Of What Profit?

Though relatively new to the world of blogging, I see a pattern and it is often mirrored in our lives. If I were to sum it up it would be this, "Talk, rarely turns into, Walk." We can spend so much time talking about issues, analyzing them, defending them, justifying them, rationalizing them, and yes, attacking them that we never step back, look introspect, and ask, "Does this need to change in my life?" If we never ask this question, or worse yet, if we ask it and never are willing to deal with it, we are only filled with so much hot air and will never amount to much.

Let me back up a bit and ask is discussion and debate even necessary in the church? I will answer with an unmitigated "Yes!" We are told by Paul to "...contend for the faith," by Solomon, "as iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of a friend." What happens when you sharpen something, there is friction, there is heat, and yes there is pain when sparks fly. Yet look at what Jesus did while he was here on earth. Did He debate and challenge the status quo? Absolutely! He called the leaders of that day to task for their hypocrisies and when one of them came to Him for a personal dialogue, Jesus challenged him and stretched his thinking. But look with me if you will at what Nicodemaus's response was. Now wait, you say, the Bible does not record what he said in response. Your right, but that is no as important as to what he DID! Look at the end of Jesus life and you will see a man bold in his faith and willing to go before great men of state to plead for the body of his Lord.

I have seen people who can argue persuasively both sides of an argument yet continue to waffle back and forth for years. If talking does not lead to a closer walking, than we have wasted only so much time!

Secondly, people are always talking about standards. We all tend to feel that our standards are the most scriptural and others are either hyper-spiritual, or too liberal for scriptural accuracy. Thus we often tend to use offensive terms when referring to our brothers and sisters in a different denomination. Once again, is it ok to talk about them and examine the consistency of a certain stand? Yes, provided we take what we read back to the word of God and examine if there is error, or a better way, in what we believe. I am by no means perfect and realize the need for others to help me be consistent and keep walking in a straight line. It is so easy to have a "blind spot" that makes sense to me but is glaringly wrong when seen from others perspectives. I have often had to eat crow when I realized that I have gone off on my own little trail and ignored the advice of my brethren. The goal of the brotherhood is first and foremost to seek, to save, and disciple the lost, and secondly to promote growth in each others spiritual lives.

Let me use an illustration from my father. Picture with me the goal post of football. The ground is the world and in the possession of the devil. The stadium roof is face to face fellowship with God, heaven. Each church has placed the lower bar at level that is the lowest that you can have and still be saved. The sides are to provide some uniform consistency in our fellowship. When we first came to Christ, we crossed that lower bar. Our goal is not to stay close to the bar, but to draw closer to God. Thus we start our upward journey and some of us have traveled farther than others. Some people forget the trail they've traveled and want to raise the bar to their current height and thus discourage those that are starting on their journey. Others want to lower the bar so that more can get in. Let me say right up front that God will not move His bar for anybody! The Bible is very clear about what will and will not get into heaven. Read the Bible literally and with an open mind and you will find it. That is HIS bar and will ALWAYS be His bar.

The problem comes for us in living Holy in our daily lives. This is the time to remember that we are growing and so are others. Are they living in sin? If so, warn them, if not, encourage them in their walk but remembering that they may not be in the same awareness and sensitivity to the Spirit that we have grown into. As Christ’s church, we are like a wheel. A wheel with only spoke on one side is useless. We need to balance each other out but sadly we often just go our different ways and take pot shots at each other from across denominational lines. I don’t believe this was ever God’s plan. Let us never become so egotistical that we feel we have the upper hand in understanding God. We can always learn from our brethren of all like-precious faiths.

Let me bring this to a close. We must NEVER forget that we have a number one priority, which is winning the lost. If we lose that we will forever be filled with infighting and bickering and sadly some of our Mennonite churches are in exactly this place. We have not fulfilled our duty to the lost by simply dropping the offering in the mission fund. If winning souls is not part of our daily walk, we have yet to know the true heart of Christ!