Matthew 7: 21 - 23 NKJV
I remember a conversation I had some time ago with a friend of mine. I had asked him just what it was that led him to seek a relationship with Christ. He siad that he grew up knowing those stories and parables of Jesus, but never had come to know the man Christ Jesus. He longed for that relationship with Jesus on a more personal level. Just as he and I were friends, so it was that he wished for his own relationship with Jesus. The trouble with that is that we have been taught for so many years that we are sinners saved by grace and that we are seperated from Jesus because of this. As a result, many of us live a life in fear of what God may punish them for next. Have I done my bible reading? Have I tithed the amount which God has chosen for me? Have I served my fellow man? More and more, we are surrounded by a system of rules and regulations which we have been told that we are supposed to follow in order to be in our Lords good graces. In fact, we're told that the bible itself lays out just what we are supposed to do and not do in order to keep us in good standing with God. Each time I hear someone spout this junk my very first thought is, "well, what about Jesus?" What about Jesus who came to take all of my sin upon Himself upon that cross? What about Christ Jesus who we are told lives through us today {Galations 2:20}? What about that Jesus? We can talk all day long on how we desire to be "more like" Christ without even realizing that we already have Him within us. It is Jesus Himself who walks through this life with us each day. Everything we see and experience we do AS HIM. Jesus never saddled us with a list of chores to do that we might have Him within us. No, all we need to is believe in all He is and has done for us. That's it. All of that man made crap of guidelines we must accomplish simply to be "like" Jesus is all junk bro. That scripture we worship was never intended to be used as a bullwhip to whip wanna be christians into communion with God. Yet that is all too often what we do.
4But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3: 4 - 7 NKJV
Walk into any church as a christian broken down by lifes trials and you will more than likely find more condemnation than forgiveness from the system. You failed. You did not believe. Worst of all, God must be angry with you! Yeah, we all know what happens when God gets angry. The church knows this too, and they use it very well in their favor. In the system, every sinner needs a twelve step program in order to get them back in line with what it is God wants for them. In the system, these sinners are looked upon as being on the low end of the christian scale. Believe me, I've lived it. I recall the very words of Jesus to the woman caught in adultry, "nor do I condemn you." Yet, in the system condemnation seems to be the rule of the day for those who have fallen. How could one not fall? The list of requirements which other christians place upon us can often seem insurmountable. They will stand there waving their bibles and cherry picking scripture after scripture designed to condemn another. True love on display in the house of God. The fact is that most pastors are ill equiped to deal with one who has fallen. The common theological teaching is to place such a individual in a special class, to make a example of them for others or some other crap like that. As I said, I've lived it. However, this is far from the advice which Jesus us on how to deal with one who has fallen. I'm sure that woman caught in adultry deserved all the condemnation Jesus could give her didn't she? However, Jesus was not one to follow the religious systems of the day. Instead, He approached those around Him in a more personal way, speaking to the heart yet never condemning.
I've made the statement that I've lived that condemnation of the church and I have. However, I recently had a first hand experience of how it is Jesus calls upon us to respond to others. Having fallen into a behavior I knew was wrong, it came to the attention of a dear friend. I was already full of shame and guilt from what I had done, so I guess I expected him to rake me over the coals. His response was both welcomed and surprising. Nor do I condemn you.
9Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11“The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12‘I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Luke 18: 9 - 14 NKJV
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment