"Hear ye this, [you] who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness." Isaiah 48:1
Nominality is one of the greatest plagues within the Christian Church. Sometimes is seems that our cup runneth over with people who claim Christianity, but are not Christians; those who follow after Christian precepts, but know nothing about "Christ-likeness." Perhaps this is the Church's fault: too much fluff, not enough substance; too much therapy, not enough doctrine; too many traditions of men, not enough biblical authority, too much questioning doubt, not enough truth. By the hallmarks of Modern Christendom, we are breeding a whole generation of nominal Christians.
"...in truth..." Solid, grounded reality must be the norm again. No more skepticism or "partyline" mentalities. We can be critical thinkers and still arrive at conclusions. "...in righteousness..." Enough nonsense about "following Christian morality." Doing that does not make you a Christian; it only makes you "moral," and that in only human terms. In God's terms, you cannot be righteous because the only true righteousness is His own, and the price to obtain it is the blood of His Son. If you are a Christian, you do not claim morality; you claim the Cross of Christ.
"Away from delusions and closed-minds,
And into Your certainty and mystery..."
-Jon Vowell
Nominality is one of the greatest plagues within the Christian Church. Sometimes is seems that our cup runneth over with people who claim Christianity, but are not Christians; those who follow after Christian precepts, but know nothing about "Christ-likeness." Perhaps this is the Church's fault: too much fluff, not enough substance; too much therapy, not enough doctrine; too many traditions of men, not enough biblical authority, too much questioning doubt, not enough truth. By the hallmarks of Modern Christendom, we are breeding a whole generation of nominal Christians.
"...in truth..." Solid, grounded reality must be the norm again. No more skepticism or "partyline" mentalities. We can be critical thinkers and still arrive at conclusions. "...in righteousness..." Enough nonsense about "following Christian morality." Doing that does not make you a Christian; it only makes you "moral," and that in only human terms. In God's terms, you cannot be righteous because the only true righteousness is His own, and the price to obtain it is the blood of His Son. If you are a Christian, you do not claim morality; you claim the Cross of Christ.
"Away from delusions and closed-minds,
And into Your certainty and mystery..."
-Jon Vowell
No comments:
Post a Comment