The Secret Apostasy

What is apostasy? Dictionary.com lists the definition as abandonment of one’s religious faith, principles, or cause.  How on earth would that ever be a secret, you ask? Let’s discuss for a bit, and hopefully, you will keep this definition in mind.

 

There are so many different Christian denominations and unaffiliated churches in America that I wouldn’t even attempt to target any one of them in my observations in this blog post. I have no intention of offending anyone, but it is unavoidable. We (Christians) claim to believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God. Why, then, do you suppose that we have embraced sin in our churches?

We have allowed the world to bully us into the belief that God has somehow changed. He has NOT; He is still holy. Sin is still a reproach to any people. We, however, have made concessions in the name of God’s love to allow unrepentant people to remain in sin and operate in our churches freely. Is that not apostasy? Either we believe God’s Word is true or we do not.

We shouldn’t attack people, but we should offer God’s Word in love. The church is indeed a hospital, but if people don’t know they’re sick, they won’t accept treatment. As we have watered down the Gospel to keep people in the seats and the coffers filled, we have placed their blood on our hands. By ignoring sin and refusing to confront it, we have abandoned the truth of our beliefs. The deviation from believing God’s way is the only way is apostasy, and many of us don’t even realize we’ve done it.

Finish Strong!

Acts 20:24 (NIV)  However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

As I look at how many calendar pages I have flipped already in 2013, I am reminded of how many years of my life have flipped by like those pages. Time on this earth is not an infinite commodity. We should spend what precious little of it we have to prepare for eternity. We are in a race, a spiritual race, and our goal should be to finish strong.

The Lord has given each of us a job to do, and we need to be about it. We don’t know how much time we have left, so we have to allocate our time wisely. Sometimes we need to stop, reevaluate, refocus, and realign with our God-given purpose in life. It will seem like everyone is passing you up, but this race is not about speed; it’s about endurance.

What is your life on this earth worth compared to eternity? Complete the task the Lord Jesus gave you, and focus on those things which are eternal. He offers grace enough to finish strong!

Let God Use You

1 Corinthians 1:26-29(NASB) For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.

If only we would allow the Word of God to transform our minds, we could stop seeing people in the natural. The very people that you keep counting out are ones that God may use mightily for the advancement of His Kingdom. All those ‘things’ that you believe are so important in ministry, God is not impressed with.  What God desires are willing vessels through which His Spirit can work.

It is often said that where God guides, He provides. We don’t have to chase after stuff. God will use whomever He will to accomplish whatever task He chooses. He is sovereign. We, as the body of Christ, have really lost sight of what that really means. We are looking at men and women as if they have the power to promote or demote us. That authority is reserved for God alone. While you’re trying to align yourself with so-called powerful ministry leaders, God is using the custodian on the night-shift to witness to the masses.

Consider the mission of the church while you are clawing at priestly robes and lofty titles. There are far too many lost souls inside and outside our church walls for us to discount the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I don’t believe God is going to care about your latest watch, shoes, robe, lectern, etc. while people are perishing from your pews. When God uses the former crack addict in the street to do the job He originally assigned to you, don’t become bitter when he starts a ministry and half your members go with him. Get over YOU and allow God to use you.

What About You?

Psalm 23:6 (KJV) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

David had absolutely no doubt in the entire 23^rd Psalm. Everything he penned was obviously an undisputed fact, absolute truth. There was no “maybe” or “might” or “perhaps” involved in the whole thing. This is what is, has been, and forever shall be because God is true. God’s character is unchanging. The LORD is my shepherd!

 

I, like David, can rely on the undisputed character of the living God in everything I may face. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, I need not fear evil. God has me forever. I can hide my heart in His hands and never worry about the trials of this life. There is an enormous amount of peace that I find in following the Lord.

 

He corrects me when I am wrong, He guides me when I am lost and wavering, He loves me unconditionally. In His love is anything I could ever need. There really is no choice for me except to follow Him. I cannot expect the fulfillment of the promises without making the commitment. David made a commitment to surrender his life to the Lord, and he was able to affirm his relationship with God over and over. He knew where he would spend eternity as a result of that relationship. What about you?  

Balance

Luke 10:38-42 (NASB) nd Mary

Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”

Sometimes we just need to be reminded of what’s most important in our service to the Lord. Martha was distracted with being busy, while Mary was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. When Martha addressed the situation with Jesus, He dismissed her busyness. What can we learn from this passage of Scripture? Well, I’m sure there is more than one lesson here, but let’s concentrate on the priority Jesus placed on what Mary was doing.

At no time did Jesus say that what Martha was doing wasn’t important, but he did say that only one thing was necessary. He told Martha that she was so worried and bothered about so many things. Her mind must have been going in several directions while she was attempting to serve her guest, but in trying to do so, she missed who her guest really was. Every word that proceeded out of His mouth was the Word of God, which was the one necessary thing.

How often do we pray for the presence of the Lord in our lives, our communities, and our churches, only to neglect Him for the busy work? We get so caught up in activity that we miss intimacy with Him. Yes, the work needs to be done, but does it all need to be done by you and right now? Let’s strive to balance our lives in such a way that we don’t neglect the one necessary thing.

The Great Commission

Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is what’s known as the Great Commission. As believers, we have been commanded to evangelize and baptize. Let’s focus on evangelism for this blog post. There are some people naturally gifted to go out in the streets, preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. The rest of us, however, oftentimes shy away from discussions that might lead to sharing our Christian beliefs. Some of us are just downright terrified to discuss the plan of salvation.

In my experience, people are afraid for different reasons. There isn’t one cure-all to this fear of offering Christ to people, but one of the easiest things to fix is lack of knowledge. Some people can’t share it simply because they don’t know it well enough to explain it. Plenty of resources are available to help you learn and share the plan of salvation. Do the best you can, and if there are questions you still can’t answer, offer to find out the answers and get back to them.

Ask God to help you overcome your fear (whatever the reasons may be), and boldly proclaim your faith in Jesus Christ! Your first proclamation should be the way you live. Make sure people can ask you why you’re different, why you don’t get upset at the same things they do, or why you always have a positive attitude. That’s the perfect opportunity to discuss salvation through Jesus Christ.

As Christian beliefs become less and less popular in this country, prepare to be mocked, ridiculed, hated, and dismissed as “old-fashioned” or even crazy. Jesus Christ warned us that the world would hate us just as it hated Him. We are not excused from preaching the Gospel in the face of opposition. We are not given a free pass from adversity or persecution, but He promised that He is with us ALWAYS, even to the end of the age.

The Importance of The Word

John 1:1,14 (NASB) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

If there is any doubt in your mind that there is anything more important in the life of the Christian than the Word, these verses should remove it. Jesus Christ IS the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. You cannot imitate Christ without studying Him. His teachings are full of grace and truth.

There are a lot of good things going on in our churches that will not introduce anyone to the Living Word. We need to ensure that there is always an opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in every gathering that we host. Sometimes we believers get together in prayer, praise and worship, and forget that there may be someone in our midst with only barely a second-hand knowledge of the Gospel.

I fear that we are giving people the impression that worship is full of emotionalism, rather than the presence of God. We must stop and take time to share Jesus with our congregants in every service, even if we think everyone present is already saved. You never know who may meet Jesus for real for the first time. We have too many people using our churches for social gathering places with ladders to climb to successful, powerful positions.  They know the stories in the Bible, but they don’t know THE WORD.

I challenge you to get to know Him, if you are one of those people. Having an academic knowledge of Him is not the same as knowing Him. Religion is knowing of Him, but relationship is actually knowing Him, the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. Life in the Word really is better.