What happened to just proclaiming the gospel?
Christian ministry is hard. The challenges and the time involved do not always lead to a great reward right now. The temptation is always to find an easy fix, a quick solution, a way to make things happen without trying very hard.
The struggles and the temptations can lead to seeing despair in the midst of hope, can lead to faithful servants abandoning their post feeling ashamed of their arguments, and sick of defending orthodoxy.
The falling away of friends into the hands of theological liberalism, or even them just not caring as much anymore is also tragic.
Churchianity has deep roots in every denomination, but since I started university, (and obviously before that time too), not long has gone by without a major announcement that someone somewhere has misapplied the scriptures. Whether it is the preacher who suggests that not seeking riches is a false and defeatest mindset for a Christian, the preacher whose own personal unrepentance of certain obvious sins did not disqualify him from becoming a bishop, or the clerics who have been so swept up in modernist rationalism, feminist activism and hedonistic feel-goodism so as to be washed away from a solid biblical base.
As the writer to the Hebrews said
If anyone out there reading this finds the pressure too much, and wishes to give up; just remember that Jesus Christ has died and rose again. He has given us an eternal inheritance, undefiled, unfading and kept in heaven. We need to be continually strenghtened by the grace of God.
The struggles and the temptations can lead to seeing despair in the midst of hope, can lead to faithful servants abandoning their post feeling ashamed of their arguments, and sick of defending orthodoxy.
The falling away of friends into the hands of theological liberalism, or even them just not caring as much anymore is also tragic.
Churchianity has deep roots in every denomination, but since I started university, (and obviously before that time too), not long has gone by without a major announcement that someone somewhere has misapplied the scriptures. Whether it is the preacher who suggests that not seeking riches is a false and defeatest mindset for a Christian, the preacher whose own personal unrepentance of certain obvious sins did not disqualify him from becoming a bishop, or the clerics who have been so swept up in modernist rationalism, feminist activism and hedonistic feel-goodism so as to be washed away from a solid biblical base.
As the writer to the Hebrews said
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them. (Hebrews 13:8-9)
If anyone out there reading this finds the pressure too much, and wishes to give up; just remember that Jesus Christ has died and rose again. He has given us an eternal inheritance, undefiled, unfading and kept in heaven. We need to be continually strenghtened by the grace of God.
posted by Pete at
8:04 AM
