" Come out from them and be separate", says the LORD. What does that mean? What I believe it means is that as believers in Christ, we should not be business partners together with unbelievers. We should not be married to unbelievers. We should not be found to be drunks or living sexually immoral lives. We should not be liars or deceivers and our speech should not be filled with filth...We should be known as honest law-abiding citizens etc, etc... After all, as believers we are supposed to be ambassadors for Christ here on earth, by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are the vessels that Christ has chosen to do His work through here.
So tell me this... How do we do Christ's work if we separate ourselves so much from those around us that we have no interaction with them? It seems to me that the doctrine of separation has become very convenient for some Christians who don't like sharing their faith, or are afraid to do so.
Jesus commanded us to "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel." We can't do that if we have no contact with the world. We were made for relationship. If we're not building relationships with people our words become just empty words.
He never said, " Go into all the world and build church buildings and sit in them waiting for people to come. Hold meetings and programs and be blessed amongst yourselves. Become a bunch of holier than thou's for my name's sake".
There's nothing wrong with "church". It's a God ordained-institution, a living, breathing body of believers with Christ as the Head. But, if all we do is sit in our buildings, we've missed it.
I'm so glad Jesus never thought that way. He could have stayed in heaven, separated Himself from us sinners, and we'd all be on our way to hell right now...
We can't be ambassadors for Christ if we're so separated from the people around us that we have no effect on them. Unbelievers are not flocking to churches today, and sadly, most have very good reasons not to.
It's time the church got off our lily white blessed assurances and started doing life in our communities. Rubbing shoulders with neighbors and making a difference in people's lives. We don't have to become drunks or sexual deviates but we do have to be out there doing life with people...loving them and giving them hope.
I just don't see how we can effect change if we have nothing to do with the culture that surrounds us. Jesus left heaven with all its glories behind. He walked among us sinners. He did life with us and among us. He met people where they were. Like the Samaritan woman at the well. He called Zaccheus down from the tree. He called His disciples publicly. He sat down and ate with sinners. Probably heard some bad language too. It seems to me most of His ministry was done on foot, walking amongst the crowds, healing people from diseases and forgiving their sins. He didn't hide off in some corner of society like a self- righteous rabbi circling the wagons for protection. He met life head on. He made a difference. He expects the same from us.
That's what separation means to me... but that's just me.
Jesus' prayer to the Father for His disciples. " I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified".... John 17:14-19
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Love over Holiness
In his message at the Gathering at Trent this week, our guest speaker made a point that stuck with me. He said that when God the Father sent His Son Jesus to earth for us, He was putting love over His own Holiness. He could have stood in His Holiness and said to us..."Ok, you chose to disobey me, now we're separated because of it. I'm Holy and you've now become sinners. You'll have to pay the price and spend eternity in hell, a place that I've prepared for Satan and his demons.
Thankfully, God the Father loved us enough to send Jesus His Son to pay that price in our place. What a great example of how we the "Church" are supposed to be acting toward the world around us. I believe one of the greatest downfalls of the church in the past generation has been to be stuck in our own "holiness" and we've come across to the world around us as self righteous and condemning hypocrites. Pushing people away from Christ instead of drawing them to Him. I know of people who thought they couldn't go to church because they didn't have good enough clothes to wear, or just weren't good enough to go.
John the Baptist wore a cloak of camel's hair and ate wild locusts. He probably looked like a wild man and most likely wouldn't be very welcome in a lot of churches today.
Yet, Jesus said of John, "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28-29 " Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." No mention of a three piece suit anywhere or the need to attain a certain status before coming.
The only hope any of us has of attaining holiness is in Christ. We may be able to live very moral lives on the outside, but our holiness is in Him. So as God the Father presented Christ to us in Love, we must also present Christ to the world around us in love. Maybe then, the world wouldn't smell the hypocrisy a mile away when they come near us. And, maybe then we'll see the results of what God can do through us.
The Gathering at Trent gets it. We don't stand on religious tradition. We stand on Christ and on His finished work on the Cross: His death, His burial and His resurrection ... If we as the "church" will meet people where they are with the Love of Christ it will make a difference; they will accept Christ. It will produce Kingdom citizens, the least of which will be greater than John the Baptist! 5 people will be baptised from our hub group this Sunday. God is at work! There is a new generation rising!
May we never be a church that does this ..."These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain." (Matthew 15:8-9)
Thankfully, God the Father loved us enough to send Jesus His Son to pay that price in our place. What a great example of how we the "Church" are supposed to be acting toward the world around us. I believe one of the greatest downfalls of the church in the past generation has been to be stuck in our own "holiness" and we've come across to the world around us as self righteous and condemning hypocrites. Pushing people away from Christ instead of drawing them to Him. I know of people who thought they couldn't go to church because they didn't have good enough clothes to wear, or just weren't good enough to go.
John the Baptist wore a cloak of camel's hair and ate wild locusts. He probably looked like a wild man and most likely wouldn't be very welcome in a lot of churches today.
Yet, Jesus said of John, "I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."
Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28-29 " Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." No mention of a three piece suit anywhere or the need to attain a certain status before coming.
The only hope any of us has of attaining holiness is in Christ. We may be able to live very moral lives on the outside, but our holiness is in Him. So as God the Father presented Christ to us in Love, we must also present Christ to the world around us in love. Maybe then, the world wouldn't smell the hypocrisy a mile away when they come near us. And, maybe then we'll see the results of what God can do through us.
The Gathering at Trent gets it. We don't stand on religious tradition. We stand on Christ and on His finished work on the Cross: His death, His burial and His resurrection ... If we as the "church" will meet people where they are with the Love of Christ it will make a difference; they will accept Christ. It will produce Kingdom citizens, the least of which will be greater than John the Baptist! 5 people will be baptised from our hub group this Sunday. God is at work! There is a new generation rising!
May we never be a church that does this ..."These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. They worship Me in vain." (Matthew 15:8-9)
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