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In God We Trust

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Travis Reems

Why does God ask for our belief in Jesus in order to receive His grace of justification, redemption and salvation? To understand this, we must first understand what it means to have belief in Jesus. Believing in Jesus is not merely believing that He existed, nor that He was a good teacher, nor even that He is God–all of which are true, but are inadequate.

In John 3:16 [show] "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (ESV)
, the word “believes” (or “believeth” depending on your translation) is the Greek word “pisteuo,” which means to have faith in or to entrust “…especially with one’s spiritual well being,” according to Strong’s Concordance. So the better understanding of this verse then is that we are to place our complete trust of our spiritual well-being in Jesus–to believe fully that He is our savior and walk in that faith.

So, why was it that God made trust in Jesus the qualification for salvation, instead of some other mechanism? Built on the belief that we all need saving from our sinful nature and God’s righteous judgement of our willful disobedience to Him, the answer lies in the original sin of Adam and Eve. Many will state that Adam and Eve fell from grace when they ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because they merely disobeyed God. While it is true that they did disobey God in their act, and that alone is worthy of condemnation, the greater sin in their act was that rather than trusting in God and His commandment not to eat of that particular tree–that He knows what is best for us, that the creator of all existence might have reasons beyond our comprehension, that He might have information that we don’t posses–Adam and Eve presumed themselves, with influence from the Adversary, to be God’s equals and placed trust in themselves.

Like Adam and Eve, we place trust in ourselves and many things of this world: doctors, lawyers, employers, friends, family, even the weatherman to some degree. But we often fail to place complete trust in God. Only when we put our reliance on Him, are we trusting the only person who will never fail us and in whom we can trust completely. So, it is only fitting that when we relinquish trust in all things, especially ourselves, and place our full trust in God, can we return to the pre-sin relationship with Him. God is only asking for a return to the way it was and should be.

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Posted in Spiritual Life | Tagged Christianity, Faith, God, Reconciliation/Redemption/Salvation, Sin | Leave a comment

Who is My Neighbor?

Posted on May 19, 2011 by Travis Reems

Headed to a neighborhood meeting one night, a Christian man was walking through part of the city from his parked car. To get from where he was parked to the meeting, he had to walk from behind the building where he was parked to the meeting in front.

As he exited the alleyway, three young men approached him. They told the man to give them his watch, wallet and cell phone, while they brandished knives. The man told the young men that what they were doing wasn’t necessary and that no matter what they were going through there were better ways to get what they need and want in life. The young men looked at each other, laughed and proceeded to attack the man. They not only took his watch, wallet and cell phone, but also beat him nearly to death, after which they ran off.

As the man lay bleeding at the intersection of the alleyway and the sidewalk along the street, he saw out of his bloody eye a hazy figure in a window across the street. He tried to call out to the person in the window, but as he did, the person pulled the shade down and turned off the light.

After what seemed like an eternity to the man, but was more likely only a few minutes, a neighborhood leader who was headed to the meeting passed by the man. By this time the man had passed out. Not sure whether the man was dead or not, and already running late for the meeting, the neighborhood leader decided that it would be best to continue on his way to the meeting because this sort of thing happens all the time and his time would be better spent trying to prevent it from happening in the future to someone else, especially if this man was already dead as he appeared to be.

A young Muslim man walking down the street approached the Christian man lying nearly dead on the sidewalk. The Muslim man immediately dropped to his knees and checked the man for a pulse. Finding one, he retrieved his cell phone and called 9-1-1. After the paramedics arrived, the Muslim man told them that he didn’t know who the man was or what had happened, but that he would join them in the ambulance to take the man to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, the Muslim man repeated to the admitting nurse that he didn’t know who the dying man was, nor what had happened to him. The nurse then told the Muslim man that they would stabilize the man, but then transfer him to a county hospital because he had no I.D., nor any insurance documentation. The Muslim man then pulled out his wallet and gave the nurse $500 dollars in cash that he had been saving for a down-payment on a car, saying to use the cash to cover the man’s medical expenses. The nurse chided the Muslim man that $500 would not be nearly enough to cover the emergency room fees. The Muslim man then reached back into his wallet and retrieved his American Express Platinum card and told the nurse to use that to cover any additional fees that the cash did not cover.

Who was the dying man’s neighbor?

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Posted in parables | Tagged Christianity, Great Commandment, Love, Parable | Leave a comment

Catholicism: Ornamentation Over Substance

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Travis Reems

Because I work at a Christian retail store, when the opportunity arises, I visit other Christian retailers to see what they have to offer that my store might not so that I may refer my guests to them for those needs. Today I visited one of the Roman Catholic stores in town. This was the first time I had been in this specific store, but not the first time I had been in a Roman Catholic store. So, I expected to see the crucifixes, statues and books on uniquely Roman Catholic topics. What I was not prepared to experience was the amount of ornamentation.

The store, which was very large by comparison to not only my store but also to all the other Christian retailers in our metro area, was full of statues of various saints, saint medallions, first communion decorative items–Precious Moments galore–and crucifixes. The store’s selection of Bibles, books and music was anemic, not only in comparison to floor space dedicated to the decorative and ornamental items, but also in comparison to what much smaller stores typically offer. This served to remind me that the Roman Catholic faith is a shallow one. This experience only stressed what I’ve already observed of Roman Catholics who visit my store–unfamiliarity with the Bible, disinterest in exploring their walk with God, supreme interest in appearing religious and practicing the right rituals.

Like some mainline Protestant denominations, the Roman Catholic church stresses appearance over substance. The church does not stress to its adherents the reading of the Bible, but rather the rites and rituals of being Catholic. Do not misunderstand me, there will be Roman Catholics in heaven, but they will be there in spite of the Roman Catholic church, not because of it. What a great travesty is being played out on the unaware Roman Catholic idolaters who in earnest worship their saint statues, pray to Mary and wear their good-luck saint charms.

An admission: I have a cross on a wall in my home and a couple of Bible verses on various walls throughout my home. The purposes for this ornamentation is to help me remember on whom I should be focused–God–and to encourage me in my daily walk. I also recently started wearing a cross, which is actually a conversation starter for evangelism. If the reasons for the Roman Catholic ornamentation are similar, then my apologies, but for most Roman Catholics I have seen no evidence of any further depth to the faith than symbolism.

I have an acquaintance who is Roman Catholic, about whom I can say that the foregoing is not true. His faith I have witnessed to be genuine and deep. While he admits that some of his thoughts are not in-line with Roman Catholic dogma, he still feels deeply connected to the Roman Catholic church. So it is obvious that some Roman Catholics, regardless of the damage done by the Roman Catholic church, do have a significant walk with God.

Beyond the idolatry though, there is great concern over the Roman Catholic doctrine of works, specifically that works are required for salvation. There could be no greater error in understanding salvation than to think that any path, especially one we work for ourselves, will lead to salvation, other than the final atoning sacrifice made by Christ on the cross.

In the past few decades there has been less interest among Protestant denominations in discussing the errors in Roman Catholic doctrine, and more interest in embracing Roman Catholics as brothers and sisters of the faith. While we should embrace them in Christ’s love, we should also in that love exhort them to find truth in the Bible, and repent of the idolatry.

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Posted in religion | Tagged Catholocism, Christianity, Church/Body of Christ, Idolatry | Leave a comment

We Do Not Serve the Same God

Posted on May 10, 2011 by Travis Reems

Judaism, Christianity and Islam are referred to as the three Abrahamic religions because the three draw roots to the same patriarch, Abraham. Because of this lineage link, many also draw the conclusion that believers in each of the three are believing in and worshiping the same God. This is a false assumption. To understand why this is false, we must understand who each of these three religions worship.

In orthodox Christianity, we understand God to be the eternally-present, uncreated creator of all existence, of singular substance but represented in the persons of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. These three persons of God while having separate roles and relationships to one another are co-equal, co-eternal, co-existent. These are not three Gods, but one God existent in three persons. The triune nature of God we may never fully understand until we are at last with Him in the kingdom.

Jews understand God to be who He portrays Himself to be in the most simple of understandings of the Old Testament, which is as a singularity in person-hood. That is to say that Jews only worship God the Father, with disregard for both God the Son, who is foretold by Old Testament prophets, and God the Holy Spirit, who is present throughout much of the Old Testament. In denying the deity of both Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Jews deny critical portions of who God is. So while they worship a concept of God, they do not worship Him fully, which makes that which they worship an idol of the true God.

Similarly, Muslims, who also deny the deity of Jesus, deny God His fully glory. But more basically, Muslims do not even worship the same concept of God, as Jews and Christians share. Allah, the name of the Islamic God, started his career as a minor moon god, one of many worshiped by the Bedouin people of the Southern Arabian peninsula. A full study of Islam reveals to the undertaker that it is a man-made faith concocted by a man in the late 600s AD in response to both the vacuum of power left by the collapsing Roman empire and the growth in pre-Arabian nationalism. The inventor of Islam attempted to graft the new religion into the Jewish and Christian traditions by usurping many of the people, places and events recorded in the Old Testament, but then perverts the Christian faith by denouncing specific tenets central to orthodox Christian doctrine. We also see this tactic used by the inventor of the Mormon religion.

A great tragedy is that Jews and Muslims are earnest in their beliefs, having been fully deceived by the lies of the adversary. The greatest tragedy, though, is that universalism has crept into the Christian church. More and more Christians are under the delusion that Jesus is not the only way to salvation. So, there is a growing propensity for some Christians to embrace this false brotherhood of the three faiths. But to accept that we serve the same God is to reject the deity of Christ. If we don’t stand for Biblical truth, then there will be no church to profess the truth to the blind and deceived. If we don’t stand on orthodoxy, then we pervert the Word. If we don’t live by the Word, we perish eternally.

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Posted in false teachings | Tagged Christ/Messiah/Jesus/God’s Word, Christianity, Doctrine, Idolatry, Islam/Muslims, Judaism, Mormonism, Orthodoxy, Trinity, Universalism | Leave a comment

Seeker-sensitive Self-help

Posted on May 9, 2011 by Travis Reems

Americans gorge themselves on self-help, and the American diet of self-help is a full buffet with offerings from Dr. Phil McGraw, Oprah Winfrey, Deepak Chopra and many others from the secular and new-age world. But add to the menu many who pass themselves as Christian pastors, such as Joel Osteen and Robert Schuller.

Does your pastor start his sermon with, “now turn in your Bible to the book of…,” or at least follow a reading of the Word? Does your pastor then explain and expand on the verses read pulling meaning from the verses themselves and other Bible verses in support? If so, then you are in a Bible-centered church. This is called exegetical preaching, where meaning is pulled from the source: the Bible.

If instead your pastor tells you that you are wonderful the way you are, and that you have everything in you that you need to succeed, overcome or better yourself, then you are in a seeker-sensitive self-help center, not a Christian church. The gospel is glaringly absent in these places.

The gospel truth is that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23 [show] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (ESV)
)–wretched and sin stained (Isaiah 64:6 [show] We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
)–and that left to our own devices we would remain as such without any possibility for reaching God, but by His mercy and grace, Jesus assumed our guilty position, so that we could be pardoned by His righteousness (Romans 3:24 [show] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (ESV)
). The good within us is not our own, but His shining through us (2 Corinthians 3:5 [show] Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, (ESV)
). We are only able to claim this, though, if we put all reliance upon Him, and not ourselves (Romans 3:28 [show] For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (ESV)
, Galatians 2:16 [show] yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (ESV)
). Anything short of full reliance deifies ourselves, and says that we can work our way to righteousness, which we can’t.

To those who would lead the flock: Read the Bible, preach the Bible, not some warm-and-fuzzy, new-age, feel-good universalism that we can all be good enough or are already good enough. We aren’t and we can’t ever be good enough because we are stained with sin, and only faith in Christ can pay for our sins.

And, to those who were blind, but now see: Exhort your congregation’s leadership to seek God in His word, not in emotions, new-age reason or sense of self worth. Do not fear to be out of place or position in doing this. We, not just the leadership, are the church. Do this in love and with respect, not out of a haughty sense of self.

Finally, to those who love this type of church: You are the goats in Matthew 25:31 [show] "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. (ESV)
.

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Posted in false teachings | Tagged Bible/Scripture/God’s Word, Biblical Hermeneutics/Exegesis, Christianity, Church/Body of Christ | Leave a comment

Idolatry of Nationalism

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Travis Reems

Note: The following is the third in a series that began with this post.

What is your idol? What do you value more than God? Perhaps your patriotism is getting in the way of you walk with God. Maybe your flag waving, seal saluting and playing arm-chair pundit while watching FoxNews are taking your focus off of God.

Let me state emphatically that love of country is not love of God, especially considering that the US is not a Godly nation. Too many Americans blend God and country. Many examples are inappropriately drawn from the Old Testament by nation-loving Christians as to why we should love our country. But what they overlook in misappropriating those verses is that Israel, unlike the US, was devoted to God, and when it wasn’t devoted to God, He caused calamity upon it, because Israel was under a specific quid pro quo covenant with God, to which the US is not a party. We are not blessed, or cursed for that matter, based on our behavior, but rather at the pleasure of God. For greater explanation of this please read the post on prosperity theology.

Those Christians deceived into nationalism put their time and effort into protecting their idolatry, as can be seen in the continuing fight over whether or not the Pledge of Allegiance should contain the words, “one nation under God.” Rather than worrying about what words the pledge contains, we should concern ourselves with whether or not we should be pledging allegiances to nations at all, especially a nation that clearly works against Biblical principles through the employment of such policies as government funded abortion, let alone the legalizing of the murderous practice.

One of the chief arguments made by nationalist Christians is that God has placed government over us, and we should therefor support it. While scripture is clear in that we should submit to government in some areas, so far as it has proper authority over us in those areas, scripture is also clear that government is placed over us at times not for our pleasure but for our correction. Examples of government being placed over us for our betterment through correction can be seen throughout both the Old and New Testaments, such as Israel’s constant state of oppression at the hands of the Egyptians, Philistines, Babylonians, Persian-Medes and Romans. And surely, no one would make the same supportive argument for the governments of Sudan, Libya, North Korea and Iran that they make for the industrialized West.

This is not a call to remove ourselves from participation in government, as some Christian denominations have, namely the Amish, but rather a call to review our focus on God and anything, even nation, which might get in the way of that focus. Rather than focusing on doing good for God and country, why don’t we try focusing solely on doing God’s will, and if that benefits the country too, then great, but if it doesn’t then so be it.

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Posted in idolatry | Tagged Biblical Hermeneutics/Exegesis, Christianity, Idolatry, Sin | Leave a comment

Timid Christians

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Travis Reems

As a part of my job, I offer to my customers the ability to sponsor a child living in a third-world country, as well as various other ministry opportunities, such as sending Bibles to women in pregnancy counseling centers or to children in Latin America or to men and women in the US Armed Services. Sometimes my customers will accept my offer to participate in one of these ministries, but more often my customers decline, which is perfectly fine. Many are already participating in these or other similar ministries. Some customers decline because they are on fixed incomes. But, one customer gave me the most curious response: she stated that offering these ministry opportunities is somehow a violation of her privacy.

The customer was obviously upset, likely from feeling guilty from not participating. I try not to make my customers feel guilty. If after they decline the offer they tell me why they declined, as most do, I assure them that it is their decision whether or not to support these ministries, and in fact that God has made them the stewards of the funds with which He has intrusted them–that only they may rightly decide where to allocate those funds. If the customer also says something about feeling guilty, I also state that I am not trying to make them feel guilty, but if they are, that it might be the Holy Spirit convicting them, and that it isn’t me.

Some of my co-workers are far more timid about offering our ministry opportunities to our customers. They share with me that they don’t want to be offensive or cause a customer to feel guilty or be confrontational. These are the same excuses that I hear very often from brothers and sisters of our faith that are not sharing the gospel with everyone they encounter, let alone anyone they encounter.

When we choose to follow Christ, we accept the Great Commission and relinquish the luxury to decide whether or not we will share the gospel. We also relinquish the comfort we might seek in being non-confrontational. That is not to say that we should seek to be confrontational or obnoxious in our approach to sharing the gospel. In fact, the most effective means to sharing the gospel is by establishing relationships with non-believers, showing them Christ through our actions, how He works through us.

But if we were to limit ourselves to only sharing the gospel with individual with whom we had the opportunity to establish long-standing relationships, then we would miss most of our opportunities throughout the day–the window attendant at our favorite fast-food stop, the barista at the coffee shop, the clerk at the dry cleaners, the attendant at the gas station. We will likely not have the opportunity to build long-lasting relationships with most of these people, and we potentially rob them of the kingdom if we don’t at least share part of the gospel with them, at least giving them an evangelism tract.

Paul, in writing to his protege, Timothy, put it this way:

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began…(2 Timothy 1:6-9 ESV [show] For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, (ESV)
)”

He directs Timothy to be bold–fan into flame–and goes on to explain that we are not to be, as some translations put it, timid, but to be instead powerful, loving and with self-control. We can show another no greater love than to share with them the gospel by which they can receive salvation. If we have the opportunity to share the life saving truth with them, but fail for the selfish reason of timidity, we show them hatred, not love.

But Paul also cautions Timothy to be of self-control. When sharing the gospel, we need to analyze how they best might receive it from us. For some a direct approach is best, but for others, a simple non-confrontational evangelism tract is best. The point is that we must do something to share the gospel.

So, if fear has been holding you back from sharing the gospel with others, I challenge you to daily seek at least one opportunity to in someway share the gospel. And remember, we do this because we love God and we love the people with whom we are sharing the gospel.

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Posted in Evangelism | Tagged Christianity, Evangelism, Great Commandment, Great Commission, Love | Leave a comment

What a Wretched Sinner am I!

Posted on April 26, 2011 by Travis Reems

I have been struggling with a particular area of sin and could not break-free of its hold on me. While I will not pronounce victory over it, because I am not the victor, I will state that I feel relieved of its burden. However, I remain the worst sinner that I know.

We each should hold the view that we are the worst sinner that we know for two reasons. First, it keeps us focused on the fact that we are not good, and never will be until the day we have been stripped of the flesh. When we begin to think that we are good people, the problem with our equation is that we are comparing ourselves to other people. Other people are not now, and never have been, the standard by which we are to measure. It is Holy–perfect, sinless, pure–God that is the standard. How absurd it would be to measure a sack of flour compared to another sack of flour rather than by the objectivity of the scale. Likewise it is absurd to measure ourselves subjectively by other people rather than objectively against the Creator of all existence, to whom we will never measure-up.

The other reason we should have such a lowly opinion of ourselves is that when we hold ourselves in disregard, we raise others in our regard for them. That is to say that we think more highly of them, and place their needs above our own. The two Great Commandments are to love God and to love others, not to love ourselves. In fact, in Ephesians 5:28-29 [show] In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, (ESV)
, it is assumed that in the natural we love ourselves. The flesh has taught us to love ourselves more than any other, even above God. It is in this that we are a work to overcome.

Do not be confused as to whose work this is though, as it is not our own, but His who dwells within us, for we cannot defeat sin, only God can. He is the victor: His atoning sacrifice on the cross provided the path to salvation, and once we dedicate His temple (ourselves, see Romans 12:1-3 [show] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. (ESV)
) to Him, He begins to do the work within us. We don’t build the temple; we don’t clean the temple in preparation for its use; we merely dedicate it to Him.

The work we have to do is to stay in submission and humility. When we continually choose to do this work, then His work in us can be seen “…for he who is in [us] is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4, ESV [show] Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (ESV)
).” For those struggling with a particular area of sin, my only advice is this: give-up, accept that you cannot defeat sin. Lay yourself at His feet; confess your sin openly; pray and ask for prayer by others. Do not be fooled into thinking though that temptation will be taken from before you, but be assured that by His strength you will be able to turn away from temptation.

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Posted in relationship | Tagged Christianity, Great Commandment, Idolatry, Sin | Leave a comment

Idolatry of Family

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Travis Reems

Note: The following is the second in a series that began with this post.

Many Christians in the United States are raised in the faith, or at least around the faith. I, however, was not raised in a Christian home, and in fact did not begin to follow Christ until I was 33 years old. In my testimony half jokingly tell people that like Christ, I too died when I was 33, but that I died in myself to live in Him, a reference to Matthew 10:39 [show] Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (ESV)
.

I praise God that He called me to Him, but more so that He softened my heart to Him and opened my eyes to the truth so that I could respond rightly. My salvation is secure in His grace, but that is not the case for my family. Understand that when I reference my family, I am not speaking of my wife and children, but of my extended family–parents, some grandparents, etc. To paraphrase Joshua, as for me and my house, we belong to the Lord Almighty.

But for those who raised me, I dread the thought that they may never know God’s grace in salvation. So, I bring them the gospel in ways they can hear it, and pray that the Holy Spirit convicts them of their sin so that they may repent of it and turn to the Lord and give Him their lives as living sacrifices. My extended family supports my faith, and tolerates my light evangelism to them, but many of our brothers and sisters of the faith are not so blessed.

Friends of mine who are in similar situations, or worse, that have family members who claim to follow Christ but live like the world, often face from their families ridicule, persecution and persuasion to abandon Christ. So, in their cases, their families are not merely the unsaved to whom to evangelize, but those possibly lost to the world. We never know who will receive the gospel and who will persecute us for it, and so we should evangelize to everyone. But, at some point, those who refuse the gospel–those whom have been exposed but reject it–will try to cause us to abandon Christ and join them in the world. Those are the lost, or least those whom we will not reach. Perhaps God intends another to reach them, but certainly not us.

When our relationships reach this point with the apostate, our family ties dissolve. The phrase, “blood is thicker than water,” is used to explain that family ties should bind tighter than others, but what this phrase doesn’t acknowledge is that our ties to and through Christ bind more tightly than those of the world, including family ties.

The synoptic gospels paint a clear and sad picture of the relationship between Jesus and His mother, Mary–one of reluctance on Mary’s part and resignation on Jesus’. Mary had been visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she would bear the son of God and that He was coming to establish His unending kingdom. So, she understood, as well as she could, who Jesus was–deity–and why He was here–to establish His kingdom. But account after account shows her attempting to thwart, or at least slow, His ministry. This was not out of malice, but out of love for her son. But whatever her intentions, she was attempting to frustrate the will of God. The situation comes to a head when Mary and some of Jesus’ siblings attempt to counsel Him against speaking:

While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. [Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak to you."] But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
(Matthew 12:46-50 ESV [show] While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." (ESV)
)

Once we dedicate our lives to Christ, we join a new family: the body of Christ, the universal church. Our natural families are our first ministry if they have not already come to a right relationship with God through Christ. We love them, we share with them the gospel, but if they reject it, we regard them as we regard the rest of the apostate world. That is to say, we continue loving them and continue sharing the gospel, but we break fellowship with them.

No longer do we have family gatherings with them solely to enjoy their company, as we once may have. Gone are the days we call them family. They are to us no different than the stranger on the street who doesn’t know Christ. If we gather with them, it is to share the gospel and love them to Christ. But, if they make it impossible to share the gospel, or they persecute us for it, then we pray for them and cease being in their company. Every gathering with non-believers is an opportunity to share the gospel, and if it is not, then we should not be in that gathering.

Paul makes this point abundantly clear in his fourth letter to the church at Corinth:

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18 ESV [show] Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty."
, parenthetical statements mine)

This may sound harsh, to put away our families if they reject a right relationship with God, but if we do not, then we become idolaters. Jesus said, “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37 ESV [show] Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (ESV)
)”

Why would we put away our other idols–money, sex, fame, vice–but hold tightly to others? Let us all be as courageous as Abraham, willing to sacrifice his own son for the pleasure of God, and put away all of those who openly reject Christ as their Lord and Master, including our families. And in doing so, remember:

“And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29 ESV [show] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. (ESV)
)”

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Posted in idolatry | Tagged Christianity, Church/Body of Christ, Family, Great Commission, Idolatry | Leave a comment

Idolatry of Self

Posted on April 3, 2011 by Travis Reems

Note: The following message is for Christians only. If you are a Christian, or call yourself one, then this message is for you. If you are NOT a Christian, feel free to read it, but it does not pertain to you and you would be better served by reading this.

So, you’re a Christian, right?

On what are you focused in this life? Maybe it is your family; or, your career; or, your health; or, your possessions. Whatever you are focused on, if it isn’t God–loving and serving Him–then you are killing yourself.

Jesus said, “The thief [ha Satan/the adversary (of God and man)] comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (John 10:10 ESV [show] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. (ESV)
, parenthetical statements mine)” Clearly, He setup in this statement an “either/or” scenario; either you will be stolen from, killed and destroyed, or you will have life and have it abundantly. Prosperity theologians would misuse this verse to support their claims of having profitable lives in the earthly realm, but what Jesus means by this is that those who receive what Jesus has to offer will receive unbounded rewards in the kingdom after life here is over.

But wait, how can focusing on your family be wrong? And, you focus on your career to just provide for your family, right? And, if you aren’t healthy, then you aren’t any good for your family, or job. And, those possessions, they aren’t really the focus, but it’s always great to have more!

Jesus also said, “Do not labor for the food that perishes (things of this world), but for the food (the Word of God) that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man (Jesus) will give to you…. (John 6:27 ESV [show] Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (ESV)
, parenthetical statements mine)” So, in this “either/or” scenario, by choosing the things of this world, such as family, health, career and possessions, we are choosing to be stolen from, killed and destroyed. Whereas, if we choose the Word of God (a.k.a. Jesus) as our pursuit, we receive eternal life. Does this mean that we will live long earthly lives like Methuselah? No, because, again, Jesus wasn’t talking about long earthly lives, but rather eternal life in the kingdom of our reward after this life.

So, how do we choose eternal life? For that we simply need to look at another quote of Jesus’:

“For whoever would save his (earthly) life will lose it (eternal life), but whoever loses (gives up focus on) his (earthly) life for my sake will find it (eternal life). For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (Matthew 16:25-26 ESV [show] For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? (ESV)
, emphasis and parenthetical statements mine)”

According to this, we lay down our lives and pick-up Jesus’ life. But what does it mean to lay down our lives? And, how do we pick-up His? Again, it all has to do with our focus in this life. If we remove ourselves as the focus of our lives and place our focus on God, then we have a right relationship with Him.

But, what does it mean to focus our lives on God? Isn’t going to “church” on Sunday, paying our tithes, and praying when we feel like it, enough? Being focused on God, loving and serving Him means every minute of every day from now until we join Him.

But wait, that just might interfere with what we had planned! Exactly. And, hopefully it does. Because nothing we had planned for our lives is as glorious as the role God has planned for our lives. Nothing in this life comes even close to being as glorious as serving God because nothing in this life is as glorious as God.

The logic on this one is pretty simple: God is perfect, we are not, therefor whatever we do to honor Him is glorified and anything that we do to honor ourselves is, well, not.

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Posted in idolatry | Tagged Christ/Messiah/Jesus/God’s Word, Christianity, Great Commandment, Idolatry, Sunday-itis/God-in-a-box | Leave a comment

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