Where does your theology lead you? How does your dogma invite the lost into
the Family of God? How is it your
version of the Bible, or your denominational titles are being a light in the
world? How did you get so far off track
from the path you started? People, “religion”
does not save men. Do not think that
your billboards telling passerby’s that you read from the King James Version (not that there is anything wrong with this version, it's just an example I am using because I see it on church billboards so frequently) is
going to save a single soul. Or that
your programs will entice the lost when the world sees how God’s people are
divided!
How do you not see that your religion has become an idol
around your own necks?! You spend more
time condemning and criticizing other children of God for loving on people as
Jesus did because your views on the scriptures are skewed. There is a void of love in your religion that
pushes people away from God rather than drawing them to Him!
When did Jesus ever take the Word of God and
use it as a hammer of condemnation over men’s hearts?! When did he turn up his nose towards sinners
and act disgusted? Did He enter into the
tax collectors house (which also was full of prostitutes) and scream at them
that they were going to hell because they were “sinners!” Did He
yell at his disciples and condemn them for their uniqueness or for having their
own style of ministering to others?
Where did Jesus say that only the Baptists, or the Lutherans, or the
Presbyterians, or the Pentecostals or the charismatics, or the Methodists and
so forth had the only true theology? The
Jesus I studied was full of compassion on the lost and loved them with such
kindness and respect that they were drawn to Him and recognized their own
hunger for the Truth. They knew somehow
that they could receive something from Him they could not get from the
religious of their time. He offered them
hope and shared a gospel message that had never been heard before. Well it was not new but He shared the heart
of the Father concerning the Laws of Moses and lived a life that completed and
complemented the Truth to help people, not hinder them. Jesus gave people hope that they could find
forgiveness for their sins by living the life of Truth and Love.
Jesus was also not passive when it came to the Truth. He did not fear the religious or even the
lost but stood on the Word of God while walking in the Love of God. There are religions who would rather turn the
cheek to the gospel so as not to offend man and have allowed “sin” into their
congregations, and their teachings are pleasing to itching ears rather than
hungry hearts or their doctrines are watered down. We cannot condemn sinners
but we cannot condone sin in God’s sanctuary either. We are God’s sanctuary on the earth and our
own lives must be cleansed before we can attempt to help another who is bound
in sin. We cannot be passive, apathetic
hypocrites. This means we cannot water
down the Truth to suit our own desires to be popular with the world! This is also not the Church as she was meant
to be!
God’s doctrine is sound and just and He is able to protect
the integrity of His Word no matter the denomination as long as it is His Truth
and not a derivative of another man’s ideas on the Truth. This is how cults are formed and people are
lead into deception. There is so much
dissension in the Body of Believers because of men’s attitudes towards
people. We are NOT to use the Truth to
imprison people brothers!!!! The Truth
is to set the captives free! God is the
Truth and God is Love and all those who are in God are also in Love. Whoever claims to love but hates his brother
is deceived and God’s love is not in him!
My point? How can the
lost in the world see God in the Body when the Body is like a lampstand outside
full of dirt and dead bugs and our light is dim at best?! WE MUST clean our lamps with the Love of God’s
Truth and purify our hearts in Christ Jesus so that we can illuminate in these
dark times! It’s God’s Love that
transforms the world through the Church, not any version of the Bible, or
denomination or theology. We are saved
by grace alone through the blood of Christ in his death and resurrection. If we can all agree on this and set aside our
dogmatic differences and unite under this Truth alone then, and only then
can we be the salt of the earth, a lampstand on a hill and vessels of
righteousness. Only then can the world
finally see Jesus in us and through us.
God’s love changed us and convicted us of our own sinfulness and it
seems we have forgotten what it was like to have been lost.
Love, not condemnation (for God did not send His Son into
the world to condemn the world but to save it through Him) will reveal God’s
mercy and compassion to man. Love, not
criticism will heal the wounds of the lost.
Love with grace and mercy will expand the Kingdom of Heaven. We must unite brethren if we’re to complete
the mission at hand as the Church (The body of believers, aka the Bride of
Christ). We have been adopted into God’s
family and we must stop the sibling rivalry and stand together in Christ Jesus
as a family.
Sadly, some of those “religious” will find something wrong
with even this plea and condemn me to hell because many are waxed cold in love
and are themselves now blinded to the Truth just as the Pharisees were. The worst part of deception is that the deceived don't realize they are deceived. God help us all and forgive us our absurdities
and foolishness of thinking. Raise up
Your People to be a beacon of light in the world; reflections of Your Love and
glory to those groping around in the darkness.
Draw them to Your Light Lord that they may be saved! Break our hearts with what breaks Yours Lord.
