So I've broken down and finally made myself take the time to log in and blog. I'm reading the book "Accidental Pharisees" by Larry Osborne right now. It's been convicting and very enlightening. Every week I've written down quotes that stood out to me or started a Facebook status that ended up being one of those annoying, "read more", too long for a status posts so I'd tell myself "I'll just blog it instead". And finally, here it is.
"Presented with a Jesus-style ministry that attracts large crowds of spiritually uncommitted "whats-in-it-for-me" window shoppers (and then meets their needs and teaches them the counsel of God in a palatable way that leaves them longing for more), the spiritual elite write it off as a compromised ministry with a watered-down gospel."
Do you have a "John the Baptist ministry" mentality or a "Jesus ministry" mentality? People flocked to Jesus. Not necessarily because they all wanted to hear what He had to say but because they had heard rumors of a man who was healing people and performing miracles. It was a fickle bunch. The Bible doesn't always mention all these people's lives being completely transformed. But they left hearing the Truth- no matter what initially drew them there. Whereas, because John was typically in hard to reach places, it was usually the dedicated, committed few who ventured to seek him out. The religious leaders- and even John the Baptist himself who had personally baptized Jesus and heard the Father speak down and call Him Son- were baffled at Jesus's style of ministry. He went to the homes of the hated for fellowship, was friends with a prostitute, called out the high and mighty religious rulers of those days.
Too often today, we want to only cater to the strong, fully-committed Christian and look at it as "conforming to the world" to offer things that appeal to the lost. Experiencing a situation like this myself, the conversation came up between myself and a few family members about the "traditional, conservative" church service being the "correct" way to conduct church. Keep in mind, we were not arguing doctrine. First and foremost, in any church, the doctrine should be sound and truth. This was not an issue with the church mentioned. Rather, the critique was about the worship service not having the traditional choir singing hymns and rather a band playing contemporary music with the lights and screens and such. My uncle made the remark "Do you go fishing without baiting the hook? What's wrong with conforming in that way to the times and people coming in and receiving the sound Word of God?" I remember thinking (and still think) what a great analogy that was. What's wrong with baiting the hook? When it is still a heart of praise and the doctrine is sound? Isn't ,after all, the most important reason church exists and our primary goal as Christians to reach the lost? Why does our focus tend to get so wrapped up in the small things that don't pertain to salvation at all- whether that be the church music, different convictions, etc.
It makes me wonder what would happen if Jesus was here today? Would the majority of us be accepting and recognize Him as the true God? The religious leaders of the day were the most knowledgeable of the things of God and the religious traditions. They were all for God, until the way He interacted with the people and made everything suddenly so accessible didn't go along with the way they thought things should be. Then they tried to kill him.
"As valuable as biblical knowledge is, it should come with a warning label...the more we know, the more we're tempted to look down on people..."
These posts always seem to go way longer than I intend. Thank you to those who actually read these crazy rants I go on. =) A thought just gets in my head and keep growing until I finally can get it out. Maybe none of it makes sense, maybe you read it thinking how completely wrong I am. Completely fine with me. I'm not a bible scholar, teacher, or anything else. I don't claim or even think I have much bible knowledge at all. I just like to share the things I am thinking.
Have a great night. =)
