PRETENDERS AMONG US
“The New Testament example of the Christian experience is that of a personal, passionate devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ. Every other kind of so-called Christian experience is detached from the Person of Jesus. There is no regeneration - no being born again into the kingdom in which Christ lives and reigns supreme. There is only the idea that He is our pattern. In the New Testament Jesus Christ is the Savior long before He is the pattern. Today He is being portrayed as the figurehead of a religion- a mere example. He is that but He is infinitely more. He is salvation itself; He is the Gospel of God!” Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (devotional) 11/29
God Almighty didn’t come to this earth simply just to “win” hearts and minds or to merely give us a "blue-print" for how to live. God Incarnate came to earth in order that we might be restored to Him and so that Jesus might DWELL in us and we in Him. Christianity is NOT just some trendy, self-help philosophy or ideology, the tenets of which you simply follow like a rulebook, or apply like mathematical equation for your desired "outcome" or "product." (T.D. Jakes recently referred to Jesus as the "product" that he was "selling", on network TV!)
There are many "admirers" of Jesus Christ 'the man,' who cannot even begin to accept the FACT that God Almighty, took on human flesh and became a God/Man...fully God and fully Man. Jesus is "GOD MANIFESTED IN THE FLESH." (1 Tim. 3:16). (In my heart, I love to call Jesus: Super God/ Super-man) They may pay homage to a "special man" or even venerate Jesus as merely some sort of prophet who had "interesting sayings," but they never have believed in or received Him as Savior, God and Lord of their personal lives. As pious or "appreciative" as these people may sound, they are enemies of Jesus Christ, "having a FORM of godliness but denying the power thereof." Their "christ" is a figment of their own imaginations and intellects. Their designer "jesus" fits into the framework, which THEY have created because in reality, THEY are the "lords" of THEIR own lives, NOT our Jesus of the Bible. They won't dethrone (crucify) their own intellects and/or emotions, and abdicate the inner throne of their own lives and then invite, seek, and allow Jesus to be the Supreme King (Lord) of their lives. They are what I also call C.I.N.O's (Christians In Name Only) or their slightly more advanced bretheren: MUPPIES (Modern Urban Pharisees). Their shallow interpretation of the Bible is only used to justify THEIR pre-existent interpretations or formulas.
Their primary orientations are anything but Jesus and His word. They are focused on the things of this world mostly and concerned primarily with their lot in life. They are filled with selfish ambitions and the desire to be "recognized." This type of "christian" is an ENEMY of Jesus Christ and His kingdom. The saying "so close, yet so far away" comes to mind. It is IMPOSSIBLE to serve two "Gods." This type of deceived and spiritually bankrupt "christian" quickly substitutes different "gods" in place of Jesus or has never truly repented (turned away from) those idols, agendas or preconceived ideas. Most of them pay homage to man, and the most ambitious learn how to play the flattery game (kissing up). They are most disingenuous and make gains in this world by using ungodly methods. They are playing games with God and are satisfied with their lot and station in life and like the Pharisees, are happy to relish the thought that they are "not like other people." They believe that they are better than others in their own eyes (spirit of superiority, haughty spirit) and that is enough for them. These are like "stepford christians" - dangerous posers. They are dangerous to the kingdom and toxic to real Christians. Many of them slather themselves in a persona of false humility and cunningly wait for "born again" types to falter in some way so that they can point out others "failures." This type of stepford "christian" lies in wait like a spider in a web, in order to play the "aha/gotchya" game. They may even be well versed in the law so as to try to legitimize their condescending to "lesser" Christians. Religious, political correctness is their true "god," not Jesus Christ.
Now, this may shock you, but this describes a major portion of churchgoers!
There are many that call themselves “Christian” and even describe themselves as being “born again,” who actually despise our true Christ of the Bible, and His followers. With their lips they profess to know Him and serve Him but with their works they prove that they are not His. Many “believers” these days, have a certain amount of appreciation for Jesus and don’t want to be perceived as being against Christ and His Gospel, but on the other hand, have never surrendered their lives to Him, walk with Him, nor have they truly repented of their sins. They despise "those fanatics" who have "given up the control of their own lives." They see Jesus as merely a "pattern" but don't want Him to be Lord and King of their own lives.
Simply walking into a church or associating with Christians, makes you as much of a Christian, as walking into a garage makes you a Cadillac (let alone a car)! There are many that pay homage to Christ in the same fashion that they pay homage to their bosses, but they really don’t love either one!
My favorite former professor at school is a professed atheist and loves to needle certain religious antics that sprang up around Christianity, especially the fallout of strict adherence to the religious system called “Calvinism.” I was surprised that I actually agreed with many of my professor's observations. (The tenets of strict Calvinism historically became dead religious battering rams wielded by large portions of Protestantism, which were also tragically imposed upon non-believers in society). But when we have had conversations about Jesus, his whole demeanor becomes sweet and child-like and he openly professes a heartfelt appreciation for Jesus Christ the “man,” and the original love and communal nature of Christianity. However, he stops well short of accepting the divinity of Christ, and the thought of receiving Christ into his life and repenting of his sins is anathema to him. Many who now go to church really aren’t any different. My atheist professor is just more honest.
I am referring to a large portion of “believers,” who have a certain amount of belief and appreciation for Christ but they are not willing to lay down their lives and trust Jesus and be born-again. They are afraid of losing their independence and the control of their own lives. Some of them actually despise “christers” whose “fanaticism” for Jesus mostly annoys them. This is a subtle spiritual war that is going on under the surface, for their souls. They closely examine 'born again Christians' (with extreme prejudice) in order to expose and amplify their flaws in order to justify not receiving Christ. Being a “believer,” doesn't even make you a Christian, “for even the demons “believe” and tremble” (James 2:19). Of course it is wonderful that seekers come and are welcomed in the church and that their belief is nurtured in hope that it becomes a trusting faith in Jesus Christ. But spiritual discernment must be exercised so that only those who are truly born again and bear the fruit of Jesus Christ, can become members and leaders in the church, so that the Gospel is not compromised. The church is lacking in spiritual discernment these days and apt to install non- Christians and many who are immature in Christ, simply because they seem "socially respectable." Worldly, immature believers (includes many pastors) in positions of authority, will appoint people to positions for which they are not spiritually qualified, on the basis of outward appearance, social "respectability," status and standing in the community. Shallow "christians" look at the outer man and his credentials (bowing to image). Most are such poor discerners that they can't even begin to judge whether someone has real, Christlike character or not, so they rely on the "experts" ("acamadicians"- sounds like magician) to tell them. A person can look sterling on paper and be a totally empty suit!
Many shallow believers treat the doctrine of Christ and the message of the Gospel as if it were just another “self-help” infomercial. Modern Christianity is awash in the teaching and preaching of “style” and “method” instead of biblical and spiritual substance and depth, because people want to avoid being spiritually convicted and thus, having to "give up" their worldly, selfish lifestyles. They cannot come to grips with a God who says: "DENY YOURSELF...TAKE UP YOUR CROSS AND FOLLOW ME!" Spiritual conviction is often painful at first, and people are increasingly brainwashed to believe that Christian truth must always be “positive” and should never make us feel "bad." I don't know about you, but I experience spiritual conviction about some matter or other, on a DAILY basis and count it all JOY that God cares about me enough to correct me.
Many shallow preachers cater to the human penchant to want every message to be "positive" and deduce Christianity to a multi-step formula or method by which believers can “change their lives” or even get “prosperity.” (Jesus came to bless me right?) Jesus most definitely can change your life and bless you spiritually, but He cannot as long as you cling to your “self” and this material world. Jesus also promised to take care of our daily needs if we put our trust in Him, but DID NOT promise to make us independently wealthy! I recently heard a mainline evangelical preacher on Christian T.V., put his view of the Gospel into a nutshell. I wasn’t surprised by his shallow answer that the “Gospel is all about obedience that equates to blessing.” In other words, for many “churched” people, the cornerstone of their religion is to obey God in order that THEY might receive His blessings. This is a erroneous religious formula, not the vital message of the Gospel. Yes, God wants to bless us, but if the prime motivation of the believer is obeying God in order to get His blessing, that believer is spiritually bankrupt and is falling far short of the deeper Treasure of an intimate, loving relationship with Jesus.
Most “followers” today are following some kind of movement, pastor, ideology, theology, religion, style, formula, or method. Very few are truly and humbly following Jesus and obeying His marvelous truth. Most believers are still caught up in the ways of the world and are more concerned with “keeping up with the joneses,” and how to achieve social standing or prominence in the church. We are supposed to “fix our eyes on Jesus,” instead, today’s church is primarily focused on church growth, marketing and entertainment. Our primary reason for gathering together should be to adore, worship and glorify Jesus. Many churches have long ago lost their first love for Jesus and have substituted a phony, feel good, social gospel of their own making, for the real Gospel.
Your personal orientation (what your life revolves around; your prime focus in life) is rooted in one of 3 major realms. People are ruled either by their emotions or heart, (how they feel about something or someone), their logic or intellect, (mind over matter type), or by their spirit man, (which is influenced or dominated either by the Holy Spirit if one is a Christian, or by evil spirits if one is possessed or oppressed by Satan). So, there are three basic human realms. However, the realm of the spirit has a holy or unholy disposition. The spirit of man is born infected with sin, inherited from our ancestors since Adam. We languish in spiritual death, unless we become regenerated in Christ. It is man’s choice as to whether he will choose redemption in Christ and spiritual rebirth, or the other choice of eternal spiritual death. Another choice that I hope is very rare, would be to enslave and punish the spirit of man, as guided by the assistance of demonic spirits. Unfortunately, demonic possession is up. People who are oppressed by demons is way up as more and more people are dabbling and experimenting with the occult and in sexual perversions, which leave bad spiritual attachments.
The first two realms that I mentioned; the emotions and intellect, comprise the very soul of man. Our emotions reflect the lowest or primal realm within us and must be brought into line with God’s word or they will cause us to indulge in various sins. Someone who is ruled by his emotions is unstable at best. When strong and uncontrollable emotions still grip and rule a Christian, it may be a sign of demonic oppression. The man or woman who is ruled primarily by his/her intellect may be very successful in this world. Most people are a combination of these two realms (emotion and intellect) of the soul, while Christians are commanded to be ruled by the Holy Spirit and filled with Him. Someone who is dominated by his emotions is often identified as being “unbalanced” though you rarely hear that said about someone who is a boring, cerebral intellectual (guess you know which one I default to!). It is the realms of the soul, which comprise our personality. The 'soul' is also referred to as the 'heart.' The realm of the spirit is something quite different, although it is the most important part of man and that, which sets man apart and identifies us as having been “made in the image of God.” It is by regenerating our inner spirit man that Jesus wants to reign in our hearts (souls) and regenerate us. When we are born again, God’s Holy Spirit takes up residence in and begins to regenerate our spirit man. The Holy Spirit yearns to affect and rule ALL of the other realms of our being as well. The Spirit can only accomplish that which we give Him permission by our wills through obedience to His prompting in accordance with God's Word (Jesus will not go where He is not welcome or invited). This is the major reason that most new converts don’t immediately experience the fullness of the Spirit in every realm of their being. It is only when we surrender every realm and every compartment of our lives to Christ, that He can fill those areas within us, with His marvelous Holy Spirit.
Realize that people now-a-days are fiercely compartmentalized. They act differently depending upon where they are and whom they are around. They may act pious and servant-like around people they want to impress but then disrespect and mistreat those “lower” than themselves. This is a classic description of a hypocrite that we all can confess to being at times, at some level. At work they may act one way while in front of church members they act another way. This is why some people don’t SEEM to have the witness of the Holy Spirit within them, because they quench the Spirit by their behavior and don‘t allow Him into EVERY area of their lives. It’s because their emotional or intellectual realm is still ruled by “self.” Now, that can be “self-pity,” self-destruction,” or “self-indulgence.” As long as any form of “self” rules our emotions or intellects, we cannot experience the peace, love, healing and Presence of Jesus in the emotional center of our souls (our hearts). The same truth applies to our intellect. This is the inner battleground where the word of God... His sword must be allowed to cut away (if we consume His word) at the flesh of our minds and emotions and clean out our inner vessels and its many tributaries so that Christ may fully dwell therein.
There are also many in these last days who are prevented from personally receiving our Lord of Glory or the consequent Baptism in in His Spirit, due to dark spiritual attachments that were made earlier in their lives. Dabbling in the occult (astrology, horoscopes, fortune telling, numerology, various cults or eastern philosophies, certain psychological or "New Age" teachings) can blind or make people rebellious or even violent against the cause of Christ Jesus. Unconfessed sins, like having an abortion may also carry deep emotional scarring and demonic oppression that must be addressed before such a believer can move on into the fullness of Christ and His Spirit. These types of half-baked believers often fall into deep cycles of depression because they are so spiritually torn and are clueless (blind) as to the root cause because they are not abiding in Jesus and His Word. Such a person needs Biblical counseling with someone who has spiritual discernment, who can help lead them to spiritual deliverance and victory in Christ.
This leads us to evaluate the current state of the church, which has grown very worldly, materialistic and idolatrous in its orientation. The church is plagued by too many politically correct, social conformists that are enslaved to the social pecking order based on worldly status, position, income, and occupation, instead of love and obedience to Christ. Most churches are more like “clubs” where people associate with others of “like standing,” “social class” and “respectability” in the community. How many truly bear the fruit of walking with Jesus and don‘t adhere to these worldly standards imposed by worldly, half-baked Christians? How many are lovingly abandoned to Jesus above all else? Very few. Most are controlled or feel imperiled if they dare to speak out about this sort of discernment. They are told by the “control freaks” in no uncertain terms to “get with the program” or shove off. Truth tellers who dare reveal their discernments or draw attention to these deep problems are labeled as being “boat rockers” and “divisive troublemakers” in the church. By gossip and innuendo, often started by leadership (yes it happened to me), such people are ostracized and dispatched.
There is always hope for the church. A remnant remains lovingly obedient and is following our Savior. These sorts of discernments must be delivered to the church and people must be called to repentance. To see what I see and not warn others by revealing these truths, would be selfish and unloving indeed. If I am simply imagining all this in the church, (as some have alluded) then I am in need of your prayers and perhaps some counseling.
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