Once upon a time, I was one in need of a Francis to save me from Christianity. Thankfully he came with the message of James in his mouth,
"You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder." (Jas. 2:19)
Too many Christians are now what I once was: ignorant of the Christian faith. I once claimed Christ, but could not articulate what that meant. I did not really know what I believed or what I believed it. I was blessed to be brought up around it, but cursed by the custom of assuming that being around it was enough. I realized that while I was happy to call myself a Christian, whatever that meant to me was not what God meant by it and He was not happy about it. I was a "Christian" in need of conversion to Christianity.
Titus 1:16
They profess to know God, but they deny him by their deeds.
This was me.
2 Timothy 3:5
Holding the form of religion but denying the power of it.
This too.
So, while I'm embarrassed to have been this person, I should not feel sheepish as having invented it. This kind of thing has been a thing for quite some time and by the grace of God we will see all those who call themselves "Christian" converted to genuine faith in Christ as their Lord and Savior.
While we need to engage the culture of the world with the commands of Christ, we must not neglect to teach all that He commanded to those who already consider themselves Christians in the church. All men everywhere are called to repent. Christians are merely those who take it upon themselves to do so with regularity.
"When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance." — Martin Luther, 95 Theses
Christianity is a top to bottom, front to back, all of Christ for all of life kind of proposition. There is no other kind or Christian. You either assiduously engage or you compartmentalize Christ.
“Christ is either Lord of all, or is not Lord at all." — Hudson Taylor
No comments:
Post a Comment