I have been reading several current articles by individuals who have left the church of Jesus Christ or have spent countless hours trying to locate a church that fits their personal preferences. The most recent article I read today was by a young lady who left an evangelical church to find a church that did not support President Trump and spoke out against the ban on immigrants.
As an overseer laboring in an inner city gathering I have been exceptionally distraught over the condition of the body of Christ since the beginning of the year. The Western church has always been nit picky, selective, divided and even childish over so many topics that to be completely honest none of these worldly issues will even matter or be addressed when we all stand before Christ the judge.
As a Christian I function on the fringe of the “establishment” so I have always been able to see the petty divisions that exists between many that claim to follow Jesus. No doubt this is why we have over 41,000 different denominations around the world, but now there seems to be even more issues to consider as we “pick” which church to attend. What is needed is a huge dose of maturity in the family of God.
At Embassy of Hope we are basically a multi-generational community with a wide variety of views on addiction, sex, politics, you name it, we have it. The reason why most of the people feel comfortable to attend is because we teach Christ, train and equip people who can then go out and make the name of Christ look great to the world around them. We do “not” use our sacred calling as leaders to speak against rulers and authorities but rather we pray for them. We do not waste what short life we have to stir up people on the latest hot buttons in our culture but rather we proclaim authentic obedience to the Word of God that will offer a freedom that no President or leader can duplicate.
If Jesus takes center stage within a community of believers the fruit should be His will being done on earth as it is in Heaven. Then people will not come to church because they get exactly what they are looking for such as the type of music or a particular stand on a political issues. They will come to give thanks to the Father, grow in Christ and give something of value to their neighbor.
Believe it or not, it works, just like Jesus taught.
Sadly, American Christendom will continue down the path with the personal prostitution of their many opinions and holding up the many torches of their crusades but as Paul put it, ” And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”
This is what I decided a long time ago as well.