Paul's Passing Thoughts

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A major theme in the Bible is unity. The Bible teaches us to be one and to be at peace with our enemies as much as it depends on us. As literal children of God, the Bible teaches us that God’s family is one body in Christ. We strive for unity by learning more and more about who we are in Christ together. Hence, the focus must be to discover our “one mind in Christ” and its objective truth.

With that said, we are “ambassadors” while we are here representing God’s kingdom. It’s not us against them. Moreover, OUR KINGDOM IS NOT YET OF THIS WORLD. No, no, no no, we are not here to “conquer the world for Christ.” One of the primary reasons church is a hot mess is its kingdom theology. It’s a disaster, and creates a morass of disunity within and outside of the church. Our kingdom is totally future, and NO, God’s kingdom authority is not here “spiritually” and being applied “through the church.” Look, why are church missions overseas such a hot mess like everything else in the church? Because foreign governments understand the church’s kingdom theology and see it as a conquering invader. Because…it is.

This is why church is NOT the ekklesia. Church is an institution by its very definition; ekklesia is a literal family. The church’s kingdom theology necessarily demands an authoritative political infrastructure. Hence, church is just another entity that contributes to world disunity. It’s just another authoritative institution vying for power.

Now we come to what has prompted me to finally write this post. For some time, I have observed an overt disrespect and disdain that churchgoers have for their biological families. Ironically, this perspective comes from born again believers who have left the church and seek to worship God with their whole lives and really look to their individual understanding of the Bible alone for life wisdom. This is an interesting position to be in because in the eyes of unbelievers as well, you are yet a Christian though you no longer do church, and not exactly at the top of their Christmas card list.

More irony follows. Church orthodoxy teaches that ALL people are “sinners,” so according to church orthodoxy, churchgoers are not better than unbelievers, but yet, there is only one thing worse than an unbeliever, a professing Christian that has disavowed church. Indeed, this is, apparently, a whole different level of sinism wherein all bets are off; you are fair game for all forms of disdain. Furthermore, those who are included in having a right to disdain you are those who are unfaithful to regular church attendance, but are formal members. It’s little wonder the home fellowship justification by new birth movement is off to a slow start. Here is another thought: church members, though they claim to be yokefellows with lowly sinners, can not avoid an inner belief that they are at least smarter than unbelievers for being church members. And if you are a really, really humble churchgoer that believes in “sovereign grace,” you merely believe God chose you over someone else, which is ok, because God didn’t choose you over someone else for any merit that you have. Right.

The subsequent folly of church evangelism is something I have discussed prior in other posts. In no case whatsoever in any church canned gospel presentation, is it revealed that the recipient’s response to the Gospel is wholly dependent on what God has already decided. It’s the “sovereign grace” gospel, but obviously, presenting the whole truth of this “good news” would elicit some interesting responses from any thinking person. If you are in business management, try that one out at your next meeting: you will agree with me if God opens up your understanding. Yes indeed, that will win them over. At any rate, the point here follows: the church’s “good news” is not full disclosure and therefore disingenuous to begin with on many other levels in addition to allowing recipients to believe that salvation will make them a better person. That’s not church orthodoxy. I could go on and on about this, but an additional point well worth the time is Susan Dohse’s presentation on sanctification at the 2012 TANC conference (https://youtu.be/B-jYAvrxkV0).

What have I seen over the years in regard to how churchgoers treat their own biological family members? Just put it this way: most unbelievers would be aghast. And what the unchurched family reprobates have done for them, viz, paid for their college educations or whatever, need not be considered because after all, “it’s the Lord who really did that for me through them and the Lord uses all kinds of people to bring about His will.”

Be sure of this: church is a license to do or think anything you want to. In addition, its orthodoxy fosters a narcissistic worldview cloaked in altruism. It contributes to a world that is hellbent on being the antithesis of God’s heart, which necessarily includes disunity wherever possible.

When your whole life is worship, your life is a nonstop gospel presentation. When people ask you about the hope in your life that they see, merely share your worldview that strives to love, and not a focus on avoiding the consequences of law-breaking due to total depravity. I have mentioned previously about the evangelical return to something they are very proud of: “confessionalism.” What’s that? Well, it’s this idea that we don’t confess anything with our actions, but rather, we merely verbally confess the truth about how bad humanity sucks. To actually attempt to live the gospel, is an attempt to…wait for it…”be the gospel.” And, “the gospel isn’t you, It’s Jesus.” We constantly hear this type of verbiage from church leaders nonstop.

The result? A life that enables you to waller in the world’s hate and still make it into heaven via church membership. A hate that even dismisses the value placed on biological families by the unregenerate. It is also an indifference to unity in every venue of life.

paul