The love the world teaches is "feelings", the love of God is far deeper, that being a concern for the well being of the other person as well as commitment to doing what is right in God's eyes.
Most people in our culture operate from the standpoint of feelings. If someone made them feel bad for telling the truth, then that person is a bad person.
When feelings are the measure of right or wrong, then rational thinking is thrown out, ignored and even mocked.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
The Church is the People of God Not a Building
I find no commandment from Christ in the Bible to build a building. It is a distraction! God told us to go into the world to make disciples and bring them back to the gatherings as believers. The church has brought in the unsaved and watered down the teaching to make them comfortable so they will stay. If we love the unsaved we will give the gospel and if we love the believers we will not pollute the worship with those who do not yet love God.
We use buildings that we have and that's alright, but that does not mean we must have one.
Many Christians are fearful of speaking boldly about the Lord to non-believers. They are more afraid of man's rejection than they are concerned about their souls for eternity.
Recently I disagreed with someone on the matter of "lifestyle evangelism", in which one just lives a good life, no need to speak of Christ and if the unbeliever likes us they will ask about God.
This is not only not Biblical it is cowardly. We are to speak the truth! If we have love we will be more concerned about a person's eternal destination than whether or not they like us. It is Christ we want them to see, not us.
There are also those who believe the lie that if we have offended someone with the truth we have done something wrong. There are those who say "we must say it in a way that they will receive it." This too is not Biblical.
If we are the ones responsible for the rejection that comes against us, then no one who heard the gospel would reject it if it were done just right, AND, God would have given us a fool proof formula, but He did not.
But wait a minute....they hung Jesus Christ on a cross because they rejected Him. Did Christ do something wrong in His delivery? Of course not, He was rejected because of the evil hearts of men. Just as we will be rejected for the same reason, when we obey Christ.
If you have lived a Christian life long enough you will notice that we are rejected just for living our life differently from non-believers. They are intimidated by the Holy Spirit that lives in us as well as the jealousy that we have great joy.
Sadly, I am here to tell you that many of those who reject us will be those who call themselves Christian. They love their superficial fun filled lives, but cannot endure correction or disagreement. They must be elevated and validated to feel good about those around them.
There is a saying that I love, I don't know who said it but it makes very good sense.
"One of the elements of holiness is the absence of self awareness."
We must not be focused on self, we must be focused on Christ. That alone will make many people irritated, some to the point of rage.
When Christ is our focus we feel no need to rage in disagreements, nor do we ever feel a need to dominate or intimidate others. We speak the truth boldly and walk away when others do not receive it.
When Christ is our defender we have no need to fight with anyone.
We use buildings that we have and that's alright, but that does not mean we must have one.
Many Christians are fearful of speaking boldly about the Lord to non-believers. They are more afraid of man's rejection than they are concerned about their souls for eternity.
Recently I disagreed with someone on the matter of "lifestyle evangelism", in which one just lives a good life, no need to speak of Christ and if the unbeliever likes us they will ask about God.
This is not only not Biblical it is cowardly. We are to speak the truth! If we have love we will be more concerned about a person's eternal destination than whether or not they like us. It is Christ we want them to see, not us.
There are also those who believe the lie that if we have offended someone with the truth we have done something wrong. There are those who say "we must say it in a way that they will receive it." This too is not Biblical.
If we are the ones responsible for the rejection that comes against us, then no one who heard the gospel would reject it if it were done just right, AND, God would have given us a fool proof formula, but He did not.
But wait a minute....they hung Jesus Christ on a cross because they rejected Him. Did Christ do something wrong in His delivery? Of course not, He was rejected because of the evil hearts of men. Just as we will be rejected for the same reason, when we obey Christ.
If you have lived a Christian life long enough you will notice that we are rejected just for living our life differently from non-believers. They are intimidated by the Holy Spirit that lives in us as well as the jealousy that we have great joy.
Sadly, I am here to tell you that many of those who reject us will be those who call themselves Christian. They love their superficial fun filled lives, but cannot endure correction or disagreement. They must be elevated and validated to feel good about those around them.
There is a saying that I love, I don't know who said it but it makes very good sense.
"One of the elements of holiness is the absence of self awareness."
We must not be focused on self, we must be focused on Christ. That alone will make many people irritated, some to the point of rage.
When Christ is our focus we feel no need to rage in disagreements, nor do we ever feel a need to dominate or intimidate others. We speak the truth boldly and walk away when others do not receive it.
When Christ is our defender we have no need to fight with anyone.
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