How can a 'Christian' culture, one that has SO much access to the gospel and supposedly 'knows so much truth', still fail to preform? Why is that we, who have endless services, studies, groups, meetings, programs, seminars, conferences, books, magazines, websites, broadcasting and MORE, are still so self-absorbed and as a result, unproductive…?
All too often, we're willing to be students of Christianity, rather than disciples of Christ. We're willing to take the title, but not the cross. We're willing to have the knowledge, but we keep in stored in our heads where it can't transform our hearts. So many Christians could quote the Great Commission to you, but their lives don't reflect the very words they speak. All too often we fall short.
"We have shamefully hoarded Christian knowledge, preventing the rest of the world from finding out the truth - while not taking advantage of the knowledge it possesses." K.P. Yohannan
2 Timothy 3:1-8 speaks of Godlessness in the last days. "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness, but denying its power…they are the kind who are… always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth."
I think these verses speak so boldly to Christians in our North-American, Rich and self-absorbed culture. We live in a culture that is greatly obsessed with pleasure and comfort. "How can we get the most out of life in a way that is most pleasing to me?" We are lovers of self rather than lovers of God. We are called a 'Christian Nation', but we are FAR from such a thing. We are not a nation that worships and serves the one true God, no, we are a nation that worships and serves itself. There are so many that have this 'form of godliness' that Timothy speaks of, but even though they have the knowledge and the moral code of a Jesus-follower, they deny the power of the very thing they believe, or the very ONE whom they supposedly 'follow', {DENY} meaning their lives contradict it all. There is no action, no desperation to serve… rather there is empty words and empty conversations had by people who are more eager to debate over shallow religious preferences rather then pick up their cross and walk the narrow path.
Seriously? We would rather sit around the coffee table and debate over baptism and church music styles rather than challenge ourselves to actually DO what the bible says?
The bible says, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. DO what it says…" {James 1:22-25}
How many have deceived themselves? How many have our cookie-cutter churches deceived? How many believe truly that they are saved because they walked the aisle to the alter and repeated 3 heartless sentences after the pastor? How many of us go day-by-day, week-by-week, year-by-year absorbing knowledge but seeing no transformation in our lives? How many of us can have an hour long conversation with a group of Christian friends, but when the conversation leads to 'So where does all of this play out in your life personally', we are silenced?
If you UNDERSTAND the Gospel, you will be GRIPPED by the Gospel and you will be CHANGED by the Gospel, all through the grace of our amazing God. We are called to be salt and light. We are called to be a lighthouse. The problem is we ARE a lighthouse, we have all that we need to be a strong, sturdy and powerful structure - and light is shining, just not outside of our own walls. What good is that? What a waste…
We cannot be selfish. We were not given this gift of salvation so that we could enjoy our selfish lives even more selfishly having no fear of death. NO, we were shown salvation for a purpose, for a mission. Don't waste your time, don't waste your opportunities, don't waste your life.
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