And get serious about follwoing Jesus Christ.
Erwin MacManus wrote, "Somewhere along the way the movement of Jesus Christ became civilized as Christianity," he writes. "We created a religion using the name of Jesus Christ and convinced ourselves that God's optimal desire for our lives was to insulate us in a spiritual bubble where we risk nothing, sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, worry about nothing. Yet Jesus’ death wasn’t to free us from dying, but to free us from the fear of death. Jesus came to liberate us so that we could die up front and then live. Jesus wants to take us to places where only dead men and women can go."
Have you noticed that someone can “come to Christ” & years later remain basically the same person and no one seems to mind? Honestly, I don’t fear that many "church folks" will renounce Jesus. I do fear, however, that many of them are living with a less than serious, dare I say “shallow” commitment to Jesus. Big Question: Could it be that today most people no longer associate following Jesus with what it means to be a Christian? Seriously, we have innumerable church members who dont' seem to "get it." What are the expectations for these people in most places? Attend… Give… & BEHAVE! Do we expect radical transformation into Christ-likeness? Do we expect absolute commitment? No, but Jesus does...
Luke 14: 25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.' 31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
5 comments:
"I am a Christian" has almost become a synonym for "I am not an atheist". I think the reason alot of people can come and behave is because they arent being challenged enough from the spiritual leaders of the Church. I mean after all we wouldnt want large groups of people to leave bc we said something offensive (John 6:66) right? I mean we gotta keep the attendance up so our offering doesnt go down right? I mean we would rather have quantity than quality right?
And we have to pay for our buildings, etc. And bigger crowds mean God "is moving" right?
Nice line about "attend, give, and behave." The problem is, there's a section of our churches that aren't even consistent in these things... yet, are these things really the "big picture" of what it means to follow Jesus, and other things are just secondary? I don't think so.
Consumerism and the compartmentalization of life have invaded the church to the point that (dare I say it) the church of today barely resembles the ecclesia of the New Testament.
Now, how do we move beyond it?
I think I detect just a tad bit of cynicism. Unfortunately it is probably justified. Thanks for your words and your challenge Big D.
Thats right Keith, the main point is not to sit around and criticize if you are not going to get up and do anything about it. In all things Love baby in all things Love
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