Hate The Church, Love Jesus!!

            A recent Barna research declares the death of the church in the lives of nearly half of America’s Christians, “…In this new age, religion is in retreat from the public square, and traditional institutions like the church are no longer functioning with the cultural authority they once held in generations past. Today, nearly half of America is unchurched. But even though more and more Americans are abandoning the institutional church and its defined boundary markers of religious identity, many still believe in God and practice faith outside its walls.”¹ (Emphasis Mine). This discovery is relevant to all parts of the world where the church exists; it’s not confined to America.

            Christians who do not attend the church cannot be deemed as non-Christians. Barna reports that genuine Christians do not attend the church, “Barna created a metric to capture those who most neatly fit this description. It includes those who self-identify as Christian and who strongly agree that their religious faith is very important in their life, but are “dechurched”—that is, they have attended church in the past, but haven’t done so in the last six months (or more). These individuals have a sincere faith (89% have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important to their life today), but are notably absent from church.”² (Emphasis Mine).

            If genuine Christians do not attend the church, then it’s worthwhile to ascertain reasons pertinent to this sorry state in Christendom. Adequate reasons for this malady have been provided in my previous blog entitled, “How Could Christianity Insult & Injure You? (Toxic Christianity)”³

            Churches are guilty of driving Christians away. Filth is in abundance in many churches. Typically the naive members of these churches, who have very high opinion of the church, would be nauseated by the filthy deeds of those in the church leadership (Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Worship leaders…).

            The church is made up of people - you and me. Irresponsibility of the leaders manifesting in poor and shallow, and at times, theologically incorrect sermons drive people away from the church. 

            Then the presence of selfish, obnoxious, and spiritually proud Christians demeaning their fellow Christians by abusing their powerful leadership status to drive the church into a spiritual dungeon is a heartbreaking trend in many churches.

            It is the Christians who compel their fellow Christians to steer clear of the church. When we blame the churches for being unchristlike, let us rightfully assign the blame upon Christians, who are the temple of the living God.

            Would Christians lose their salvation if they do not attend a church? No! The Bible does not say that at all. “No amount of church attendance will earn eternity in heaven. No lack of church attendance will result in the loss of salvation” says conservative Christian Q&A website, gotquestions.org.⁴

            Should those Christians who do not attend church be blamed for their lack of church attendance? What would one gain by blaming a Christian who does not attend the local church? Nothing!

            Instead of blaming the Christian who does not attend the church, the church, if it’s keen on serving / ministering to people, should invest it’s energy into getting the Christian back into its fold. If the Lord Jesus encouraged the search and recovery of that one lost sheep (Luke 15: 3-7; Cf. Matthew 18: 12-14), the church does not have any valid reason, whatsoever, to not invite the unchurched Christians.

            The Lord Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required” (Luke 12: 48b, NASB). This applies to the local church.

            The local church has been given much, for the local church is a powerful spiritual entity than an individual Christian, who does not attend the local church. Hence it is incumbent upon the church to graciously invite the unchurched Christian into its fold. 

            If a Christian does not attend a church, he / she could remain devoid of vital spiritual power essential to his / her existence as a Christian. Although the benefits of attending a church are immense, here are a few germane reasons for your consideration.

            Significantly, we will not lose our salvation by not attending a church, but by not attending a church, we are most likely to lose our salvation. How?

            The devil is constantly on the prowl to devour Christians. Hence spiritual attacks against Christians are always imminent. By not attending a church, we remain vulnerable to Satan’s attack.

            We could remain spiritually empty by not attending the church. Not being disciplined enough to study the Bible and pray [constantly] is a surefire recipe to bring forth a dangerous spiritual malady into our life.

            The antagonists of Historic Christianity are active. Not being in the community of believers is a surefire recipe to be vulnerable to the debauched ideas that strive to destroy Historic Christianity. Yes, if we are not in a church, we offer ourselves as an open house that entertains erroneous ideas that attempts to contradict the veracity of Historic Christianity.

            Here is a caveat. If we are in a painful situation of any kind (death of a loved one, sickness, joblessness, family problems, problems at your workplace etc.), it is imperative for us to be in a church. The church, potentially, has every spiritual medicine to treat us (assistance for various needs, wise Christian counsel, uplifting and encouraging prayers, shoulder to cry on etc.).

            We may have very genuine reasons to not attending the church. The church may have acutely hurt us. Hence we may have lost faith in the church and may need time to heal (maybe months or even years). Alternatively, our work situation may have forced us to not attend the church.

            Let’s face another fact here. None of us are primed to attend any church. We need that particular church that offers us the peace or the comforting ambiance to worship God in spirit and truth. In this regard, there may not be a church in our vicinity that appeals to us. In other words, our reasons for not attending a church could be exhaustive and rather valid.

            What do we do in this situation?

            We need to, very minimally, be in the company of spiritually mature Christians. If our family does not offer us that spiritual support for valid or invalid reasons, we need a spiritual mentor. We need to be completely honest with our mentor about the problems we confront.

            If we do not have a spiritual mentor, we need to humbly and prayerfully seek a spiritual mentor. We should acknowledge that we need help and prayerfully search for that help. When we honestly and prayerfully seek, God will provide. Ask and it shall be given.

            Being in the company of spiritually mature Christians and not a church is a not an everlasting remedy. Our prayer is to locate a church that would serve us.

            But that’s not it. Our prayer is also that the church fulfills the need of its members and even the non-members. The onus is more on the church than it is on the Christian who is seeking a church. So we pray that the church leadership leads the church in a godly and a Christlike manner that invites and serves both the churched and the unchurched Christian.

            So may the unchurched Christians find a church that satisfies their spiritual need. May God answer this prayer of ours.

Endnotes:

¹https://www.barna.com/research/meet-love-jesus-not-church/

²Ibid.  

³http://rajkumarrichard.blogspot.in/2015/05/how-could-christianity-insult-injure.html

⁴https://www.gotquestions.org/church-heaven.html

Cited websites last accessed on 20^th April 2017.

Loving the Sinner

“True Christians rebuke sin and expose it; False Christians practice sin and defend it.” While this slogan recites the truth, it needs to be understood well.  Does “rebuke” involve condemnation?

“I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay,” confessed Jason Collins, a professional basketball player on 29-April-2013.¹ Some offered support to Jason Collins, and others rebuked him. ESPN’s sports analyst Chris Broussard said, "I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don't think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian." ²

I disagree with Broussard and the many who brand sinners (in this context, LGBT – Lesbians, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community) as non-Christians. The rationale for my disagreement is in my blog, “Way to Heaven, Not by Works.” Since I am blogging on the subject of church, I wish to scratch the surface of “church’s response to a sinner.” How should the church rebuke sin? We should integrate truth from Christ and HIS response to sinners.

First, Christ does not condemn the Samaritan woman for her sin.  HE appreciates her honesty and gently highlights her sin, “Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly” (John 4:17b-18, NASB). Christ exposes her sin without condemning her. Christ’s response to the woman caught in adultery reveals a similar response (John 8:11).

Second, Christ reveals HIS love for sinners. Although there was a history of bitterness between the Jews and Samaritans (John 4:9), Christ accepts Samaritans’ request and stays with them for two days (John 4:40). Thus Christ reveals HIS love for the sinful Samaritans (cf. 2 Kings 17: 26-33; John 8:48; Acts 8:25).

Third, Christ defends the sinner against the accusers. Christ urged the sinless to hurl the first stone at the woman caught in adultery (John 8:7). In the very next chapter, Christ defends the blind man by emphasizing that his blindness was not due to his sin or that of his parents (John 9:3). (The rabbis believed that suffering was due to sin.)

Although Christ defends the sinner (not the sin), we can, from the instances mentioned above, reasonably claim that the Samaritan woman, the woman caught in adultery, and the blind man, were unbelievers. So we could assume that the sinners Christ loved and defended were unbelievers.

In other words, we can theorize that Christ would permit condemnation of a believer’s sins. So Broussard’s condemnation of Jason Collins could be legitimized (Jason Collins is believed to be a Christian). To condemn a sinner, Christians could cite Paul’s mandate to excommunicate the man accused of incest (1 Corinthians 5: 1-5) or Christ’s condemnation of Pharisees and the teachers of the law (Matthew 23).

When we research Paul’s writings on sin, we should recollect Paul’s self-description as the ‘worst of all sinners’ (1 Timothy 1: 15). The tense in this statement is ‘present’ not ‘past.’ Moreover Paul’s letter to Timothy was written at the end of Paul’s ministry. So Apostle Paul affirmed that he is a sinner. The man in the incestuous relationship was also a practicing sinner. Thus we are consistent with Bible’s teaching that all are sinners (Psalm 143:2; Ecclesiastes 7: 20; Romans 3: 23; 1 John 1: 8 et al.). The man in the incestuous relationship was to be excommunicated for deliverance from sin. However, excommunication does not merit condemnation, for the church was asked to mourn (1 Corinthians 5: 2, NIV), not hate. Mourning need not elicit condemnation.

The Bible teaches that man should not sin. Christ urged the woman caught in adultery to leave her life of sin (John 8: 11). But the existential dilemma is that the Christian succumbs to temptation and sins. He does not want to sin, nevertheless he sins (cf. Romans 7: 15-25). Let me get this straight, homosexuality is a sin and a sexual aberration. Those within this sexual orientation should plead with God for forgiveness and deliverance. A Christian cannot take pleasure in his sins; he repents and prays for its removal. Even if he takes pleasure in his sins, I do not see any reason for condemnation.

Is homosexuality a greater sin that deserves condemnation? Let us examine Paul’s statement for relevance and coherency. Paul said, “Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10, NIV). Homosexuality is a sin at par with theft, drunkenness, and slander.

In Matthew 23, Christ respected the position of the Pharisee and the teachers of the law for they sat in Moses’ seat, so HE encouraged people to do everything they were told (v 2-3). However, Christ condemns these ministers, for they did not do what they preached. HE condemned their hypocrisy (Matthew 23: 13, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29). The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were hypocrites who did not walk their talk. In stark contrast is Jason Collins, who confessed to his sin!

We have now observed that:

·         A Christian’s sins will not relegate him as a non-Christian.

·         Christ loved the sinners; HE did not condemn, but defended them. HE urged them to leave their life of sin.

·         Homosexuality is a sin that is at par with any other sin (with the exception of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit – Matthew 12: 32; Mark 3: 29).

·         So we reasonably infer that a homosexual, even if he is a Christian, should not be condemned.

Since homosexuality is at par with other sins, if one condemns homosexuality then by the same logic he too can be condemned for he is not sinless. Christians love John 3:16, but they should also love and practice John 3:17 - Christ came not to condemn. Since condemnation is against the tenet of Christianity, we do not condemn each other. To rebuke is not to condemn.

How then should a church respond to a sinner? Ephesians 4:15 offer us an insight. We ought to speak the truth, but we are called to do so in love. Wayne Grudem says, “Paul reminds us that we are to “restore” the sinning brother or sister “in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1)…”³ We are called to rebuke sin, but as Christ did, we should in love and gentleness, and by defending the honor of the sinner. We will do this, if we believe we are practicing sinners, but saved by grace through faith. Amen.

References:

¹ http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/#ixzz2Rrh8O559

² http://www.christianpost.com/news/chris-broussard-questions-jason-collins-christianity-on-espn-sparks-debate-video-94974/

³ Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology.

Other useful reads:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-raushenbush/jason-collins-gay_b_3180069.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball-dont-lie/espn-chris-broussard-clarifies-views-jason-collins-don-221941033.html

http://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2013/05/01/why-jason-collins-is-not-the-new-jackie-robinson-n1584093/page/full

http://global.christianpost.com/news/christian-apologist-says-church-losing-battle-against-hate-label-for-homosexuality-stance-93566/

Rejected by Church but Accepted by God

Loving our neighbor is more important than offerings and sacrifices (Mark 12:33), and love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10). So love needs to be practiced in the Christian church. Sadly, rejection is also practiced in churches. Here are some instances.

A church I was aware of disqualified many of her members from public reading of the Scripture (from the pulpit) because of their alleged inadequacies in pronunciation, punctuation, voice modulation etc. Ironically, the ‘experts’ were imperfect in reading as well!

When members fellowship after the worship service, we find people standing isolated without anyone to talk to. This reality is due to the existence of likeminded groups. Time is limited but topics are unlimited, so likeminded groups are busy managing their topics on time. The isolated person stands alone and rejected.

Pastors ought to lead by example, but they too reject their own members – ignorantly or intentionally. If a pastor is busy engaging a member of his choice, he denies the request of another desiring to talk to him. I was denied handshakes, since the pastor was preoccupied with his own agenda.

I was once depressed at work, so I desired prayer from an after-service intercessor. Citing the hot and humid evening, the intercessor scampered to the comforts of the home instead of spending quality time interceding for my needs. The prayer ended hastily and added much disillusionment to my sorrow.

Some churches encourage competitions which demonstrate individuals’ Bible knowledge (e.g. recitations, quizzes etc.). The upside is the motivation that members receive to read the Bible; the downside is rejection. The winners are awarded with gifts, whereas losers feel the brunt of pain from failure.

Gossips, insults, cleverly veiled insinuations, public condemnations on account of sins committed, dump the person in contention into much pain. The pain is acute when the person has repented of his sin, yet suffers rejection by the church. Then there are those who are falsely accused as sinners. Some in the church no longer believe in “innocent until proven guilty,” but rather in “guilty until proven innocent.” They treat this member as a proven sinner and reject him wholeheartedly.

These are just some forms of rejections in a church. But here are some personal and biblical insights about rejection in the church.

In the case of Scripture reading, any member who can read adequately well and is confident of reading in public must be offered an opportunity to read. If a church disqualifies people from reading Scriptures on the basis of excellence, the same policy should determine all other aspects of worship - worship leader, intercessor, preacher etc. This would be an interesting complexity to resolve!

Corporate worship is community worship. As far as possible, distinction between ‘good’ and ‘not-so-good’ should be avoided. Perfection in our life is impossible, but for the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross. ‘Graciousness’ is a viable alternate to excellence. Sloppy participation in worship services is to be discouraged along with elimination based on excellence.

Rejection (isolation) of members after the worship service defeats the purpose of worship. We decide to love our neighbor during the worship service. But immediately after, we reject our unknown neighbor by loving those who love us and whom we love. It is our intentional responsibility to accept and integrate everyone into the body of Christ.

With respect to competitions, exposure of one’s lack of biblical knowledge is not enriching especially when these activities do not reveal a doctrinal understanding of the Bible. Verse recitations are beneficial, but the church should find a way to encourage and motivate the losers. The church should bear in mind that the majority are losers (if 10 participate, there are 3 winners and 7 losers).

Rejection on account of sins committed is the most deplorable of all rejections. This verse summarizes Christ’s response to a sinner, “Let the one among you who has never sinned throw the first stone at her” (John 8:7, J.B Phillips).

The church is a congregation of sinners; hence grace should be practiced profusely. The temptation is to be super-righteous and condemn the sinner while conveniently ignoring the fact that all are sinners. When those with Christ behaved super-righteously, HE instilled truth by affirming every one as sinners with a need to repent (cf. Luke 13: 1-5). Even if a person is convicted of sin, the church should exhibit grace, love, mercy, and patience in engaging this child of God.

If a convicted sinner is to be treated with love and grace, should not the one merely suspected of a sin treated with the same love and grace?

Church may reject, but God accepts all men if they believe in HIM. Christ came to “preach the Gospel to the poor... to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord’ (Luke 4:18, J.B Phillips).

Christ left the ninety-nine sheep to rescue the one sheep that had wandered off (cf. Matthew 18: 12-14).¹ If the Lord considered that one sheep too precious to lose, the church should also be gracious to all. Rejection opposes the gospel of the Lord Jesus.

Many deem it wise to sacrifice the one to save ninety-nine. In a controversial situation, an innocent is often the scapegoat. The world may justify this atrocity, but certainly not the church of Christ. The church should love and defend the lost and brokenhearted.

When asked who the greatest is in the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus affirmed that the least is the greatest (cf. Matthew 18: 1-4). The one who is humble is the greatest in the Kingdom of God. Unless the church has a humble heart she cannot identify the rejected, even if he stands in front of her sight.

Think with me please. Christ hung out with the prostitute, leper, centurion, and the woman who had five husbands. Would these children of God be lovingly embraced by the local church today? Who is more recognized in the church – Mr. Insignificant Bloke or Mr. Prominent Righteous? The answer to the latter question will answer the former.

We desire healing through ‘signs and wonders,’ but ignore opportunities to heal the rejected, especially when he stares right into our face. May we not be those who seek signs from heaven by ignoring signs of our time (cf. Luke 11: 29-32). The Lord - greater than Jonah and Solomon – lived on earth, died for our sins, rose again from the dead to save and intercede for all, which includes the lost and brokenhearted. May we offer Christ’s love, comfort, and compassion to all those who need it desperately.

If the church rejects you, please know that God loves you. Amen.

Additional Note:

¹ The lost sheep in this parable refers to a believer; the lost sheep in the gospel of Luke refers to an unbeliever (Luke 15:4-7).