People of the world often complain that the Church is full of hypocrites, they are right to some extent as many professing Christians don't seem to live up to their Christianity, as far as the world can see. The lost have a misconception of what Christianity is, they cannot tell the difference between people who are merely religious, and those who are truly born-again.
The world views liberal religion as being authentic as they frown on those who they see as being judgemental of sin, closed minded, and bigoted against other people groups. This article, however, is not going to focus on them, it is going to focus on those who profess to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Barna Research found that fifty percent of the people filling the pews on Sunday morning may be actually unsaved, in other words, they are religiously lost, and if this is true it explains the malaise within our Evangelical and Protestant Churches. I have my own take on why the Church is in the shape it is in, and what can be done to fix it.
At the base of the issue is whether or not people actually have the Spirit of God living within them, or not. Is there true evidence of a changed life? Has their lifestyle and behavior changed? Their speech and way of thinking changed? If a person has truly been redeemed by the blood of Christ their core values will begin to change to reflect Christ's values. If there has not been a radical change in your way of life you might not belong to God after all.
No one who has truly received the free gift of eternal life and has been filled with the Spirit of God can continue to live a lifestyle of sin without some severe consequences. Because God will chase after them in an attempt to turn them back to him, and if they refuse to listen, God will let them have what they want, and they will destroy themselves with it.
The big issue that the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about lately is the issue of dying to one's self. Jesus said that if anyone wants to be a true follower of his they must, in fact, deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow him. This is an essential part of being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Jesus calls each one of us to die to ourselves, lay aside our own desires for the Kingdom of God so that we can be used by God for His Glory.
I have referred to this in the past as committing suicide in a spiritual sense. Actually it is when we surrender everything to God, accept his will over our own, and accept the outcome no matter what that may entail. We actually die when we repent and accept Christ as our Savior, at least the person that we once died and is buried with Christ, and a new person is raised to life in Christ, but that is not the same as when we fully surrender to the cross of our Lord.
God is not asking for us all to become martyrs is He? What we are talking about here entails us living in the Spirit instead of living in the flesh. It is possible for a believer to live and sow to their own flesh at least for a while until God has to step in and get their attention. It is possible to believe all the right things in your head about God but never believe it in your heart of hearts. I am afraid that there are many well-meaning people who profess to know Christ but do not actually have the relationship with God through Christ.
This is why I am confronting people through my writing, including myself, so that we might check ourselves according to God's Word to be sure that we are truly born-again, and not just fooling ourselves into thinking we are saved, and going to Heaven. It is possible to be deeply religious and miss the mark of what it means to be truly regenerated by the Holy Spirit and given the gift of eternal life found only through Christ Jesus, who is the only way to Heaven, and the only name by which a man can be saved.
The Church in North America today is a lot like the Church of Laodicea. Not hot, not cold, but lukewarm, and lacking the power of God, because it's members lack the power of God in their daily lives. CHRISTIAN! COME OUT OF YOUR LUKEWARM COMFORT ZONE! Christ did not call you to feather your nest with all the good things of this world, but to lay your life down for the sake of the Gospel.
Too many of us have one foot in Christ, and the other in this world, but we are not called to be of this world, in fact, we are aliens here on this planet, and our citizenship is in Heaven, not here on earth. With time as we know it drawing to a close, we ought to be seeking lost souls for the Kingdom of our God, not living to please ourselves.
Do you want to know how I know that the Church is in shambles today? Do you want to know why I believe that there are many religious people who are actually going to Hell, who think they are going to Heaven? I know some of you are already calling me a judgmental piece of crap, but you better spend time judging yourself to make sure you are truly saved.
Try inviting so-called Christians to a prayer meeting and see how many actually show up? Pastors preach the truth the people need to hear not what they want to hear and see who gets up walks out, or does not show up in your Church next week, not to mention all the nasty emails you will be getting during the week. Try getting some professing Christians to go out and share the Gospel with people in a public place, and how many show up?
Spiritual apathy in the American Church is a sure sign that there are many false converts in our Churches, and only a handful are passionate enough to put their faith into action and produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Maybe these few are the true remnant of the New Testament Church that Jesus started? It is very clear that we need full-blown spiritual revival in our Churches, and we need it now.
True disciples of Jesus stay under the authority of the local Church, and under their Pastor Shepherd, and are truly grace-filled followers of Jesus who will not turn on Church leadership, but uphold house who God has placed them under so they may be equipped for every good work as an outpouring of their faith in Christ. They do not attack their shepherd but are eager to be taught more of God's Word. True disciples desire the consume the meat of the Word, not just suck on the bottle full of milk.
They become spiritually mature and begin to minister to others. Instead of always being spoon fed from the pulpit every week, because they know now that it is not about them, but about Christ Jesus, they have died to self, and they live for the Kingdom of God. Spiritual maturity is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus, one who models themselves after Christ who laid himself aside for us so that we could be saved. We set ourselves aside so that others may be saved. for God desires for all men to repent and come to the knowledge of the truth.
Are you a True Disciple of Jesus?
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