Answering some hard questions
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
For quite a long time now I have held the question within my mind and heart about why it is that churches have such a difficult time in fellowship with one another. Today we find that even churches of the same denominational strain tend to bock at getting too involved with any other body of believers.
It isn't a matter of non-fellowship because of not holding a similar belief pattern in doctrines, and I don't believe that it has to do with any spiritual aspect of faith. I do tend to believe that it is because we have all sold out to a worldview that naturally separates one organization from another. I believe that it is our view of what our purpose in Christ is that gets slanted and skewed from what the truth is.
We can easily see that the world around us is made up of many different groups who were trying to achieve the same goals, and for the most part those goals are directed toward making a profit. We as Christians on the other hand are not designed to be an organization. We are designed to be a family in Christ who seeks complete unity in the power of God's Spirit. That is a completely different mind set from the world around us, and it is an absolute truth that if we were ever completely unified in God's spirit we could not be stopped as a people because evil simply could not stand under that kind of pressure. For a long time now I have wondered what it would be like to be a part of the body of believers like the one that was experienced in the book of Acts. One of the things that I realize is that we as Christians must first prepare ourselves; or at least allow God to prepare us to live in that kind of unity. I say that because it takes a completely selfless kind of unity in order to allow God to direct our steps each and every day.
I have often found myself very intrigued over different things that Jesus had said during his ministry; things like what is found in Matthew 7: 21-23 which said to those who were claiming to be Christians that even though they said they did miracles, cast out demons, and prophesied in the name of Jesus that he would still say to them on judgment day "I never knew you away from me you evildoers!" My mind sometimes would raise with the thought of why would he say this to Christians? Every time I would ask myself that question I would have to revisit a very un-settling answer; and that answer was that these people never work Christians in the intent of their heart, they were only pretending to be.
Every time I think about it there is a revolution sparked within my heart about what my perspective and my understanding is of being a follower of Christ. I discovered that outward religious activities no matter how spiritual they may seem are still not the gauge of what our faith is. We tend to separate ourselves from one another instead of trying to find ways to increase the power of Christ in our community by joining forces and allowing God's Holy Spirit to take the complete control of one we all do and say as a body of believers. I don't know how many times I have seen Christians duplicate ministries based upon a desire to feel that they are contributing something to the cause of Christ. We are saying that we believe that Jesus is Lord without ever actually making him Lord. I am beginning to realize that the longer we keep ourselves separate the longer we will be spinning our wheels and never really accomplishing anything. I believe that it is that point where the church wakes up to realize that the power of God will never be unleashed until we can wake up to the calling to be selfless to one another. If we look around us in the community we can see so many different bodies of believers who were called to various kinds of spiritual work, and yet each of them struggle in a mighty way to meet their needs. Just as we as individuals have different gifts and talents and abilities so we to as the body of Christ need to begin to awaken to the call of the Holy Spirit to be the Bride Of Christ in this age. We have allowed this world to separate us from one another long enough. Just as God's word tells us in the book of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 "if I speak in the tongue of men and angels but have not love; I gain nothing"hopefully this week we can discuss the separation of Christians more intently and begin to find a way to correct the problem I mentioned in Matthew seven: 21-23. I do want you to take the time to think about what we've said here. There is a difference between those who are real men and women of God, and those who simply pretend to be. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
For quite a long time now I have held the question within my mind and heart about why it is that churches have such a difficult time in fellowship with one another. Today we find that even churches of the same denominational strain tend to bock at getting too involved with any other body of believers.
It isn't a matter of non-fellowship because of not holding a similar belief pattern in doctrines, and I don't believe that it has to do with any spiritual aspect of faith. I do tend to believe that it is because we have all sold out to a worldview that naturally separates one organization from another. I believe that it is our view of what our purpose in Christ is that gets slanted and skewed from what the truth is.
We can easily see that the world around us is made up of many different groups who were trying to achieve the same goals, and for the most part those goals are directed toward making a profit. We as Christians on the other hand are not designed to be an organization. We are designed to be a family in Christ who seeks complete unity in the power of God's Spirit. That is a completely different mind set from the world around us, and it is an absolute truth that if we were ever completely unified in God's spirit we could not be stopped as a people because evil simply could not stand under that kind of pressure. For a long time now I have wondered what it would be like to be a part of the body of believers like the one that was experienced in the book of Acts. One of the things that I realize is that we as Christians must first prepare ourselves; or at least allow God to prepare us to live in that kind of unity. I say that because it takes a completely selfless kind of unity in order to allow God to direct our steps each and every day.
I have often found myself very intrigued over different things that Jesus had said during his ministry; things like what is found in Matthew 7: 21-23 which said to those who were claiming to be Christians that even though they said they did miracles, cast out demons, and prophesied in the name of Jesus that he would still say to them on judgment day "I never knew you away from me you evildoers!" My mind sometimes would raise with the thought of why would he say this to Christians? Every time I would ask myself that question I would have to revisit a very un-settling answer; and that answer was that these people never work Christians in the intent of their heart, they were only pretending to be.
Every time I think about it there is a revolution sparked within my heart about what my perspective and my understanding is of being a follower of Christ. I discovered that outward religious activities no matter how spiritual they may seem are still not the gauge of what our faith is. We tend to separate ourselves from one another instead of trying to find ways to increase the power of Christ in our community by joining forces and allowing God's Holy Spirit to take the complete control of one we all do and say as a body of believers. I don't know how many times I have seen Christians duplicate ministries based upon a desire to feel that they are contributing something to the cause of Christ. We are saying that we believe that Jesus is Lord without ever actually making him Lord. I am beginning to realize that the longer we keep ourselves separate the longer we will be spinning our wheels and never really accomplishing anything. I believe that it is that point where the church wakes up to realize that the power of God will never be unleashed until we can wake up to the calling to be selfless to one another. If we look around us in the community we can see so many different bodies of believers who were called to various kinds of spiritual work, and yet each of them struggle in a mighty way to meet their needs. Just as we as individuals have different gifts and talents and abilities so we to as the body of Christ need to begin to awaken to the call of the Holy Spirit to be the Bride Of Christ in this age. We have allowed this world to separate us from one another long enough. Just as God's word tells us in the book of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 "if I speak in the tongue of men and angels but have not love; I gain nothing"hopefully this week we can discuss the separation of Christians more intently and begin to find a way to correct the problem I mentioned in Matthew seven: 21-23. I do want you to take the time to think about what we've said here. There is a difference between those who are real men and women of God, and those who simply pretend to be. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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