JANUARY 2019 ISSUE: CHURCH, WHY SIT ALOOF?

Go out of the  ekklesia , go to our  homes, go to the supermarkets and  shopping malls, go to the  schools, go to our offices of work and I tell you, you will see that those who claim to profess our Lord  Jesus Christ are nothing different from the people of the world.
A quick observation is–there is a misplaced priority in the church today. Most of our congregations have gone apostate and some are on the road to apostasy as well. There is a disconnection between the Church of the Bible and some of our congregations. There appears to be a bearing of resemblance to the Church of the Bible but taking a closer look you will realize that these congregations are far off from being that Church the early disciples were added to.  To see the extent of our disconnection, we have neglected the book-chapter-and-verse preaching for social gospel messages.  How many times have we not heard from our own people that the church is boring and we should give motivational talks instead of preaching from the Bible? Hardly, will you hear a sermon on the reality of sin and hell.  How many times do we care to know that God’s plan of salvation is not only for the alien sinner but for Christians as well? How many of us really care to declare the whole counsel of God to the masses and the wandering folks in the world. How many of our congregations today speak about addiction behind our pulpits?  Do we care about the challenging philosophies of our century that easily cause the young to stray off? How many times have we spoken behind our pulpits about bribery and corruption? How many times do we preach about holiness and perfection?    Are we really interested in seeking for the lost and keeping the saved?   How many today make the mission of our Lord a priority in their lives? Do we sit down in our comfort zones and pretend all is well?  In fact, these are the real stuffs we must start to speak about, if we have not been doing.  The sole aim of our Master Christ Jesus was to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). What about you as His follower?
The Christian politics is yet another error in the church that thwarts the growth of the Lord’s Church. Relativism has gained grounds and everyone try to justify whatever they do because the feel like the masses endorse it. In the world’s political systems, majority vote is what is considered to be right. And, Christians have copied the world’s systems instead of living and basing our judgments on the Word of God which is sufficient for us and contains everything pertaining to life and godliness (2Peter 1:3;2Tim. 3:16-17). In Paul’s Second letter to the young gospel preacher, Timothy, he encouraged the young man to retain the standard of sound words (2Tim. 2:13). Paul by this was telling Timothy to build on the foundation Christ laid (1 Cor. 3:11) and continue to preach and teach the truth without fear (2Tim. 1:7). It is a pity to realize that many of us do not pay heed to the sound warnings of Christ and Paul not to drift away (John 17:20-21; 1Cor. 1:10-11; Heb. 6:4-6).  Many of us in the brotherhood are giving up on some truths in the Bible. We have politicized Christianity to the extent that we accept what most people unanimously agree to be the truth. But, I guess the world and Christians in particular have failed to learn the lesson not to follow the multitude to do what is evil (Exodus 23: 2).  I think we have failed to learn about the cost of His discipleship. We are not Christians because we want others to like us and we are not Christians because we want to be accepted by others but rather we are Christians because we have come to the knowledge of the truth and we have accepted to stand by the truth forever. And as Christians, we should not expect to the loved by the world. Christ did not add us to His church to be liked by others. The Lord rather promised that we would be despised by the world and therefore must not try to please men if only we desire to walk with the Lord (Matthew 24:9; 2Tim 3:12). We must preach the word of God in love and never lose the focus of pleasing the Lord in everything that we do.  We have endure the hardship we go through in the world and continue to teach what is right. We must love the truth and continually hate every false way (Psalm 119:128).
Hypocrisy is a problem facing the Church today. We pretend a lot than we really are. We can be mission champions, regular church attendees but if we pretend and are not really trying to please God in everything that we do in our lives, we have failed.  God wants people who are inside-out to worship him not a people of camouflage and pretense. We have to stop drawing near to the Lord with false lips and work on ourselves to be the people God really want us to be–faithful and obedient servants. Hypocrisy is simply pretending to be what one is not. We are like the Pharisees of our Lord’s Day who spoke and criticize the sins of others while quitting to work on themselves to overcome their sins. The words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:27 are still in the Bible. Here, Paul after defending his apostleship to the erring Church at Corinth who were doubting his apostleship concluded that chapter by telling the brethren at Corinth that as much as he tries to preach the word to others he also try as much as possible to discipline himself and exercise self-control so that we can win the victory which the Lord will give to those who faithfully follow Him when He is revealed. By this, he forthrightly meant, he was constantly working on himself so that he does not stray away.  In a similar way, we, Christians are to constantly work on ourselves before we try to correct others. We must work on removing the logs in our eyes before we remove the speck in other people’s eyes (Luke 6:41-42). That is the true Christian order.  Hypocrisy is frown upon in the Scriptures and we must endeavor to be real before God. God hates hypocrisy (Mark 7:7-9; Matthew 15:8-9).
Now, Church, we don’t need to sit aloof. We have to rise up and build on the missing gaps in our lives. We have to change our thoughts process and know that we are to serve the Lord our God every time. We must quit the practice of relativism and hypocrisy. We need to pray to God for a revival. In 2 Chronicles 7,we learn of King Solomon  offering sacrifices to the Lord in the temple he built for Him and God speaking to him  told him   If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”– 2Chronicles 7:13-14.Here, we get the strong of idea of revival. King Solomon and the Israelites knew that if they stray from God, they needed to go back to the Lord in humble spirits and He will listen to their prayers and revive them. And, so we must.   Can we be humble enough to accept corrections and be humble to be corrected by others? Can we try to be the real people God want to worship Him? It is my hope and prayer that we together pray for the Lord to revive us and make us strong. Why do you sit undisturbed?  Rise up Christians! Let us return to the ancient land marks.

 

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