The dividing line

Yesterday’s news quoted a television personality as saying that a prominent politician’s Christian beliefs are a mental illness. I noted the difference in her countenance and the face of the one she accused. If appearances are any indication, it is not the politician who has the problem.

This story reminded me of the demon-possessed man that ran naked through the tombs and terrified those around him. Today, most people would say he was mentally ill. When Jesus met the man, He told many demons to leave him. 

Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. (Luke 8:35)

Encountering Jesus does not bring mental illness or demonic disorders; He is a healer. The people knew it and “they were sized with great fear” (verse 37). His power was more terrifying than what had been happening to that man!

This incident in the life of Jesus says much about today’s sharp line between those who believe in Him and those who do not. The Word of God is totally black and white in this regard. It seems obvious that anyone who realizes that line would be afraid, and if not, they should be. This is what Jesus says about that sharp line between believers and those who deny the Gospel:

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. (John 3:36)

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (Matthew 12:30)

Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats . . . And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:32; 46)

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Those who followed Him were also black and white. They said things like:

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)

And we who believe in Jesus are still saying it. Why are we so sure? The objective reason is the certainty that Jesus died and rose from the dead. The resurrection used to be dismissed with many arguments, but no longer. There is too much evidence to support it. It changed our calendar and unites all who believe it into one family of God.

The subjective reason is what happens in our lives when we believe. Just as Jesus said, we are changed. We are not perfect (yet) but we hate the sin we once loved, love the Christians we once disregarded, and know the power of the Holy Spirit. He fills us with His attitudes which are much different than what was once normal.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, I’m not as black and while in my opinions about many things as I used to be, but still see no gray areas when it comes to Your identity and the reality of what You say and what You came to do for sinners. Statements like that of the television personality once made me angry, but because of Your compassion toward sinners of which I am one, I feel great sorrow for her. She does not realize what side of a great gulf her attitude has placed her.

Christ is building His Church

In this last day of a devotional series on the church, the devotional author wants the church of today to take another look at the early church and see how we need to be restored to that former condition. He is not talking about ‘doing church’ but about how we ought to be spiritually. That early church was filled with zeal, reaching out to everyone and not distracted by this temporary life. It was unified, growing, and making a difference in the world.

It distresses me too that today’s church is fragmented, looked down on, and having little impact, or at least so it seems. Some are not like that. I’m surprised at my defense for I am normally a glass half empty person, but the devotional writer’s low view has pushed me into a more positive stance.  

Besides, I continue to remember that the sovereign Lord is building it. Jesus promised that He would build His church and that “. . . the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) To be overly critical is to say that Christ does not know what He is doing. We tend to think that way with all sorts of seeming disasters, yet He promises to use “all things for good” (Romans 8:28). I don’t want to have my vision short and my faith is too small. While the church may not look good in many places, it is still His church.

What about being like that early church? God does tell His people to follow Him with our whole hearts. As for the old ways, there is value in them. He says, “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” (Jeremiah 6:16) He also says, “Fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14–15)

My gods were not the wood and stone idols referred to in Joshua. However, I can easily fall back into worshiping my own ideas, friends, material things, and whatever else that takes me away from giving Jesus Christ my total allegiance. I know that God says, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30) This means any sort of idolatry puts me against God, doing things that are a liability in His plans.

Currently, various forms of idolatry are probably the biggest sin issues in this part of the world. People want what they want. Whole churches want what they want. Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and ________________.” (Luke 16:13) The original version fills in the blank with ‘money’ but it could be anything, such as: success or popularity.

My part in all of this is to stay true to the Lord with a focus on the gospel. I need to listen to the Word of the Lord and do what He says. I need to be sacrificial, caring for others more than I care for myself. This is not about whether we meet in building or home, do baptism with a cup or a tub, have altar calls or commitment cards. Doing church is about responding to the gospel in humble gratitude, letting Jesus be all that we need, and obeying Him with our whole hearts – because we know that He is keeping every promise He ever made, including the promise to build His church.