Now and then I surf blogs and read what others have to say about faith, God, Jesus, church, Christianity and the like. I try to encourage the seeming discouraged. I pray for some of those that request it or those that weigh on my heart and I bring them to the Lord in prayer.
In writing to one blogger recently about her desperate need to get to church because she hadn’t been in a few weeks (she definitely needed the ‘fix’), I tried to express the Father’s heart that He is yet closer than her next breath, she doesn’t need to wait or go somewhere else, He is with her and will provide for her all that she needs.
In response she said it was one thing to have God in her heart and have Him to pray to, but she still needs to hear a sermon now and then and be around other believers.
My first thought was “What for?” Now, I certainly don’t mean that meeting with ‘the Body’ isn’t important, even required at times and I enjoy it very much myself as well, but my thought stemmed from thinking she didn’t really want to be around believers for the sake of furthering to greater empower her spiritual life by the Spirit, she just wanted to ‘have a good time’, in the churchy/good-little-christian sense. That made me both frustrated and grieved. It grieves the Holy Spirit when we lack interest in Him, His nature, His character, His All. For her, it was all about her, not Him. Praying to God is also not to be some sort of ‘Dear diary’ daily prayer, but a submitting of ourselves for His life and loving power to transform us.
Then I wondered what she thought having ‘God in her heart’ meant. Obviously it didn’t mean the power to overcome anything and it isn’t Christ in her the hope of glory. I know before I really got this through my own head, I didn’t have much hope of being set free from my sin. I thought I may just have to find a way to ‘deal with it’ my whole life all the while being repentant in my heart. I wasn’t believing in a very powerful God. Maybe the same with this lady. Which is one of the saddest things in Christianity today.
Christianity is actually supposed to be about Jesus saving us from our sinful, human condition, here and now in this lifetime. This is GOOD NEWS. Not later when we ‘go to heaven’, but NOW. So where’s the hope if we think we can’t ever overcome our sin? Or that we need to get to a church to hear a sermon, sing some songs, and ‘feel’ Christian again? Is that what Christianity is?? Then it’s no different than a drug addict needing their heroin fix.
I hate what I see in the church buildings where the broken people that populate the pews think this IS what Christianity is, and what it has to offer. NO, IT ISN’T! Because true Christianity isn’t the building, tithes, songs, pastoral ship, the board, etc. IT IS JESUS CHRIST!
If you don’t believe Jesus and ‘God in your heart’ have the power to save you from sin and bring you to overcome, than you don’t really believe in God at all. You just believe Bible stories.
It is my prayer that many, many more professing Christians would become BELIEVERS in Christ, His death and the power of His resurrection, that the Father may be glorified in Him and in those whom the Father has given Him.
September 29, 2008 at 5:00 am
Hey friend nice information on Christ. Once more previously i have gone through such a good post reflecting the story of success at http://www.succcess.org/2008/09/01/the-belief-tree-why-success-is-binary/#comments. The achievement of success becomes easy when maximum efforts and blessings are there on a person.
September 29, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Thanks, Randall. I read the article you referred to and got a shiver up my spine. The narrow way vs the broad way. What a difference.
August 10, 2009 at 10:41 am
dj;
I think that what you are observing and commenting on here is an attachment to the physical. It seems odd but it is all too easy for a person to make church or a minister an idol. If a person does not go beyond these things to truly seek the Lord in Spirit, they are not following Him. We had a friend who would seem to be going through some sort of withdrawal if she didn’t have her “christian” music all of the time. So I agree it is a type of addiction. And since it does not lead to a deeper walk with the Lord, it is wrong and dangerous. I think that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing all over the place who are only too happy to promote this kind of religiosity.
It is just more of the same types of things you see in the world.
And yes I quite agree that fellowship with the Lord is quite different from the institutional church’s notions and traditions. I think that if the churches we are all familiar with taught people to go deeper with the Lord we would have a very different popular concept of what a christian is, than we do now.
August 10, 2009 at 5:20 pm
Nathan,
People do make church and ministries idols and that is much of the problem for them, but isn’t it what ALL religion is? All religion is a form of practice in order to be acceptable to God (based on someone’s interpretation). Every form of practice has lists of ‘do’s and don’ts’.
But we are called to walk in spirit and in truth, take up our cross daily and follow Him who is our pattern (the pattern Son), and be transformed into His likeness, where He has become the FIRST of MANY BRETHREN. We are to become Sons too! (Sons of the same Father). In the likeness of Jesus and by the same process – through our own cross(es). This is NOT religion. The Father orders the processing we go through in the midst of our daily lives (good, bad and ugly). We must be very careful we don’t make a religion of this ourselves.
Most people have not heard of ‘The Way of the Cross’, beyond Christ having to go that way. But the way of the cross is the way we die to ourselves that we become truly submissive to the Holy Spirit in union with the Father’s heart. The Father dictates the crosses on which we are crucified. Religion has a problem with that.
If you haven’t already read any of Bill Britton’s writings, I would recommend them. (http://www.dimensionsoftruth.org/Bill_Britton/. One in particular comes to mind right now, ‘The Harness of the Lord’. It was one of my blog postings some time ago.
Nathan, the Lord continues to call people to come out of her, Babylon (the church system that is of men, not of God). Some are still hearing the spirit and continue to come out, but many don’t believe they have to and remain subject to the wolves in sheep’s clothing. Inside the system a danger is that they are being seduced by religion to such a degree there is no discerning of the spirit for themselves and hearing the Lord, being able to obey.
dj
August 11, 2009 at 6:03 pm
dj;
Yes, the thing that marks the various “church” groups (that is not His church) is their list of dos and don’ts, for this is the way they define you as being a member of their group.
If a person would step back a little and allow the Lord to show them, the denominations (and these days the non-denominations) most resemble the institution Jesus opposed and had to contend with, the pharisees and the sadducees (The Sanhedrin). The habit of these modern institutions is to control their members and to let the true follower of the Way of the Cross know that he or she is not welcome, sometimes they are more forceful about it. Of course these feelings are expressed in the most pious terms possible. Madame Guyon’s time in the bastille is a good example of this attitude. The modern institution of the “church” does not like for God to intrude on their daydreams and plans.
There is no escaping the fact that we are called to be followers of Jesus Christ, and as such we are to obey Him, and Him only. I do not believe that we owe any allegiance to anyone who has shown themselves to be wandering off of the “Way” as Luke calls it.
I read the Bill Britton article and I agree with him so long as he is referring to the disciplines and corrections which are truly from the Lord. I bless the crosses which He leads me to.
I have all to often heard sermons like this used as an introduction to the idea that you are not following the denominational list of dos and don’ts closely enough. Yes, I have been burned that often.
Since I am not familiar with the rest of Mr. Britton’s work I will need to give him the benefit of the doubt for now.
Yes the Lord is definitely calling people out of the system of Babylon, but my observation is that only individuals will be responding, not whole “churches”. The system has defenses against the Holy Spirit and His people. Those who are leaders in the system will preach against anyone whom they see as a threat, for you see like the pharisees, their positions are at stake.
If you represent the Lord you will be called a heretic and probably far worse. You will not be welcome in most of the barn like structures which house todays “churches”, but rejoice for you are in fantastic company, Paul dealt with the very same thing, he was beaten and stoned and was a “persona non grata” at nearly all of the synagogues which he visited. Our modern notion of following Jesus is not complete until we understand these possibilities.
August 12, 2009 at 10:12 pm
You’re right, only individuals will be responding to God calling people out of the organized ‘church’. God is all about personal relationship, He wants each person in the whole denomination to come after Him, but No, not all within the denomination will. Besides, the one’s that stay behind will be some of the ones that do the persecuting of the ones that leave. Thereby further purifying the ‘called out’ ones on crosses they have to bear.
Yet, through this our hearts are to become one with the Father’s and we are to genuinely love those persecuting us. This is a tough thing for the Holy Spirit to work in us, but as we resist the hardness of heart that comes from being hurt, He will complete the work He has begun in us.