Wisdom requires perspective and balance …
Which is why we must not fall prey to swings of the pendulum.
Author: Plumbline Faith
Simple Truths from a Lifetime of Service to the King of Kings
To preserve civil liberty in a diverse culture, Christians need a clear concept of what that means.
The First Principle of Liberty is the right to live virtuous lives, and enjoy the benefits, without undue government interference.
The Second Principle of Liberty is the right to live otherwise, and suffer the consequences, again without undue government interference …
So long as it does not violate the right of others to pursue the First Principle.
Even God, with His covenantal blessings and curses in the Old Testament, affirmed these principles.
As the New Testament also affirms, the basic role of Government is to forcibly protect the virtuous against evildoers (Rom. 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-15) …
Rather than forcibly compel us to be virtuous.
Both repressive “Progressive Christians” and repressive “Christian Nationalists” would do well to heed these distinctions …
For the good of all.
Repressive “progressives” cry “acceptance”, “tolerance” and “understanding” for all …
Except those with whom they disagree.
It’s not just that they are hypocrites …
But when they gain power, they use it to oppose virtue and oppress liberty.
Freedom demands that we not ignore either their hypocrisy …
Or their agenda of tyranny.
Without truth, there is no grace …
Because without truth, grace is meaningless.
If your faith never offends, it’s not faith …
But some pseudo-spiritualized comfort zone.
Take away “the Senior Pastor,” his stage, his pews, his “worship” team and his building …
And what’s left?
Perhaps, God willing …
The beginning of “church” as actually taught and shown in the New Testament.
The cross is where we are reconciled to God.
Unfortunately, too many think it’s where God is reconciled to us.
I’ve seen – up close and personal – the devastating reality of the nanny state …
As I’ve gone to minister God’s grace, redemption and discipleship in the woods, in the ‘hood, in the jails, and in other communities of despair where others fear to tread.
It taught me an important lesson.
Being an adult means being responsible for the consequences of our own decisions …
For good or for bad.
Long term, government policies and programs which ignore this principle are doomed to fail …
At great cost to everyone.
Those costs include the rise of burgeoning bureaucracies and the loss of Godly dignity for those being “helped.”
They also include bureaucratic “solutions” that usurp healthy families and local communities …
Thus destroying the relational context needed to actually help the truly needy among us.
Maybe that’s why God doesn’t countenance the idea of a nanny state – by example or precept – anywhere in Scripture.
Nope, not, nada …
Just ain’t there.
Folks have grown weary of books, blogs and sermons telling us “how to” …
By those who don’t do.
We need a lot more saying by doing …
And a lot less just saying, saying, saying.
This is especially true with how we are to be the church …
And then practice our faith outside the church in a troubled world.
The New Testament doesn’t say “church” is where we encounter or are ushered into God’s presence through “worship” or any other means.
There’s not a single verse in the entire New Testament to that effect.
Nope, not, nadda …
Just ain’t there.
Rather, the New Testament says that Christians already have God’s presence in us and when we gather together we’re to minister one to another …
Which includes congregationally singing God’s praises to encourage each other.
Big difference.
Let’s start being the church as God instructs in His Word …
Rather than feeding our own carnality and calling it “church.”
I understand why “church” is often reduced to sitting in impersonal rows to watch a staged, scripted “service” each week by the “senior pastor” and his “worship” team.
Although it has nothing to do with church as the New Testament commands it …
It does eliminate the hard work of actually being the church.
In contrast, the New Testament says we’re to be a functional community which, among other things, gathers together to unassumingly minister one to another …
By strengthening and encouraging each other through the diverse gifts and abilities God distributes among us.
God’s redeeming grace is the means:
He offers His undeserved mercy, truth and forgiveness.
Repentance is the only acceptable response:
I receive, submit and change.
Anything less …
Is a lie.
Mono-church?
When a church or movement organizes around the vision, natural abilities, or spiritual gifts of a particular leader …
It will grow rapidly at first but then stagnate as it eventually bumps up against his limits.
This is not how it should be.
“Church” must never become a platform for one particular person, ministry or mission.
True church in Scripture is the wonderful, dynamic, fluid, multi-gifted and fully participatory Body of Christ …
Where we all minister one to another and to a waiting world, each according to the unique grace and differing gifts God distributes among us.
There is no mono-church in the New Testament!
Lord, raise up true elders – “grown ups” among us …
Who guard your flock by teaching sound doctrine and confronting those who define:
Doubt as faith;
Obedience as optional;
Grace as merit;
Tolerance as love;
Truth as relative;
Perception as reality;
Morality as feelings;
Scripture as subjective;
Diverse gifts as distractions;
Unity as conformity;
Worship as an event; or
Church as a platform.
May we, Lord, understand the times and proclaim with Paul:
“Henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive …” Eph. 4:14
Sometimes, I wish I was ignorant …
Because I hear that’s bliss.
😉
Churches focus on meetings, hoping community will happen.
It seldom works.
What, instead, if churches were communities where gatherings happen?
Maybe it’s time to stop doing it backwards.
I want a bumper sticker which says:
“My faith is bigger than some bumper sticker.”
Mega-Church Celebrities and Television Preachers:
Multimillion dollar mansions, private jets, net worths exceeding tens of millions of dollars …
All from “ministry.”
Paul of Tarsus:
“Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
Get it?
Repressive “Progressives” and other cultural marxists feign surprise when their ideologies of victimhood and entitlement …
Destroy personal responsibility and economic opportunity.
This then leads to big-government cronyism, with them at the helm …
Which allows them to peddle even more victimhood and entitlement to the very people they harmed.
And so the downward spiral continues …
At everyone else’s expense.
I’ve seen – up close and personal – their bitter fruit as I’ve gone where others fear to tread in fulfillment of the Great Commission …
In homeless encampments, jails, crime infested housing projects, fatherless wastelands of subsidized poverty in the ‘hood, and other dysfunctional communities of dependency beyond the fringes of “polite” society.
While there, I saw God redeem lives.
But I also saw the stark reality of ignoring a fundamental Biblical principle, mainly:
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Psalm 11:3
It’s time for those of true compassion to rebuild our nation’s foundations by breaking the repressive “progressive” cycle of despair …
And restore the hard dignity of Godly cultural precepts – like local community accountability, strong nuclear families, prioritized self government, responsible personal benevolence, and the moral imperatives of individual culpability – in our society once again.
Anything less will continue to destroy lives and the very fabric of our nation.
What if “churches” stopped being a “service” where the few try to usher the many into God’s “presence?”
(A concept nowhere found in the New Testament.)
What if, instead, they became gatherings where all can express God’s diverse presence already in each of us, as the Holy Spirit directs, for the mutual edification of one another?
(Just like it says in the New Testament.)
Wouldn’t that be amazing?
The law may not make anyone moral …
But I’m sure glad it can protect us from their immorality.
That’s why I won’t vote for candidates who think they can pass laws that will make people good …
Because that’s God’s job, and it never turns out well when governments try to usurp His authority.
But I will vote for those committed to passing laws that protect what’s good and our right to do what’s good …
Just like God intended.
Big difference!
These days, church “leaders” seem more interested in an elevated stage and delivering prepared messages …
Than living among us and making disciples as a prepared person.
The problem is …
Many folks seem to want it that way.
Jesus established the church as His local participatory assembly …
To represent and advance His Kingdom here on Earth.
Instead, we’ve turned it into an entertainment business with weekly staged performances.
Nearly all heresy starts as truth out of balance.
When someone insists on one unifying “truth” that explains everything …
Watch out!
Even our personal perceptions of Christ Himself fall short …
No matter how otherwise accurate.
