Many people I speak with in the course of my Godly wanderings have some semblance of respect, or some measure of awe for God but when it really comes down to the crunch.... they go into a backpedal as fast as they can but if you keep chasing them they fall of the bike they profess to ride. A typical scenario might go like this.....
You talk about Christ easily, are you a Christian?
Yes, I am.
Do you believe the Bible in its entirety? Doubting nothing?
Of course I do.
Do you believe the claim in the Bible that Jesus Christ is THE way, THE truth and THE life, and that no man can get to heaven except through Christ?
Er, yeah mostly...
What mostly?
Well, I think if a person tries to do good and be a good person that God will let them into heaven.
Is that right? Could you show me in the Bible where you get your support for that statement?
Well, no not really.
Well let me tell you. Christ does tell us that we should do good to others, that we should be good and not sin but it doesn't say that's how we get to heaven. The bible does say that we cannot get to heaven by anything we do personally. We cannot accumulate points on a scorecard and cancel out our good side from the bad side and hope that it all works out in the wash.
Ah okay, I guess I shouldn't have brought this up because it seems to be a touchy topic.
Oh, quite the contrary. I believe that God had us meet at this time and place for you to be set on the right track before you wander off too far and get lost in the wilderness..... Are you willing to listen to the truth of what the Bible really has to say?? Great, then listen up.
Nothing gets my goat, faster than a lukewarm Christian. I don't like getting onto people but I will defend the word of God and new believers if I see or hear something amiss. It really irks me to see people out there professing that they are Christians and "have been for years" but all they do is spout off the same old "feel good" dogma that when tested by the fire of the Bible, results in nothing but a pile of filthy ashes which they can heap on their head because they have gone astray.
It's not that I feel God's word needs defending because whether I am there to defend or not, God's word is God's word and will always forever and ever be God's word. But as a professing Christian, I will be called to task and held answerable to God for my lack in this world (God forbid).... so I will defend his word and truth.
As a Christian I am called to take the message to the world and proclaim it and how can I go forward and proclaim it, if I have to keep backtracking to what someone else said and correct the errors. It makes God look like the fool and it does no credibility to us as Christians.
Of course, I only have these conversations privately with folks that I percieve to have the appearance of a christian but really just try to make it look appealing to the world by dressing their brand of christianity in the latest clothes of the hippest trend of the moment.
These folks obviously have not read their Bibles and several key scriptures or they would be aware that Christ has told us that "you are in this world but not of it". Christ went to the people where they were at but he showed the the way to a better place, he didn't become "like" them to show them he could be the coolest of the bunch and be the leader.
Christ loved the sinner where he was, he didn't tell him go wash, go sort out your filthy habits, go get your act together.... and THEN come see me. He entered in where the sinner was at and lifted him, helped bear his burden and showed love to the unloveable. Never once do we read of Christ being a crowd pleaser.
Christ set our example and we are to follow it, forsaking all others. Matt 6:20 says "But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal 21: For where your treasure is, there is your heart also.
We are not here ,as Christans, to be crowd-pleasers. We are here to bring the truth, AS THE TRUTH and not wrapped up in something else to make it look more appealing to those of this age, in which we are bombarded 24/7 with anything we might like to do, try or see.
That is the beauty of the message of Christ, it is pure, simple and unchanging in a world which is no longer pure, is very complex and changing faster than I can type. It is not easy being a Christian and holding to the truths which may be unpopular, when everyone else seems to be having such a good time but Christ never said it would be,.....
.............he just told us that it would be worth it in the end.
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