Friends, I’m concerned that maybe in the course of your salvation, there were things that were not taught to you that would sincerely help you navigate through some of the challenges that we face in society today. While ecumenical opinions on the gospel might make it more palatable, they have also diminished the importance of some of the more stark characteristics of God. I see things happening in the world and I worry that maybe you have not been given the right tools to equip you for this time.
On the other hand there are those who were taught better but have become so accustomed to living in this world, they forget that they are not meant to have the mind to stay here forever. We are here for a time and until that time is up, we are meant to accomplish the mission of God, which it to ensure that all people hear the gospel and have the opportunity to say yes to being reconciled to him.
So if this is new, I am asking you to consider these thoughts and ask the Lord to reveal to you what is true. And if this is a reminder, take it with a grain of salt that you must not neglect your first love, Jesus Christ, who bled and died so that you could experience eternal life through Him. These points are non-negotiable for me. I will not be moved.
The Lord God has been described as a jealous God; while this conveys the depth of His feelings, He is not actually jealous in a human way. What this sentiment is meant to convey is that although God is mighty and loving, He also knows who He is and those who believe need to recognize that there are no other gods, only Him. Our culture has become pluralistic to the point where people loosely describe that they affiliate with Christianity and other religions or world views. The truth is Christianity is not meant to be mixed with any other religion.
There is only one way to God, and one way to him: that is through salvation by acknowledging the death of Jesus as God’s Son. Furthermore, you cannot accept that truth if you do not believe that Jesus is literally coming back to physically remove those who believe in Him and who have made right with His Father. This Second Coming is the event that Christians are anticipating and have been waiting for since Jesus died and rose from the grave. If you don’t believe He is coming back, you are missing a crucial piece of the gospel and need to start informing yourself.
Part of God’s demand to be known as the only God is based on the fact that humans have been prone to put their hope and trust in magic, deceptions and idol worship. This is where the comparison of jealousy comes into play: God is the only God and directly commands those who believe in Him to have no other gods before Him. All of the other things we worship take us further away from God and the thing is, we want to be close so that we can hear Him and know what to do. God can’t be close to you unless you do things that help to cultivate holiness. There are too many Christians who are scared of that word and as such, they may have left it out of Sunday service.
As your sister who loves you and doesn’t want to see you get hurt, I want you to know that God does not tolerate sin. We can ask Him to forgive us, and cleanse us of sin, because Jesus’ death makes it possible for us to do so, but don’t forget before that, the only way to be in right standing with God was through blood sacrifices of animals through the law of Moses. If your experience of Christianity has only been in the New Testament, you are missing out on some important principles that speak to the character of God. Ultimately He wants to be known by you and you will want to be known by Him on the day when we are all judged, because that’s part of it too.
In addition to not having other gods blended into Christian belief or practice, there are several reference points in the New Testament where God illustrates how we should relate to Him, as a Master. People today are uncomfortable with the power relationship that word brings, and so they try to stigmatize it to only carry a negative connotation. The truth is made plain in the words of Jesus: no man can serve two masters, either you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other (Matthew 6:24). That same verse goes on to say you cannot serve God and money. I believe it is actually more than money that is being discussed here. The principle is only one God may have your heart, soul, mind, strength and full devotion. Anything else will distract you and cause hate for Him to fill your heart. God knows that this is a flaw of humanity. Although He tried to reset creation and eradicate wickedness, it kept coming back (that is altogether another blog entry). This is why He says it for us to remember we have to choose Him and His way every time if we are going to be like Christ. Christ only did what His Father told Him to do, and He explained that so that we also would follow His example.
If you enjoy prophecy and other gifts of the Spirit, if you have benefitted from the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience etc.), if these are the things that have you stoked to be a Christian, you are sitting in a wading pool and thinking that you are swimming in an ocean. These fragrant aspects are part of the reward that is found in God, but this is meant for people who believe and therefore pursue Him by fully surrendering to Him. There is beauty in being committed and devoted to God. We don’t realize it because most of us are not truly persecuted for our faith anymore. I want you to know that we are already in times when persecution of Christians is back on the agenda and to get through it, you need to know all aspects of what we believe.
Although we are not living in Biblical times, there are certain things from the Old Testament that we subscribe to concerning holiness. Some of these things have been clarified and updated with time, but there are some Christians who still follow the law as best they can. An example of this is the practice of tattooing. The Bible says that we should not cut our body for the purpose of making indelible marks, which can be compared to tattooing. I believe the Bible is true in that God does not want us to Mark our skin with permanent markings that are meant to attract demonic energy and invoke unclean spirits to seek us out. I think a tattoo of a flower or a picture is not the same thing, because it does not carry the spiritual aspect. If Christians want to stand against tattoos, I respect them for that stance. I have non-religious tattoos, and in selecting them I was careful to make sure I was not choosing anything that would bring me spiritual harm. I like my tattoos and they do not separate me from worshipping God. This is similar to the dream that Peter had where he saw forbidden meat. If we pray over it and ask God to cleanse it, then it’s fine to eat it. However Paul cautions that we should not do things that are controversial like this in front of new Christians if the possibility exists that it will cause confusion for them.
This brings me to my real point: we are meant to worship God alone and place nothing else above Him. The Old Testament tells of three Hebrew boys who refused to bow to an image of the King, and they were thrown in a fiery furnace to die, but God preserved them. In these end times, we must not bow to anyone but Jesus. No human should approach another human in that posture of worship, especially if we are all equal. If we believe that Jesus is coming again, then we have to be watching for signs that the time for that return is near. Those signs include an increase in wickedness, a lot of blindness and confusion about things that should be straightforward and literal blasphemous acts like idol worship. When you see people bowing to other people, being forced to bow through shaming, harassment, belligerence and violence, our very insides should recognize that something evil is in it. I’m watching people get caught up in anger and pettiness, counting which friends are for them and which are against them, as though we are all mini-gods who demand demonstrations of loyalty- what is that, but pride and vanity? If you’re struggling to receive this, I am praying for you right now that the scales will fall off of your eyes, and that your love for God will be more than your love of your life. Stop, breathe and reread. If we put the politics aside, would we as Christians ever see masses of people being made to bow to anyone but God and think that’s ok? Come now and tell me that you can’t separate the politics. You are right. It was never meant to be there in the first place. This is a result of too much mixing Christianity with other things, including world views. Your identity, however fragmented and marginalized cannot be made whole until you take hold of your identity in Christ. When He integrates all of those pieces and makes you whole, suddenly you are not spending your life reacting to micro aggressions and fear. The concept of a micro-aggression is newly coined term for this strange time we live in to justify holding on to our hurts and our sense of justice. I want to be clear- the injustices we are seeing in the world are real. By no means do I want to diminish them. If these things pain your heart, then know this: there is worse yet to come. This is Satan’s time on earth rolling to a close. Things will increasingly be unfair. This is something Christians who have been persecuted for the gospel have had to struggle with their whole lives. The answer is not to take matters into our own hands and apply our flawed lens of human justice. It will only ever be fair depending on who has the power to exact justice, that we can agree on. The answer is not to sit back and do nothing. I have no problem with people protesting if they understand the implications of lending their body to a mass demonstration, it’s within their rights to do so. But the problem that will arise is the same as the one that came after the flood, when everything on earth was regenerated and God promised not to destroy humanity again. If you don’t know what happened, wickedness returned. In a peaceful protest, wickedness will prompt some people to do things that are lawless. History has shown us that lawlessness leads to a breakdown in civilization. If you want to be able to keep enjoying the little luxuries of life you’ve come to love, then you need civilization to be intact.
If this is heavy for your heart, be encouraged especially with the parable of the virgins waiting for the bridegroom. As Christians, we have much to look forward to in the regenerated world that God is preparing for us. That parable reminds us to focus on the things of God and stay engaged in our relationship with Him, so that we have plenty of oil to last us into the dark days. Darkness has to come friends. I hate it as much as you do, but the things of this world cannot be stored up on earth, it will all pass away. May God help us, myself included, to be humble and prudent in these times.