Well Meaning but Irrelevant

Well meaning but Irrelevant
The apostle Paul writes,
“That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”  
For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,  for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” Romans 10:9-13.
I’ve been a follower of Jesus Christ since I was nineteen. I’m now sixty-four. Over the years I’ve heard many well meaning believers say many things.
For instance when a person made a confession of faith. They were immediately told they were expected to do certain things. Things quiet often that mattered little to their salvation. The classic being men had to wear a suit to church. Women were expected to wear dresses or skirts to church. Pants were not considered acceptable for a woman to wear.
In some churches they had to follow a set of rituals. There were even written prayers they were expected to recite.
None of which made sense when it came to the individuals relationship with Jesus.
I’m fairly sure Jesus and the early church didn’t have a dress code for those who attended their meetings. I’m fairly sure they didn’t have much ritual to follow.
In fact there was a debate in the early church about whether or not gentiles (non-Jews) who came to know Christ should be circumcised or not. The book of acts records,
“The apostles and elders met to consider this question.  
After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe.  
God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us.  
He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.  
Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?  
No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” Acts 15:6-11.
While the church today does not, for the most part debate circumcision and other laws set out in the Old Testament. Laws that mean little to our salvation It still does debate other irrelevant things.
Peter pointed out,
“...We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.” Acts 15:11
The apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians said,
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8,9.
When the debate ended the council of Jerusalem put few rules on how a believer in Christ should act. It sent a letter to the churches that said,
“The apostles and elders, your brothers, 
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: 
“Greetings. 
We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said.  
So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul—  men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  
Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing.  
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements:  
You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.” Farewell. Acts 15:23b-29.
When it comes to a persons salvation no one can tell for certain if another person is truly saved. An individual’s salvation is between them and God.
What we as a body of believers can do however is provide a good and safe place for a believer in Christ to grow in.
Question: Does your church congregation provide a good place for a believer to grow in.
OR,
Does your congregation place on individuals a lot of well meaning but irrelevant rules on how believers are to act and even dress in church? 
Please think about it.

The Need

The Need

I would recommend that we straighten out a few things before we contemplate any interplanetary transportation system.  Suppose a man from Mars should suddenly appear on Earth?  I think it would be terribly embarrassing if he learned that a second-rate singer in a night club makes four thousand dollars a week, and a high-school teacher makes three thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars a year.  This and many other things should be straightened out first if we intend to maintain our dignity when planet folks start visiting us.
                                                                                                    Harry Golden

I came across the above quote and realized just how profound those words are. Our priorities as a society are royally messed up.
Take for example the Ebola epidemic in Africa. One of the reasons it can’t be contained is because very little priority was given to finding a vaccine for it. Someone noted to me the big pharmaceutical companies couldn’t make a lot of money on developing it so it took a back seat to other research.
The same is true when it comes to looking for cures particularly for rare illnesses. People are dying due to rare illnesses daily, illnesses that a cure could be found for if only there was the financial resources available.
Look at world hunger. There is enough food in the world to feed the world but politics, war and money, symbols of man’s selfishness, stop the food from getting to where it’s needed.
The group calling itself the Islamic State (ISIS) has become a major threat to the world, why? Because of political inaction. It was the problem of someone else.
Young men and women are becoming radicalized by ISIS and other groups because society particularly in the west doesn’t seem to have anything to offer them.
Over the centuries the western world in particular has fallen away from the Christian faith and for that matter faith of any kind to be replaced with Atheism and materialism
Materialism and Atheism offers little in way of true fulfilment except a few theories and platitudes.
In the middle east with the exception of Israel, Christianity has been restricted banned out right and even persecuted.  At the same time society in those countries in which Christianity has fallen out of favour seems to have become a harsher place to live.
What is needed is a firm foundation based on the love of one’s fellow man whoever he may be.
The book of Matthew records Jesus answering the following question,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 
                                                                       Matthew 22:37-40.
It is as love declines within our society be it for God, or for our neighbour that evil is taking its place.
The problem here in the west could in part, also be laid at the feet of many churches also.
    I look around North America especially in the United States and the church quite often is becoming irrelevant. Yet it has the most important message one can give to the world.
It’s becoming irrelevant because the church is not in many ways keeping up with the times. It is to quote a phrase becoming “musty and dusty, and irrelevant”.
There are some wonderful churches around where we live. They sing the old hymns, Amazing Grace, To God be the Glory, What a friend we have in Jesus. Yet I look at their congregation and find almost no teenagers.
Teenagers are our future. These are the kids that are being radicalized by terrorist groups like ISIS and others.
I look at the church my Son attends it’s a large church to be sure, and they have over a hundred teens attending, I actually think it’s closer to two hundred attending.
Not only that but history within that church shows that many of the youth that have attended they youth group over the decades have gone on to work in the church.
     Many have even gone on to be missionaries and pastors.
The reason is simple the youth attend because the message of Christ is relevant to them. Not only that it is presented in a twenty-first century package that they can relate to.
They do not sing Amazing grace. They sing music from Hillsong and other contemporary sources. They communicate through smart phones, the internet, twitter and what ever other technology they have.
These teens talk about relevant topics to the their age group. They talk about the problems they have.
Christ is presented to them in a way they can understand.
The message these young people age getting is the same Message John Newton the author of Amazing grace was giving to his congregation. It’s the same message the apostle Paul delivered in Athens. The only difference is that they can also get it on their smart phone.
As Christians we have a duty to society as a whole. We need to reach out to everyone.
We have the answer to the radicalization of our youth by terrorist and murders. That answer is Jesus Christ.
Jesus said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
                                                                                    Matthew 11:28-30.
This is a message not only for our youth but for every man, woman and child. A message that can change the world for the better.
Think about it.