"Yet these false teachers, who claim authority from their dreams, live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at the power of the glorious ones. But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse Satan of blasphemy, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you." (This took place when Michael was arguing with Satan about Moses’ body.) But these people mock and curse the things they do not understand. Like animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and they bring about their own destruction. How terrible it will be for them! For they follow the evil example of Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they will do anything for money. And like Korah, they will perish because of their rebellion. When these people join you in fellowship meals celebrating the love of the Lord, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are shameless in the way they care only about themselves. They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much but producing nothing. They are like trees without fruit at harvest time. They are not only dead but doubly dead, for they have been pulled out by the roots. They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the dirty foam of their shameful deeds. They are wandering stars, heading for everlasting gloom and darkness."
We live in a dangerous age!
I cannot say that often enough or loud enough: We . . . live . . . in . . . a . . . dangerous . . . age!
I recently read an article that a young friend of mine posted on Facebook. The article was by a young woman who claims she was a born-again Christian for some years and then, after going to graduate school, rejected her faith. (You can read the article here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicamisener/why-i-miss-being-a-born-again-christian).
She also claims that this phenomena is becoming more and more prevalent. And I wouldn’t disagree. I think that the Church has failed many who have come through its doors. In fact, this isn’t a new situation. More than twenty years ago, the Assemblies of God took the time to track their "new converts" and discovered that, after a year, fewer than 2% were actually still attending church.
We were never commanded to make converts! We have created a hit-and-run gospel and it is leaving far more victims in its wake than believers. We listened to false teachers who told us that this was the way of the Lord. It’s not! It never was.
Years ago, Ray Comfort, an evangelist from Australia, began to warn us about our tactics which created persons who were initially "saved" but later became vaccinated against Christianity (his words) due to their lack of discipleship. Being a Christian has never been about "accepting Jesus as your Savior" and has always been about becoming a disciple. The word in Hebrew is "talmid" and the connotation is much more than simply believing. It is literally becoming exactly like, in every way, the teacher you are following, in this case, Christ. It is a process which allows for few distractions and no self-indulgence. This is why the Lord Jesus said:
"If anyone comes to Me land does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26 NKJV)
Jesus was obviously not advocating that we hate our parents. Many other places in the Bible we are commanded to honor and respect our parents. What He meant is that we must have a singular focus in order to be a disciple; demands from the other things in life, regardless how intimate or precious, must be discarded in order to become a Christian in all that being a Christian means.
We have failed to communicate that to the world.
Instead, we have tried to market Christianity, to reduce it to a "Happy Meal," and to convince people that being a Christian can simply be another part of their healthy lifestyle. We have weakened the impact of a Holy God upon the life of a sinful person until Christianity has become slogans to be shouted at a ball game rather than a life-changing event that cannot be denied. We have tied ourselves to information systems (such as television and the Internet) rather than immersing ourselves in the Holy Word, weakening our own knowledge of our Savior until we have no answers for those who would try us out and then leave for something that feels more authentic. We have listened to the false teachers who have told us that this is the way to go, paid them our money, given them our allegiance, and then sat crying in the streets, wondering why society is falling around us.
Society isn’t the problem; we are! And it’s time that we begin to take responsibility where responsibility lies and step up to the plate. It’s time that we began to seek true teachers rather than the ones who tell us what we want to hear (2 Timothy 4:3). It’s time we began to take our Christianity seriously, to become the disciples the Lord Jesus longs for us to be, and to be that salt and light in the world. Otherwise, we might as well pack it up and go home. For the Lord and for us, there is no middle ground.
© 2014 Robin L. O’Hare. All Rights Reserved.
For permission to copy, please contact servinggodalone@yahoo.com
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