2 Corinthians 9: 7 NKJV
There is a common phrase among Christian church elders these days that each time I hear it makes me cringe. Give until it hurts. That's right, give to the local church or ministry until you have nothing left to give. So, what will happen once this is accomplished? Will we in turn be blessed that much more by a God who is keeping score? Are we now competing for our Lords favors? I believe that the apostle Paul would have found such practices cringe worthy as well. It is Paul who tells us in Ephesians that our salvation is based "not of yourselves," but as a gift of God. Therefore, there is absolutely nothing we can do to alter our salvation situation. Once we have it, it's ours to keep. God has never been a Indian giver. Also, there is nothing which we can do to earn this gift from God, for it is given out of His love and mercy for His children. Knowing this, why is it that we continue to try to curry Gods favor as if He needed anything from us {Acts 17:25}? Everything which we have or will ever need has Gods fingerprints all over it. We are nothing without Him. And yet we continue in our quest to make ourselves into something we are not. That is, separate from God. So, why is it that we claim that we need to give to the Lord until it hurts? Is this something God has instructed us to do? Has the Lord indeed said "Give me all you have and you can make it on your own?" I will never believe in a God so uncaring as that. The basis of these outrageous claims, I'm afraid, is ourselves. That's right, we staked claim that man should give until it hurts. We put forth this prerequisite to the Lord. And it doesn't end there, we also require attendance on certain days to certain functions. We require worship in a certain way. I even saw a church which was selling tickets for attendance to its services! Is this something Jesus would require of us? What has Jesus required of us? I'll tell you what Jesus has suggested...believe {John 14:1}. And not only that, but confess His truth as the Son of God {1 John 4:15}. Jesus does not tell us to give until it hurts, or that we somehow need to pay the price of admission in order to worship Him. That's all our doing.
"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."
Acts 17: 24 - 25 NKJV
Yes, the God who breathed into me the breath of life requires not a thing from me {Genesis 2:7}. How do I give something to He who created all things? I've said that it is we who have created this narrative that we somehow need to be on the giving end when it comes to God. One good way that we enforce that narrative is by good old fashioned compulsion. We compel believers into doing what it is we desire. All in the name of God. We compel people into worship, tithing and church attendance. To break from this would certainly bring about the Lords vengeance upon the guilty party. Does this sound like the God whose very nature is that of Love {1 John 4:8}? Is it any wonder why our church congregations are getting smaller? A faith based on compulsion is not faith at all, but simply following orders. I do not see myself as a robot of the Lord. I was created with the freedom to choose. I believe that God did this for a reason, so that we who believe would never do so out of compulsion. I believe that God desires true love from the hearts of His children. He never needs to tell us to follow Him, we just do. He has never put it upon our hearts that we must believe. We do this knowing that it is He who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}. There is no prerequisite to Jesus. I know who He is, and I know that He is in me. In turn, I will worship and commune with others in His name whenever I choose. That is freedom in Christ.
We love Him because He first loved us.
1 John 4: 19 NKJV
~Scott~
No comments:
Post a Comment