Luke 12:49-53, Matthew 10:16-39, Matthew 6
I have pondered an article that I read recently and have come to some conclusions. I don't think churches anywhere seek to intentionally misrepresent the truth of God's Word, but nonetheless, it seems that is happening more and more today.
The contemporary church, with it's new gospel (not the truth according to God's Word) is too scared of offending someone to tell them the truth about God's judgment and hell. Only the love is preached, but that is only half the story. Jesus said in Luke 12:49"I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" That doesn't sound like a "love gospel" but rather the hard truth of what we, as sinners deserve.
I see Jesus telling the disciples that they will be abused, mocked, beaten, jailed for His sake. They counted it a privilege to endure suffering for God. I know I often think of persecution
as a bad thing, which it is not.Rather God has used Christians wholly dedicated to Him, enduring many hardships, to include time in prison for preaching the gospel to work about His glory. I don't think it is possible to get thrown in jail for the sake of the gospel in this country! We must still "cause a great commotion" as in Acts 19:23(thanks for the verse, Chadd) as those early disciples did. The message of sin and our inability to earn our own salvation is not one of comfort or tolerance, but one of being set apart from the world, bought by the blood of Jesus. It is not always the easy path, but it leads to righteousness.
Matthew 10 doesn't paint a very pretty picture for those preaching the prosperity gospel, or seeking to reach the lost without telling them what they are "signing up for" It is not all about forgiveness and grace. Those are very integral parts, but there is also personal sacrifice, surrendering your whole being to the Lord, which are first on the priority list. The word Lord does not lend itself to self fulfillment, but only to blessings that are given when we give ourselves completely to His service.
Matthew 6:33 is often misquoted as "blah blah blah, and all these THINGS will be added unto you", but the qualifier is that we "Seek FIRST His kingdom and his righteousness, then all these things (necessities like food and clothing) will be added unto you."
If we seek the world's approval and not the Lord's then He is not the Lord of our life, and we will never get to His righteousness. We will be stuck in the temporal, looking for something more and never seeing that what the passage is about is surrendering all, not gaining things of the earth.
Mark
