For a long time, this topic has been moving in my spirit. A few observations and a recent conversation with an elderly Christian widow who has left her church in pain has only confirmed what I have been struggling to place my finger on. I’ve finally decided to put my thoughts on paper. You may call it controversial, the truth may hurt a little but it must be told in order to expose the lie.
THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL FOR THE TRUE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
Straight Talk on Being Authentic Christians
Today the world is so tired of Pseudo Christianity. Many of them actually consider Christians and hypocrites as synonyms! Acc to a LIFEWAY research study: About 72% of the people interviewed said that they thought that the church was full of hypocrites."*, isn’t that a crying shame to us,the followers of Christ? “Well, that’s only one segment of the population” I hear you say. In that case, now let us take a look at the youth statistics. Acc to the same study, “about 70% of young adults stop attending church between 18 & 22."*
HOW I BECAME A CHRISTIAN & WHY I JOINED CHURCH:
The youth of today are not a bunch of rebellious, disobedient GOD HATERS as many like to think. In fact, they are without doubt, EVANGELISTIC RDX (if there was ever any such explosive).Today’s youth have a mind of their own and are not only intelligent & creative but also authentic. Children and youth hate anything that is artificial and false; often they see through it and expose it. That’s why they are a threat to the forces of darkness. Satan is not afraid of any number of Revival meetings of a bunch of Christians who are not REAL. But he is terrified when true Christians live an authentic Christian life totally depending on Jesus and in truth. We can easily attract more souls to Christ by living our testimony than by holding Crusades. With what authority do I tell you this? Well, with the authority of personal experience. I was a person not in search of any truth and definitely not in search of Christianity. However when I accidentally came across a group of youngsters totally dedicated to Christ; living a life of maturity and authenticity, I was curious.This curiosity got the better of me so that I learnt more about why they were like that and that lead me to accept Christ right in my youth. It was not CHURCH I wanted.I grew up a Christian seeing a lot of hypocrisy and fights in churches.I would never want to be one of them in a million years however this chance encounter with these group of youngsters changed my life forever.I wanted the Christ in those Christians and was ready to do what it took for that,and that’s why I joined Church.
The youth of today are the hope of tomorrow. What they require is not "perfect Churches"(for that is a myth)but genuine and authentic role models and shepherds(Pastors & Church leaders)who can not only provide convincing answers to their challenging questions but also who are approachable whenever they need guidance.We are talking about Personal Evangelisation within the Church.Once they have made their decision, there is seldom a turning back coz that’s their specialty; youngsters don’t do anything superficially,they do it only if convinced and once they are, they remain loyal to that cause. And we talk about no end of Camps and Conferences and Outreach Ministries to SAVE the unsaved youth when what the youth really need are authentic Church Leaders who portray the transparency and availability of our Lord Jesus to them.
We cross seas “in the name of evangelization” while we forget the needy souls in our homes (our families, loved ones, children), disregard the confused youngster who comes to us for help / guidance and ignore the unsaved neighbor just around the corner. (Acc to the same research about 89% of the un- churched had Christian neighbors.)*
*Research Statistics Source link: http://backtochurch.com/participate/resources/statistics/
Saturated with our Ministry Call for reaching out to the unknown, we have become so short-sighted that it is the “altar-call statistics” that we focus on while we neglect the church “dropout statistics.” I recently heard in a Sermon on Evangelization that if we could just concentrate on handholding the new believers in our care by sharing with them our struggles and victories in Christ and teaching them how to mature into living a life of total dependence on God in humility and love, we could save more souls from the fire of hell than any number of missionary trips could.
Don’t get me wrong, it is our Lord Himself who has asked us to go out into the world and make disciples (Mathew 28:19).But what use will even a 100% altar call success rate be if 50% of our new believers fall back into their old ways disgruntled and fed up of the uncaring “so called Perfect leaders and Super spiritual Pastor” who never inspires his flock by sharing his struggles and victories in his Christian life or being available for them when they are in need?
Many times the church appears to be a group of faultless people with a “halo” around their heads and who always seem to have their act together. They group together often looking down on the more honest Christian who admits to struggles in his spiritual walk. I speak as one who has truly felt like an outsider in some of the best of churches. I am not a religious person, never have been and never will be. In fact, my spiritual journey (like I mentioned above) was never a search or an obligation; it was more a love-decision than a religious one. I loved Jesus with all of my being because of who He was and who I was not. My Christian walk started in the pursuit of learning how to become more and more like HIM on a daily basis and it still continues….
Church; let us ask ourselves, are we becoming more and more like Christ in our daily walk with Him? I am talking about the Jesus who was:
1) Open yet discrete- How many of us are truly open about our life’s struggles and victories for encouraging others? Yet also live set apart and distinct from the world.
2) Honest yet tactful- Are we striving to be truthful in every aspect of our life? Yet, are we careful not to be brutally frank so as to tear someone down with our TRUTH?
3) Knowledgeable and yet not loud-Jesus knew and understood all mysteries and even the thoughts of men but he was quiet and meek.
4) Approachable yet authentic-Are we approachable to those in need and when we are: Is it really us or a mask that we put on?
5) Kind yet firm-Are we gentle and good hearted to those around and yet firm when it comes to correction?
6) Just and yet loving- Jesus took our sins upon Himself and died for us (JUSTICE).He did this because He loved us.
7) Transparent yet perfect-Do we speak clearly and in a straightforward manner, without any ambiguity and yet are we striving for perfection and excellence?
8) Wise yet generous- There are many who are so wise even in the things of God and yet they never share what they learn with the body of Christ. Do we have the burden to help a fellow traveler struggling in his journey of life by sharing some of the revelations God has freely given us?
9) Righteous yet never condescending - Sometimes we are looked down on by “the more spiritual”/ “elderly”/ “those in the Ministry” when we voice our issues or ask questions for help. A truly righteous person can never forget the many times in his spiritual growth that others have helped him to grow to the position that he has reached today. God never looks down at us or frowns at us for our difficult questions or wacky ideas.
10) All powerful & yet humble- From a worldly point of view, people in power are seldom humble. After all, they have control and so may misuse it. Jesus looks at Leadership as a Shepherd’s love and concern for His sheep.
11) Holy yet merciful-Usually when people are holy, they tend to find fault/criticize or look down/ slander others. Let us learn from our Holy Father who hates sin but loves the sinner.
12) Divine and yet human -This is the quality that I like best about Jesus. The fact that He was GOD and yet so human-compassionate and sensitive. Many of our wonderful leaders are so super spiritual that they lack this endearing quality that is mistaken often by many for weakness but is actually the ultimate sign of maturity. The extreme goodness of a heart so finely- tuned in with the Father’s heart that He is moved to tears when he sees the pain of others (John 11:35). Sadly, many of our churches are filled with insensitive, mechanical Christians & leaders who have forgotten “to rejoice with those who rejoice and to weep with those who weep”.
Hope I have not offended anyone by my words. I praise God with all my heart for true Christian leaders and men and women of God who continue to faithfully shepherd the flock entrusted to them. Let us never forget to uphold them in our prayers.
POINT TO PONDER:
“Do we as Christians portray these Christ like qualities that actually makes Christianity what it really is or are we busy preaching Christianity without Christ?
Have a great week!
Take care, God bless,
Sparky Laurie
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