GETTING STUCK the divisions of the church #2

GREETINGS IN THE NAME OF JESUS:




  In the last blog, I mentioned getting stuck in a rather uncomfortable pattern of busy work that is too often created by churches who hold onto the ideas created for them by a world who has no real idea at all of what it means or takes to grow in Christ.  Many have adopted programs designed to herd people into a church pattern of behavior that ends up being nothing more than busy work that may be more like being in a book club of studying the thoughts and philosophies of the author of the latest book about Christ, but not Christ Himself.

 1 Corinthians 1:10-17 brings out the fact that there are many times divisions within the church that come up which are not easily settled except for in one way.  That way is to conclude that we as children of God are not to be divided in our loyalty to Christ.  Divisions start when we are lead to create clicks of people who huddle together but who tend to exclude others from that inner circle.  There will always be different ways of thinking, and we cannot change the ways people think or the ways they process information, but we are charged with the task of making sure that everyone has the truth straight about Jesus Christ, and the best way I have found of doing that is in the study directly of His word to us.  The most dangerous kinds of division are those of misunderstanding what God is saying to us about the cross and the exact reasons for His sacrifice.  If that message of salvation is twisted in any way it is no longer a valid message of salvation. 1 Corinthians 1: 18-2:5

   Scripture tells us that the person who thinks himself or herself so wise as to be able to completely understand God's word without the guidance of the Holy Spirit will soon find himself thinking the preaching of the cross to be foolishness.  That is because they rely on their own ability to interpret God's word and not the genuineness of experiencing God's salvation first hand.  I liken this to understanding the information given from the page of a book but having no practical application or experience with that information used in life situations. It will naturally cause us to make mistakes that we otherwise would not make.  In order to understand the wisdom of God, we must live within the power of His Holy Spirit.  If we merely read about it or talk about Jesus's power we will not have any practical understanding of what salvation means, and that will bring about a natural division between us as people of God.  God delights in making the wisdom of this world look foolish.  To the world around us, the preaching of God's word is foolishness, but God has chosen that which looks foolish to this world to deliver His plan of salvation to men.


 As Paul had written to the church in Corinth " Is Christ divided?" " Was Paul crucified for you?"
" Were you all baptized into Paul?"  The question is " What are you following today? Are you following a man or a message?  That message is so important that it cannot be changed in any way or it becomes invalid. As long as we stay in the center of God's Spirit it will never be an issue, but many become drawn away from the real message by the way the message is delivered. I want to deal with that a little in the next blog.  May you richly bless God through your life in Him.


THE UNWORTHY SERVANT