Honestly, I was minding my own business. Online as I am wont to do on occasion, finding out more about the new Fred Hammond album about to be launched and checking up on his web-site which was still celebrating plans for his organisation in 2011. (Not saying the site is in need of an update, or anything.) Then as I do I went on the ol’ YouTube to see what I could see and came across this.
This Christian journey is fraught with many temptations and thus tendencies to be sucked into extremes. Those extremes can be individual and they can be corporate. They often start with good intentions and then they sadly get all twisted, corrupted, polluted and perverted and before you know it something that was meant to bring us closer to Christ brings shame to His Name.
There are verses of scripture that speak fairly clearly about the identity of the disciple of Christ and the enemy he faces, be that the enemy of self, or of Satan and his host or of ‘the world’. These verses clearly mark out for the Jesus-follower how distinct her identity should be in comparison to that which is around her.
Likewise there are verses of scripture that speak fairly clearly about the mission of the disciple of Christ and the opportunities she faces, namely making disciples of nations and proclaiming the good news in the hope that others may come to know Him who is life everlasting.
As is the human condition, over the years we have struggled with how these two compliment each other and in some cases we have put them against each other as though the mission of God and the separate identity of the church don’t really work together.
It is not unusual to be in a situation where your upbringing almost gives the impression that church life is the safe haven from the evils of the world and thus it becomes crucial to sustain the rites and rituals that have kept us sage from the world. Soon we deify customs, clothes and place them as the exact expression of what it is to be separate from the world. While we slay brothers and sisters with the protecting of these sacred cows, the actual issues of the heart that help to make us distinct from the world – that sacrificial love, that merciful and forgiving nature that sees us look at the one who hates and despises us and bless them in Jesus’ name – that goes by the wayside as we make the important the ultimate.
Meanwhile such is our desire to be palatable by the world we’re looking to reach that standards become blurred and our definitions of key concepts get compromised with those of others who do not share the same goal and the same God. Soon what should be an outstretched hand of friendship to discipleship, steadily becomes an embrace that no longer seeks to share life transformation in Christ, but merrily exchange quaint sentiments and concepts without offending anyone by suggesting each view is valid and true in its own right.
I have witnessed these extremes at close quarters adn the division it can bring to the Body of Christ is deeply disturbing. Yet I remain reassured by the reality that the Redeemer has not redeemed His own to be sold back into the slavery of the world. Neither have they been bought to remain in useless holy huddles that has no impact on a world that needs to see Jesus. I remain ever hopeful that together we the community of Christ can blunder our way into walking in the light of His Word and joining together reflect and radiate the presence of the Holy One in lives of love that marks us out as different to the system in which we live and clear about the love we have for the people in that system.
I just hope others will likewise continue to look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith and not be swayed by cultural trends or the traditions of man, but rather wholeheartedly see no spiritual-secular divide, but embrace whole life in Christ.
For His Name’s Sake
Shalom
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Life With CD 