“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:2)
We should all be testing ourselves to see if we are in the Faith… we are the building blocks of the Church Jesus is building…
When did the Church stop churching? (of course, I don’t mean every Church.) When did the Church become like the world? (It shouldn’t…Romans 12; John 17… ) When did the Church install compromise as the path to Salvation? (Love is love…ummm margarine is butter?… opinions are for the birds…Truth is from God.) When did the Church decide when all else fails…racism is the cause? (ya know, Jesus simplified this with… “We are all One in Christ Jesus.”—Yes Paul wrote it…but Jesus told him to…so maybe we should preach Jesus.)
When did the Church decide lethargy over leadership? When did the Church decide feelings and fairness overrides Faith? (I know… our feelings do not determine True Faith…bubble burst, sorry). When did the Church take a stand of fright over fight? (I will explain…sad I need that disclaimer, but I digress.)
Scripture is clear on leadership. (It’s in there…and commanded) Scripture is clear on compromise. (DONT) Scripture is clear on mission…(preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified…without exception.)
Let us look no further than the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Jesus chose men who would take their Trust and Faith in their Lord and Savior to the world. These Apostles preached with zero compromise…zero lethargy…zero fright.
Jesus established the standard. Jesus defined the mission. Jesus instilled The Truth and Faith. When did the Church abandon the foundation Jesus laid?
These Apostles preached to their own personal detriment. Did they complain about fairness? No, because they knew that hell is fair and it is real. Jesus spoke on hell more than anyone in the entire Bible. Hell is real…and fairness gets you there… so God offers Salvation through Jesus (praise be to God for not being fair!)
Jesus said, get over yourself, pick up your cross…and follow Me.
Did the Apostles seek to compromise for fear of other feelings, or opinions, toward the Truth? Did they compromise to “win” others over?
No, No, and No. How does change occur? By the transformation of hearts.
Did the Apostle Paul, Apostle John, or the Apostle Peter beat around the bush with their Words? Did they seek to ease into the Truth? Did they look for appealing words of compromise and sensitivity? (Biblical Truth…not I want burgers…you want pizza…lets compromise and have a cheeseburger pizza…now I am hungry…)
No, the answer is no. And why not? Because they were loving…they knew the Truth saves. And often the Truth is the last thing we as sinners want to hear. But the Truth is all we need to hear.
In the Book of Acts (a must read by the way) Paul seeks a path to Caesar. Paul appealed to have his case heard before the emperor of Rome! Why?… Because Paul felt he was being unfairly treated? Nope. Because Paul wanted to claim everyone was committing injustice and racism? Nope. Because Paul wanted to compromise? Nope.
Paul sought to enter Rome to fight! (OH no, that’s mean) … No, Paul sought to fight with the Sword of the Spirit…the very Word of God! Paul took Christ and Him crucified in front of the Roman government. Paul looked to transform hearts. Paul led with the power of the Truth. Paul preached True Love and Peace.
When did the Church abandon the Truth of the Word for the truth of the world? When did the Church abandon the power of Jesus? The power of Jesus to transform hearts.
If Jesus wrote a letter to the Churches today… would we want to read it?
Let us pray for the Truth of God’s Holy Word to be preached without compromise.
Let us pray to set our own personal desires and plans aside…and seek that which only pleases God…and satisfies His Will…not our own.
Let us pray for hearts to be transformed… Jesus indwells, and transforms, the hearts of anyone who is brought to Faith.
True change comes from True Transformation… Let us preach the Word…Jesus will do the rest.
I would love to speak with anyone seeking a relationship with Jesus!
Blessings,
Pastor Jason
