Premature Judging

My sister in Christ Jenn has done us Christians a great favor by writing her latest post. It is simply outrageous and gut wrenching convicting. I literally had to stop and repent after reading it and really check my heart and theology. As I thought about the beautiful and liberating doctrine of "Justification by Grace through Faith" I literally shuttered as I thought over the last few weeks and how judgemental I had become. I would say they can't be of the faith because they: listened to that, or watched this, or wore that, or talked like that or did this, or acted like that. I so easily forgot that we are not moralist and our salvation nor righteousness can, will, or ever has rested in ourselves. Our righteousness is found in another man. His name is Jesus Christ and He lived the life, died the death, and beared the sin, that I could not and maybe would not even if I could. God became a man and took on the wrath that was stored up for us.

I forget sometimes that my salvation is in a person. As long as He stands I stand and since it is impossible for Him to fall, then my standing is secure and so is the person stuggling with lying, stealing, sexual immorality, lust, impatience, rudeness, self-righteousness, selfishness and other such sins. We are all guilty ourselves and as Jennifer says "what about the tree in my eye". I would add the tree that I am busy hitting people over the head with trying to help them get the splinter out of their eyes.

Please read her post here. Please contribute to conversation as we grow in this critical area of our relationship with Christ. .

Here is an excerpt:

Yesterday, during a conversation with a sister in Christ, I was checked on
something that has been on my mind for the past few days. In the past, up til
now, I have been too quick to use snapshots to determine the authenticity of a
person’s relationship with Jesus Christ. This sister and I were discussing a
coworker who has a penchant for filthy language.
Her - You know, he cusses a
lot. I don’t like that.Me - I KNEW there was something that made me think he
wasn’t a Christian.Her - That doesn’t mean he isn’t a Christian. There ARE
Christians who cuss.
It made me think - Yes, all believers are in different
levels of their sanctification, and while we are called to be perfect and holy, we’re not, and we very much so fall
short. And what if someone were to look at snapshots of MY life ? There are
many moments where my behaviors don’t reflect the Lord Jesus. I am in no way
proud of it, but it’s true. I have had moments of anger and various other sinful
behaviors, where if someone were to see me in those moments, they’d probably
assume I was one who didn’t know the Lord! In this, I’m convicted, especially in
light of the Matthew 7 Scripture I referenced above.

Holistic Outreach: Is it bringing people into a sinking ship?

I had a very good conversation with someone today and wanted to share some afterthoughts on this. Amongst Urban Evangelicals the conviction for community outreach, has become a growing concern. As young Christians move from the ministry philosophy of many of their parents which they feel was the “if you want to know Jesus come to my church” philosophy to the “church without walls” philosophy I wonder if some things have been lost in the transition.

We first have to understand that the human race is always and I do mean always in danger of going from one extreme to the other. For example a person who thinks that reaching the lost is critical, will employ any and all methods to reach the lost or the unchurched thus the birth of the “Seeker Sensitive” model. Or the person who may have a Calvinistic evangelistic mindset may never do any type of invitation and thus miss opportunities to “biblically” evangelize. Another example is the fact of holiness and how legalism becomes the compass of “true Christianity” while on the other hand liberty takes the form of a lack of biblical church discipline. I can think of many instances in my life from everything from cessasionism to other positions that I took as I left the Charismatic arena in which my pendulum swung so far that I almost couldn’t identify the Holy Spirit if He sat next to me at lunch. So once again extremes lurksin the shadows for many of us.

I want to focus on the perspective of outreach in this short exhortation. I am not a pastor, nor do I understand (practically, not theoretically) the life of a Shepherd. So I am not throwing stones just engaging. As we wrestle with reaching the community that we worship in Corporately what should be the health of the church before such an exploration takes place. If marriages are crumbling, congregants are involved in all types of sin, the majority of the congregation has a low view of God and a high view of man, and if the church doesn’t understand the high calling of biblical church membership (which some people disagree with) should we be attempting to “reach out” without first reaching in? Is God displeased if we took a year or two off to help build the local fellowship and invest in families and biblical faithfulness and then go out to try to help others?

A picture came to my mind as I was talking with the individual. It would be like you pulling people into a ship that is sinking. Is our witness before the community and the world primarily how we live out the Gospel in our lives or reaching out to the community abroad with programs? What is funny is that as I read through Acts and the Epistles and even the Gospels, Jesus, nor the Apostles main focus was not holistic outreach but holistic in-reach. I think we are challenged to provide for the widow and orphan, but I think the primary widow and orphan are those within the Body of Christ. We can see that as Paul addresses widow care in his epistle to Timothy. I think we can do more harm than damage to the body if we focus our energy, time and resources in building the community abroad without first using the resources to build the community within.

That may seem “four wallish” but I think I can make a biblical case for it. As Paul is raising funds for the poor in Jerusalem it was for the poor believers, as people sold their goods in Acts it wasn’t so that the community abroad could have “all things in common” but that the believers could have “all things in common”. The Apostle Paul did not exhort the Churches he wrote to to reach out, but to love each other within. I think we can easily lose focus on what and for whom Christ died. It wasn’t for holistic ministry but for reconciliation. I am not saying churches should not reach out and if the resources are available, especially for mega-churches, then go for it. But I don’t think that the local body should get the scraps from the table while we invest in schools and community outreach programs. I don’t think we should charge those who give frequently for a marriage conference when we take those same dollars to help buy books for the community. That is only my opinion but I think there is some validity there.

If we spend our time rebuilding the city while simultaneously ignoring those within our local fellowship, I think we will continue the trend of nominal Christianity. People aren’t being properly discipled because they are busy painting houses and not being ministered to. Many pastors and leaders aren’t even equipped to deal with the major problems many Christians face within their congregtions Christ has granted them charge over, so we substitute keeping busy for biblical ministry. Many of our brothers are struggling with pornography, don’t have a clue how to disciple their families (I wrestle with this in my own life greatly) and have no clue about biblical manhood, but they are busy working within the body. Many of our women don’t understand their roles as women in a Christian marriage, can’t really reproduce other Godly women and are struggling relating to their teenage daughters, but they are busy organizing outreach events.

This isn’t the case for all churches but I know what I have seen across many ethnic and socioeconomic ministries. We are failing at succeeding at what God calls us to do, in the name of reaching the community, which I can’t find biblical where God spends a bunch of time discussing in the scriptures. I think if we want holistic ministries they must start from within. As the brother I talked to said “Get the families inside healthy, then they can aid in getting those outside healthy”. God bless.

Recapturing the Doctrine of the Priesthood of Believers!!!!

As I read the Between Two Worlds blog, my heart was moved to write this blog. This specific post was about Tim Challies and his new book. Follow the thread and you will see what I mean. Phrases such as “what qualifies him” and other such phrases were cast at will. I started to wonder about the spirit of the pre-reformation and there wasn’t much difference here. One quote from someone was “does a man need a doctorate degree to write a book, it isn’t like he is an accountant writing on biology”. This is my sentiments exactly. When did we lose the doctrine of the “Priesthood of ALL Believers”? I thought the veil was torn about 2000 years ago and I also thought the heart and soul of the Reformation was for “every man to have a bible in his/her hand”. Has what our forefathers of the faith died become vain? Here is a quote from Tim Challies blogger (here) and the author of the book “Discipline of Discernment”:

“Yet it is a strange contradiction that those who identity most closely with the Protestant Reformation seem often to be those who are most prone to forgetting about the priesthood of all believers. This idea, that God offers His truth to all believers through His Word, is a defining characteristic of Protestantism but one that continues to make Christians uncomfortable. Though many give it verbal assent, it is still easier to simply find and trust certain teachers, always giving them the benefit of the doubt. “I am of Paul! I am of Apollos!” can become “I am of MacArthur! I am of McLaren!” We can take comfort in another person’s position, believing that only a truly godly man could rise to become the Senior Pastor of a large church, or we can take comfort in another person’s credentials, assuming that a man with so many degrees and accolades must be right. Yet all the while the Bible commands each of us to do the hard work of discernment and to realize that we are all called to pursue and obey the truth.” We must ask ourselves some serious questions if this isn’t our heart! Are we not able to question those in “authority” anymore, can a laymen write a book , start a church, or do we need 10 years of Seminary and another 2 in church planting? Is Tim not qualified to write a book but qualified to start a bible study, lead a home group, or even disciple his family? Which has greater weight? Listen very carefully, if we don’t stop this hogwash, we will soon find ourselves in the same position of those who were oppressed by Rome!

Now what I am not saying is that seminary isn’t important. I think there are tools gained (especially the languages and hermeneutics) that are invaluable to any pastor on the planet. However, they are not, BY ANY BIBLICAL STANDARD, prerequisites. It really chaps my hide when I hear the same individuals screaming “Sola Scriptura” from the rooftops but in the same breath they are saying “Westminster plus your bible, or Fuller plus your bible, or Southern plus your bible, or DTS plus your bible”. For me this flies in the face of the 5 Solas! Peter says it very clearly in 1 Peter 2: 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Nowhere does it say “you need a formal education to proclaim these Excellencies”. So I wonder are churches not preparing their members to be dropped on an Island with their bible and start a movement. If every member (at least those who have been around for at least a year) can’t be in a plane crash on a remote Island and plant a church, that means there is something wrong with the leadership there. If that person has to wait until someone with a seminary degree comes along to plant a church there we are in serious trouble. This is why I think the book is important and not only that, even historical. A blogger writes a book! That should be a motivation for all bloggers (though, I don’t even know proper sentence structure half the time so don’t count me in). But this isn’t about a book this is about, your right to question anything coming from anybody! This is about JV versus Varsity Christianity where now we are beginning to become top heavy again. Where laymen are overlooked and pastors are esteemed. Where education comes before wisdom and a passion for the “Glory of God in all things”. We have lost our footing along the way. We have begun to esteem the very things that Christ and the Apostles spoke against. We are doing it all in the name of “qualification”. Each member of the body is fully capable of starting a movement as long as their motive is pure and they have a good grasp of the scriptures and how they fit together and point to Christ. I am thoroughly upset that this isn’t the heart of the Church! I pray that this doesn’t continue because if it does, we may need another reformation in the near future!

The New Phariseeical Movement

This is a gut checking blog to write, due to the fact that I too once was on the New Pharisee team. The truth be told the majority of us have a little Pharisee within us, and it is not all that bad. My pastor Dhati Lewis always says “it is better to err on legalism than sin”. So for those of us who struggle with the tension of holiness and sanctification we are always dancing on thin ice. My problem isn’t so much with personal legalism because as Paul says in Romans 14 “For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin”. So, once again, this is not an attack on the conscious of others, but a response to an ongoing epidemic of a different kind of legalism.

The legalism that I am addressing is doctrinal legalism. It is a growing epidemic among us and especially in the blogosphere. There are many blogs, whose entire premise or existence is to police the doctrine of others. I am all for correct doctrine, and for the most part, I think I have a pretty good grasp on some points, but in other areas I am “Semper Reformanda” (or always reforming). I hold to a reformed and New Covenant (sort of) perspective and for the most part I think I am right; however, others do not and they, as I do, believe themselves to be correct. I think these things can be debated, but as I always say “the end goal is edification”. When it gets to the point where harsh words, strawman assumptions, and self-righteousness takes precedent of mutual edification, the line has officially been crossed and sin has begun to take root. The problem is that most can’t recognize that this type of Doctrinal Witch Hunt is SIN. The other problem lies, in the fact, that most people (especially bloggers) don’t want to establish a relationship, they just want you to believe like they believe and then they are off to the next person to “correct” their theology. What happens in the process, is that feelings our hurt, people get upset, and those who practice such “Doctrinal Elitism” are wreaking more havoc than they know.

Think of this scenario. Just say a world class physician, decides he wants to go and help cure diseases in Sub-Sahara Africa. There is a disease that is killing 20-25% of these villages and this doctor has found the cure. So he goes to the villages enthused that he has the cure and eager to help cure their epidemic. So he goes from village to village treating everybody and not only that he has the anti-bodies to prevent others from getting it. Everyone is excited, he is on CNN, FOX News, Dr. Phil, Oprah, and gets a key to every city he visits. The problem is 1 year later all the people in that area have died. There is uproar, the doctor is confused. He checks his medicine everything looks good, the anti-bodies and medicine has been approved by FDA and is on the market in the U.S and everyone is taking the vaccination. They found one last person who has escaped the death but he is about to die also, doctors rush to find out what has caused the deaths, and they found out, that is a common cold! So the doctor, though he helped one epidemic caused even greater fatality by a common cold! This is what is going on today, in many churches, and by many bloggers. We fixed the doctrinal epidemic but we are killing people with our arrogance, self-righteousness, and lack of desire to establish significant relationships, all in the name “correcting theology”

Though, I said this was new, it really isn’t new at all. I just thought the title was catchy. This is a problem that has existed for over 2000 years. Let’s see what happened in Jesus’ day:

Matthew 1515:1 Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2 “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” 3 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 5 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” 6 he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. 7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 "'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'" 10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

We all know the story. The Pharisees spent there time trying to find some crack in Jesus’ theology. This is how Luke puts it in Luke 11:

53 As he went away from there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to press him hard and to provoke him to speak about many things, 54 lying in wait for him, to catch him in something he might say.

I see the same attitude and desire in many of blogs today and blog searchers. They wait “to catch” someone in doctrinal error. This should not be our goal. I have come to the conclusion that the only person I totally agree with on every point of doctrine, is myself, and I have corrected myself many of times. Things that I said three years ago, I wouldn’t dare say today. Positions that I held to as stone have become like sand between my fingers. Things I would debate with great passion, are now the same truths I embrace with like passion. We make mistakes, we say dumb things, and other times we just don’t know what the heck we are talking about. The problem is WE ALL have been that way. But the same grace Jesus has extended us in progressively revealing His word to us, we refuse to extend to others. There were things that I rejected that I now fully embrace and Jesus was merciful to me. He sent people into my life, that built relationships with me (B.J, Shannon, Calvin Clark, Dhati, Keynon) and helped me through my error. They weren’t rough or hard, and they even let me have the last word. It wasn’t “believe this today” they understood my hang ups and when I was ready to accept it, they taught me again, like I never heard it before.

 

That isn’t the goal today for many. They can find everything wrong and nothing right. Just as the Pharisses only agreed with their “traditions” so many of us, put greater emphasis on doctrinal truth rather than a passion for the Glory of Jesus Christ, this shouldn’t be. You see, if we get the correct perspective of grace, the cross, and redemption, these other truths will follow closely behind. If we are more concerned with “our doctrinal truth” than we are God’s glory, we have lost the meaning of redemption. Listen closely. GOD DOES NOT TREAT US THIS WAY. He takes us, all jacked up and slowly conforms us to the image of His Son. Christ or the Holy Spirit, does not wait with a bat in Their hands ready to beat us, because we don’t fully understand soteriology, pnuematology, eschatology, trinitarianism, bibliology, hamartiology, ecclesiology, or even Christology. What God does is “demonstrates, His love towards us, while we were yet sinners”. God is patient with our progression and conformity and guess why, because He is the one who conforms us!

 

If you are reading this and this seems like you, impatient, unkind, always finding fault, you may want to evaluate your own progression. How long did you sit under “bad theology”? How long was it before you were convinced on truths you now hold as gold? What about certain sin areas? How long did you struggle with lust, envy, unforgiveness, or impatience before you got it right. Paul penned it beautifully in 2 Corinthians 13 when he said “examine YOURSELVES”. It is funny that Paul didn’t say examine others. Paul also says “who are you to pass judgment on another man’s servant” in Romans 14.

 

Finally we must ask, what is the goal of my correction of others? Is it to help them have a better understanding of the truth of the gospel, or the win an argument? Is it to establish a relationship with someone in order to help them be conformed to the image of Christ? People use Paul as an example, but as my good friend Gabriel always points out is “Paul had a relationship with the majority of the people he wrote”. These were responses to churches he had planted, and you can tell by the fatherly love he permeates by his letters. The Pharisees, only wanted to put yokes of bondage on their followers. Jesus says “my yoke is easy”. What a contrast of yokes. You must examine your motives and if the end goal isn’t that of Christ, what you are doing is sinning against your brother.

The Lonely Pursuit of Truth in a Postmodern Culture

Pilate asked this question to Jesus “what is truth” a question that he never found an answer to from what I can find in scripture. Everybody knows the postmodern debate (for the most part) especially amongst those with even a superficial knowledge of the Emergent Church. Today I am not going to attempt to define or even defend truth directly. This is an overflow of the deep despair of my heart due to the lonely pursuit of truth. I believe with every fiber of me that Truth can not be attained apart from Christ. Not that Christ speaks the truth but he fully embodies all that even is true. So Christ is the essence of Truth. The funny thing is that engaging someone for this pursuit and having others join you to help defend and explain it becomes a daunting task. The majority of this problem is birthed out of the fact we live in a non-confrontational era. Where many of the previous societies openly debated and even encouraged such intellectual dialogue today we have pushed all aside for “unity”. Ahh, Unity! What a very tricky and elusive word. What exactly does it look like, on what should we unite for and for what issues do we say, unity is not possible because truth becomes a lifeless victim? Should we unite? The obvious answer is yes, the Apostle Paul makes it clear, in Colossians. Love is the bond of such unity, but what about truth? Does unity and love take precedent over truth; do we slay truth in the great names of love and unity?

This is where I start to struggle. Naturally I am confrontational and I am an extrovert. Coupled together and sprinkled with passion (some say obnoxious) this can be a real recipe for disaster. So there are times where I may go overboard and times where I may just should chalk things up as a lost for the moment and come back at a future time. However, I handle conflict verbally and I process things verbally and I wear my emotions on my sleeve (as they say) so I am usually engaged in some type of theological discussion. I tend to think that this isn’t as bad as most think it is, I was just born 2000 years too late. I think if I were Paul’s homeboy when he debated the philosophers at Mars Hill, how I would have love to sneak a couple of catchy clichés in, or how I would have stood with the great Apollos and Stephen as they debated in the synagogues with the Jews. However, I was not born in those days. I was born in America in an era where everyone’s opinion is truth and the consequences are eternal. Due to this I usually find myself alone; sometimes by choice and other times by exclusion.

I attempt not to get into these discussions in crowed venues. I have learned that people really don’t like to discuss issues pertaining to eternal life at the family gatherings, basketball games, and even in small groups. We would rather play it safe and talk about things I deem to be fairly irrelevant to life, such as: who is going to win the National Championship (if I knew I would have bet my savings on such knowledge), Kanye West’s mothers dying (very sad, but doesn’t matter for us), or which entertainer or entertaining preachers are getting divorced. The truth is I don’t really care. But I do care about the greatest question ever asked “what must I do to be saved”. Most of the pertinent News becomes secondary in light of the Cross and what I want to discuss is the wonderful truths of scripture and their application to life transformation. I want to know, do you know for sure where you will spend eternity and how. I also want to know how this salvation is obtained; and that is when I figure out that Britney Spears and K-Fed or Tyler Perry is much more important. Typically I find myself disengaged from the conversations at most dinner tables, even with gathering Christians. I read Acts 2:42 and wonder why they were so in love with this new found faith and we are so disinterested in it. I wonder why they purposely got together to fellowship and intentionally encourage one another in the great truths of the Christian faith and we would rather talk about Lebron James or Michael Vick.

Why is Jesus such off limits and why is scripture always secondary? It is because of our newly found enemy truth! He has become a problem, a major party pooper, a thorn in the flesh. Most people just want to live never confronting, never addressing the seriousness of his existence and the responsibility to respond to him (truth that is). So now we say “unity at all cost, truth is impossible”. All the while hell is filling up with the souls (and eventually bodies) of people we would rather unite with versus discuss truth. As I stated this occurs in my small groups. Christians would rather stay away from scripture and truth as if now they are saying “I can finally let my hair down and relax”. Maybe I am too concerned with this “stuff”. I tell you what one thing about barber shops that I love is the platform to discuss current ideas. It is the perfect opportunity to philosophize about current events, life, death, and the after-life. It is funny that I get more theological discussion out of a barber shop visit than I can in small groups and Christian gatherings. The sole purpose of fellowship should be to discuss “Truth” namely Jesus Christ. Sorry about the rambling.

So I say all of that to say this. If God has given you an appetite for His truth, pursue it recklessly. As the man who sold all he had to buy the parcel of land. We should have the same mindset. It may be lonely and you may be ignored, I promise you one thing you definitely will not be popular. But so what, a thirsty soul is infinitely worse. Most times a good book a couple of hours with the Lord and articulating that truth brings me the greatest joy. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing someone have an “ah ha” moment. Nothing is more rewarding than being prepared to defend Truth even if you are mocked for such a truth and nothing is more rewarding than “drinking from the well that never runs dry”. Our reward is the truth. While so many are “ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth” God has graciously revealed His truth to us and given us an unsatisfiable thirst for more of Him. “What else there besides you oh, Lord” should be our heart and whatever comfort we forfeit in this life will be given with great interest in the life to come. Truth is a gracious gift from God; pursue it as an invaluable treasure!

The End Result of Theological Debate is Edification

Ephesians 4:29-32

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

2 Timothy 2:24-25

24 And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness.

Philippians 2:1-4

2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Romans 12:9-10

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Romans 14:5-10

5 One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.10 Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God;

Above are a lot of verses and this is done for one specific purpose, to show us our sin. Listen people we all have theological differences, but those differences are never to turn ugly. I am on some blogs and people are called STUPID, DUMB, IDIOTS, and they even go as far to call the others doctrine a “doctrine of demons”. This is usually stated by those who oppose The Doctrines of Grace that I so firmly adhere to. We have to be extremely careful of how we address one another as brothers and sisters in this faith. My heart is heavy because this doesn’t bring unity. Listen to what Paul says in Colossians 3

Colossians 3:12-17

12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Here is the list of don’t do’s that we are given by the Lord and anything that does not line up with this is SIN!!!! To ignore these is to ignore the Lord Jesus and to ignore Him, well you know what the bible says about that:

1. Let NO (absolute) corruptive communication
   
   
   
   1. Includes: slander, anger, malice and clamor
   
   
   
   


2. Don’t be quarrelsome! (big one for me)


3. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit


4. We are not to pass judgment on issues of convictions

Here is the list of things we are to do (much longer than the don’t do’s)

1. Speak in a way that builds up and in the right occasion.


2. Teach patiently


3. Look out for the interests of others (selflessness in all occasions)


4. Love one another with brotherly love


5. Outdo one another in showing honor (this would kill most mean debates)


6. Bear with one another, forgive one another, teach and admonish one another in WISDOM.

Some key words for you to consider, consider these words carefully and see if your life lines up with them:

1. Gracious


2. Tenderhearted


3. Kind


4. Patient


5. Gentle


6. Affectionate


7. Sympathetic


8. Encouraging


9. Humble


10. Others focused


11. Meek

This list has more application than just theological debates. Christ embodied this entire list and much more. We are to reflect Christ to a hurting world and we too should be defined by the list above. However, as it relates to theological debate, if you took your discussion and ran it through the list above would you be able to check off every item on the list. Is your debate fruitful and is it a means to a greater end than being right or wrong? It should be, the debate should point a person to Jesus Christ and what He accomplished in His earthly ministry, His current exaltation and His future triumph over Satan! The verses above are commands from the Lord Himself. Not good discussion but His spoken commands that we are to obey. If you can’t follow these in a theological debate then you are to abstain (“if you right eye offends you pluck it out”). We are to abstain from sin at all cost, and if your debate or discussion is unfruitful then you are sinning. Come back when you can argue your points graciously but the current state of theological debate is a hindrance to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus.

The False Doctrine of Neutrality: Nursery Rhyme Christianity

There has been in me a growing concern with those who refuse to preach and teach the wrath of God. The gospel among evangelicals has become increasingly palatable. Making the gospel more appealing to the unregenerate was never, and I do mean never, the goal of Christ or the Apostles. We are continually trying to find ways to make “church” more appealing and thus trying to slide the gospel in while the unregenerate is not looking. This, my friend, is doing a disservice to these individuals and my brother Tyris and I are experiencing the backlash first hand. So below are a few LIES we tell people or ways we STEALTHY present the gospel.

Bypassing the Wrath of God

You would have a better chance of convincing a pastor to preach “butt naked” to a crow of thousands than to have him preach about God’s wrath. In turn God becomes a “Cosmic Santa”. Better yet God becomes a desperate senior 2 days before prom with no date. I have heard things like “you know Jesus longs for you to accept him” or better yet, “heaven is missing one person, you”, or “God wants a love relationship with you”. So once again God becomes the dude on Young and the Restless or the last guy at the club on Valentines Day. This is blasphemous folks. God was, is and will always be self sufficient. God doesn’t need you any more than you need three extra fingers or toes. God has always been fully satisfied in Himself. God didn’t create man, like a kid who creates imaginary friends for affection. He created men for his praise and glory, our very existence is not due to a lack of self esteem but to show forth His glory. Here are a few verses on wrath

John 3:34-36

34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Ephesians 2:1-3

2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Romans 1:18-19

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.

Preaching Self Esteem versus Hopelessness Apart from Christ

In most churches the sermons that come across the pulpit is more about building a person up and encouraging them. I think that is a good thing, but only if they understand that their worth comes from Christ alone. The lie that people are fundamentally good and not utterly wicked does the receiver much harm. The lie that people are pretty good and that they just lack Jesus is as dangerous as a eating 20 activated grenades. You know what I mean I have heard “man you got a nice house, family, job and things are looking good for you, just accept Jesus and you would have it all”. This man is about as hopeless as a legless man in the middle of the ocean with a 2 ton weight strapped around his neck, with 100 sharks circling beneath him. He is utterly hopeless and his goods are useless. I remember watching the movie the Titanic. These individuals were wealthy and their wealth was display by their jewelry and clothing. Man, when that boat started to sink what was valuable became worthless in an instance. The worth of a priceless diamond ring on the Titanic when it began to sink is the worth you and I have apart from Christ. We are as ants in the ocean. No hope of anything.

But this isn’t taught today. Christian Counselors, Joel Olsteen, TD Jakes, Dr. Phil, and Oprah, all say that “you are important” regardless of your standing before a Holy God who is going to cast you in to hell upon death. Regardless of the constant rebellion against the creator. Good has become a subjective term while Christ says in Matthew 19 “only God is good” I will add and those who God makes good through Christ. That is why David said ‘blessed is the man who sins are not counted against him”. Romans 3 is a popular verse summing up my statement:

Romans 3:9-18

9 No One Is Righteous What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,10 as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one."13 "Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;16 in their paths are ruin and misery,17 and the way of peace they have not known."18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."

Making Sin a Non-issue

I have twice heard from two separate mega church pastors “I don’t really preach about sin”. Now I will make something very clear. Christ died for the SINS of those being saved! To make sin a non-issue is to make Christ death on the cross irrelevant. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 5:21

21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Gods wrath is a response to man’s wickedness (sin). This is so wrong. A man who will not preach sin is a man who cares less about the eternal state of those who visit his congregation. It would be like a man with a terminal illness and the doctor continually reaffirms his great health. This man will be furious when he is on his death bed, especially after frequent doctor visits. The bible is clear about God’s position on Sin. Check out the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah and other such outpouring of God’s wrath. He didn’t flood the entire earth because He was having a bad day. Sin is the reason why the wrath of God is going to be poured out on the world. Look what Paul says here:

Colossians 3:5-8

5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.

Sin is not a small thing in the eyes of God; it is utter rebellion and disrespect to sin against him. Just think if you were raised in a great and loving family, your parents gave you everything you and your siblings wanted. Just say mom cooked the family’s favorite meal after a long and hard day and once dinner is served your brother stands up on the table, kick the food off, curses and then slaps your mom and dad. What would be running through your mind at that time? What do you think would happen to that brother (I am black and I tell you it would have been slow singing and flower bringing, everyone would have on black suits). Sin is infinitely worse than the scenario above. To not preach sin would be the equivalent of everyone going to watch a movie on the couch with a bucket of popcorn after your brother committed these foul acts against your parents. The problem is the consequences are temporal as it relates to your brother, while not understanding the gravity of sin and forthcoming punishment is eternal.

Nursery Rhyme Christianity is a slap in the face of a crucified savior. To ignore the wrath of God, the hopelessness of man and the gravity of sin is as standing in front of the gates and preventing others from entering in. Paul says in Acts 20 that “I am free of the blood of all man”. Why? Because he says “I did not refrain from preaching the WHOLE counsel of God to you”. The whole counsel includes wrath, hopelessness, sin, and the punishment to follow. The gospel is not palatable. It hurts to hear that you are a sinner, and that you are God’s enemy, but it is the truth and the only way we can understand our depravity and the death that is imminent if left in a state of rebellion.