Thursday, May 29, 2008

What a Question!


I was teaching an adult Bible class tonight from John 15. The text made the point that Christians must bear fruit. I pointed out the necessity of remaining in Christ. If we fail to walk in Jesus we can’t bear fruit. We must live our lives as Jesus lived His life. Our Messiah came first to seek and save the lost, Luke 19:10. Second, according to Acts 10:38, Jesus went about doing good. In order that we walk in the footsteps of the Christ we must emphasize doing good as we reach out to the lost.

During the class one of the men asked a great question. He asked, “Why is it that some churches around us grow while many times we don’t?” We will never make a major difference until we find this answer.

It is absolutely essential that we honestly deal with the question. For too many years we have offered the same pat answer. The answer we have given is, “We are teaching truth everyone else is telling the people what they want to hear, therefore, they grow and we don’t.” I refuse to accept this answer, because it is not truth! One of the fastest growing  groups in the United States today is the Mormans. There is absolutely no way that converting someone to Joseph Smith is easier than bringing them to Jesus! It is time we faced the truth. It is not more difficult to convert people to truth than to error. Our excuses leave the impression that God’s truth is unpleasant and has no drawing power. It is time we stop offering excuses which make us feel better. We need to face some hard facts.

We have become satisfied with far less than that which pleases God. We have come to accept the following idea. We think if one holds the accepted “five items of worship” and keeps the correct “patterns of doctrine” God is pleased with him. Our emphasis on these points has crippled our ability to make a difference in peoples lives.

Scripture refers to followers of God as the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Salt and light have one thing in common, they make things better. Christians who make things better do so by bearing fruit. Christians who bear fruit are those who go about doing good. If we do good we make a difference in peoples lives. The more lives we effect the more opportunities we have to preach Jesus. Don’t miss this! THE REASON OTHERS GROW AND WE DON’T IS SIMPLE. THEY ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF MORE PEOPLE. We have been so concerned about worship patterns and doctrine we have forgotten to follow Jesus. Following in the footsteps of Jesus requires much more than arguing Scripture. We can bear very little fruit unless we change our emphasis and direction.

“Why is it some churches around us grow while we don’t?” Wow what a queston! It is time we face up to the answer. Growth requires being the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We can be neither of these until we are willing to make a difference in the communities we call home.

Posted by onedaysoon at 06:56:59 | Permalink | Comments (5)

Friday, April 25, 2008

Emphasize What?

In the early 1800’s a religious fervor swept our country. In this excitement a unity movement was born. Two of the primary movers and shakers of this movement were Barton W. Stone and Alexander Campbell. Two well-used phrases from this movement described the direction. They were these: “We are Christians only but not the only Christians,” and “In essentials unity, in opinions liberty, and in all things love.”

During the “Civil War” the direction of this movement began to change. Our group began to move from a “Unity Movement” to a “Restoration Movement” emphasizing blueprints and patterns. We moved from, “Christians only but not the only Christians” to if you aren’t part of our group you can’t be saved. This change was solidified in August of 1889 when Daniel Sommers delivered his message called the “Address and Declaration”. This was delivered at Sand Creek in Shelby County, Illinois at the site of the old Salem congregation. The final words of this message were,““In closing up this address and declaration, we state that we are impelled form a sense of duty to say, that all such innovations and corruptions to which we hav referred, that after being admonished, and having had sufficient time for reflection, if they do not turn away from such abominations, that we can not and will not regard them as brethren.”

The direction was set. The emphasis would now be restoration and patternism. As such it has remained for 130 years. The question that begs to be asked is this, “Does Christ intend this to be the direction of His church?” Does the Lord intend that our “niche” be that of restoring patterns and blueprints? I will be the first to state that Bible things need to be done in Bible ways, but is this where we put our emphasis? When the curtain of history falls on those of us living today, do we want to be known as the group that got the pattern right? Wouldn’t it be more in keeping with Scripture to preach Christ and Him crucified?

The direction of our emphasis determines what we produce. For 130 years we have made our primary emphasis restoration, patternism, and blueprints. It has produced a divided movement. What initially was about unity has become a splintered body. Is this the direction we want? According to Luke 19:10 Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Our emphasis should be about Jesus and the things He emphasized. If we emphasized preaching Christ our results would be dramatically different. Let me state again Bible things need to be done in Bible ways, but this can’t be the total of our direction. Souls are at stake. Let’s make sure that our emphasis and direction is the same as the direction and emphasis of Jesus

Posted by onedaysoon at 23:34:27 | Permalink | Comments (4)