only religion that rejects the teachings
of its founder” Sir Anthony Buzzard.
To be
continued
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