Due to family medical history of intestinal cancer, I
am a person that has to be diligent in having a colonoscopy every couple of
years. It was that time when I was due
to have one, and had already seen the doctor to have the procedure
scheduled. However, the appointment had
to be canceled because I had a heart attack and had to have a stint placed in
one of my main arteries to my heart. By necessity, I was placed on a blood thinner.
As a result, the time between colonoscopies stretched out to a total of
four years. Finally, when the procedure
was done, it was determined that there were about seven or eight polyps that
had to be removed. There was only one
problem. One polyp had become too large
for a simple removal; therefore, a more extensive surgical procedure of removal
of a large section of my intestine was required. The biopsy determined that the polyp was at
stage four; stage five would have been the beginning stage of cancer. By God’s grace, I had escaped the big C. As a result, I have had to increase the
frequency of colonoscopies. Six month
after the operation one was done, and another has to be repeated one year
later.
I have told this story to demonstrate the importance of
having a frequent wellness check for our physical health and well being. Just as important, if not more so, is a
regular checkup for our spiritual health well and being. This same principle applies not only to the
individual believer, but also to the church as a body. The spiritual well being of the church, the
body of Christ, does not just affect one or two individuals, but affects the
well being of the entire body. If sin is
allowed to run rampant and unchecked, the whole body will become sick. I don’t pretend to have all the answers as to
how to prevent this contamination of the “salt of the earth.” In fact, the reason for writing this paper is
my attempt to gain a godly perspective for solutions in an effort to prevent
further contamination of the “salt of the earth.” Jesus is the great Physician
and, if we don’t submit ourselves to a regular wellness check, what began as a
little lump, could grow and metastasize, spreading throughout the whole system
of the body, resulting in a terminal condition.
When we look at the sin that is practiced by those in the
secular world, we shouldn’t be surprised when sin is being flaunted without one
bit of shame. They are only acting like
sinners, people apart from the knowledge and will of God. They know not God or His ways, so what they
do or don’t do is only limited, or not limited, by their own opinions. Neither am I of the opinion that Christians
are somehow free of sin in their lives.
As long as we are in a human body, we will be subject to temptation and
the struggle to resist the devil, the lusts of the flesh, and the lusts of the
world. None of us will be perfected
until we see Jesus face to face, and He gives to each a glorified body. We are commanded to resist the devil (through
the power of the Holy Spirit), and he will flee. We are urged to give no place to the devil,
or any appearance of evil.
In order to resist temptation and remove the hold that sin
has over each of us, we have to recognize the existence of sin as a problem and
take measures to free ourselves from its hold over us. Freedom from sin requires our cooperation
with God in order to be set free. A
simplistic example of the battle against the corruption of the poison of sin is
demonstrated in the constant struggle that some of us experience in the “battle
of the bulge.” If one goes on a diet in
an attempt to resist gluttony, in an effort to become healthier by loosing
weight, one must not stock up on a bunch of candy and snacks, and quantities of
pasta, and pizza, etc. That would be counter
productive, setting yourself up for failure before you could even begin. If a person has as an addiction to alcohol,
cigarettes, or drugs, stocking up on the substance, or hanging around other
people who do, does not help in the struggle to resist it, but only encourages
further indulgence and abuse of the very thing to which one is enslaved.
I’m speaking now to those who profess to be followers of
Christ. In the body of Christ, we have
come out of similar backgrounds of sinful history as the unbeliever has experienced. We are all at varying stages in our level of
striving toward a greater maturity in Christ.
Some of us are new born babes in the faith. Others may have reached the
toddler stage, while others have gone deeper into the waters of seeking the
Lord and learning more and more to have the mind of Christ and applying His
Word to live it out in our life. Some of
us may be doing pretty well in one area, but may find that we are still
continually struggling in another area.
Each of us has to submit our will to the will of the Lord daily. We must
purposefully act in cooperation with Him, choosing to do that which is pleasing
unto the Lord. God is always at work in
the process of doing a good work within each of us in the same measure that we
are committed to following Him. Being transformed by the ‘washing of the water
of the Word’ is a daily process.
In today’s world, it is becoming less and less popular to
recognize sin as sin. We are busily at
work creating other labels for sin for the purpose of playing mind games to
provide excuses for decisions to do our own thing, whether it is acceptable unto
God or not. In so doing, we think we
have taken ourselves off the hook, and removed the necessity to take responsibility
for our own actions. We diminish any
need for confession of sin, negate our need for forgiveness, and remove any
need for our Savior and what He accomplished for us on the Cross. Christians are less and less concerned with
being melted and molted into the image of Christ. Less time is spent in being taught of the
Lord that we might be transformed by the washing of the water of the word. Instead, we spend more and more time soaking
up the beliefs and ways of the world, being conformed by the intimidation and
manipulation of the world. We are the
ones that are supposed to be followers of Christ. We are supposed to be schooled in His word
that we may be equipped to follow Him and become more like Him. Instead, we are allowing ourselves as
individuals, and as a body, to become corrupted by evil, deceiving ourselves
and contributing to the spread of sin by increasing the acceptance of sin
throughout the whole body. No wonder it
has become so hard to discern any difference at all between the believer and
the unbeliever. The word says we will be
known by our fruit. Oh we might be
outwardly doing the ‘works,’ but inwardly the fruit is rotting, and our
spiritual growth and development into a more Christ like nature is stunted and
practically non existent. We are
becoming Christians in name only, having little or no image of Christ to shine
forth from within. Our churches are
becoming of no more significance than the local community center, populated by
community organizers and activists, giving the appearance of religion but
lacking the power thereof.
Belief in Christ must be combined with obedience unto Him;
otherwise, we are no different than Satan.
Satan believes in Christ. He can
spout off the scriptures as well, or better, than any believer. Remember, at one time, he was the most beautiful
and knowledgeable angel of light. The
difference is that he will never obey Christ.
Christians are becoming weak and powerless because we have become
comfortable with hearing parts of the word of God that make us feel good,
producing a self centered body that is only willing to listen to messages about
the love nature of God and less about his judgment. Being fearful of God’s judgment or
chastisement is a good thing. It is
meant to guard us from harm. We would rather discard the part about suffering
His chastisement as a result of continually practicing that which is contrary
to His word. If His word doesn’t fit in
with our present way of thinking and living, we don’t want to hear it. Have you noticed that there is less and less
being taught about Hell? In fact, there
are some pastors today who preach that there is no such thing as Hell. They have tried to allegorize the word, and
say that Hell is merely a spiritual symbol. We want to concentrate only on the
things that seem to promise us health and wealth; the part that seems to focus
on our life in this temporal world.
Satisfied to hear all about God’s love towards us, but unwilling to hear
about suffering His judgment as a result of not obeying Him. I ask each of us to consider what kind of results
that would produce in raising our children if we never disciplined them when
they went astray? Without fearing (respecting) and obeying
the Lord, we can have no understanding of the fact that the Lord is both a
loving and a just God. We can not have
the one without the other. Knowledge of
His right to judge and chastise us is every bit as important as our knowledge
of His love for us. As we diminish our
responsibility to obey Him, He will draw back His hedge of protection around
us. As that hedge is removed, we cause
His judgment to come down upon us, as individuals and
as a nation. In many churches, this man
centeredness instead of God centeredness has resulted in exalting the importance
of the temporal instead of the eternal.
Ecclesiastes makes it clear that that which is stored up in the temporal
is going to fade away. For this reason
we are to store up our treasures in heaven.
It is only those things that we do as unto the Lord that are of any
lasting and eternal value. Instead of
thinking about what may seem to make us happy in the here and now, we should be
concentrating on what can we do in service to the Lord that would bring glory
to Him?
We aren’t supposed to come first; God is. The relationship between a man and a woman in
the commitment to one another in marriage helps me understand why it is for my
good to put God first, and not myself.
For a marital love to truly blossom and grow, the word tell us to think
more highly of our mate, than we do of ourselves. If this principle is carried out to its
fullest by both partners, there is no way that they could not feel loved and
cherished by one another. In our one on
one relationship with God the Father and Son, He has already put us first. He loved us first; God gave His Son first;
Jesus left the glories of Heaven and gave His life for us first; His Holy
Spirit was sent to us first. With so
great a love poured out to us, how can we possibly not respond in obedience,
worship, and love towards Him? Can you
imagine what our life would be like if we always thought of Him first? Glory Hallelujah, what greater love could we
ever hope to know? If the Church always
put God first, we could not be deceived into compromising the word of the Lord.
AA is experiencing more success in helping those who are
suffering from the effects of alcoholism than the church is in ridding itself
of the corruption of sin from within.
They provide an organization through which the ‘sick’ may openly come to
seek help, be diagnosed, and receive treatment in order to be healed and
restored to good health. First, the
individual must recognize the source (sin) that is causing them a problem (spiritual
sickness). They can’t get any help if
they are still in denial that the sickness even exists. They have to want help and be willing to do
that which will set them free; their cooperation and commitment is imperative. They have to ‘confess’ their problem; “Hello,
I’m Jane and I’m an alcoholic.” They
have to get a sponsor, one who is willing to walk along side of them to assist
and give help. They must attend meetings
with others who are in different stages of fighting against the same enemy, the
stronger helping the weaker. All of this
is to provide them a support group so they don’t feel like they are all alone
in their struggle. A support group is
supposed to be there to provide encouragement and help even when they feel weak,
to pick them up when they fall, and set there feet back upon the path to
recovery. No lying, hiding, or denying
of the sickness is allowed. No condoning
of the reality of the ‘sickness’ is allowed.
No diminishing of the seriousness of ‘falling off the wagon’ is
allowed. No covering up of the damage
done to themselves or others is allowed.
Refusal to take responsibility for one’s own choices and actions is not
allowed. Blaming others is not allowed. All must be exposed and brought into the
light of day before the darkness and decay of the sickness can be dispelled,
and its further corruption prevented.
Know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Depend upon your Higher Power. You know, God’s principles do work when you
put them into practice and apply them to live them out in your life, being a
doer and not just a hearer. The ultimate
goal is to rid one’s life of the corrupting and debilitating factor; to rid
one’s self of the chains of the past to provide the path to a greater future.
God’s word contains within it all of these saving
principles, plus far more. Where is the church in its role of support to
aid in the battle against the sickness of sin?
It seems that we have withdrawn from the battle for the mind, heart and
soul of mankind. Instead, we have
delegated that fight to those who are influenced only by the ways and thoughts
of the secular world. The church is
conforming to the world. The following
are just a small and select few of the changes to our society brought about by
the intimidation and manipulation of an increasingly secularized world view:
the secular world deemed adultery, extramarital affairs, homosexuality,
pregnancy outside of the bonds of marriage, same sex marriage, and abortion on demand as being equally acceptable and not as
something that is wrong and harmful.
The flood gates contributing to the decay of our society
were opened wide. Instead of standing
strong to protect the people from the harm of practices that were contrary to
the word of God, the church itself began to crumble and become more conformed
to the ways of the secular world. We now
see homosexuality glorified, and practicing homosexuals accepted into the
church as priests and other positions of authority. The church sat back while Planned Parenthood
took over an ever increasingly influential role resulting in making single
parenthood more convenient and more acceptable; dispensing of condoms to an
increasingly lower and lower age (schools can not administer an aspirin without
a doctors permission, but condoms can be given without a parents knowledge or
permission), abortion on demand even without parental consent, and abortion
during any stage of pregnancy without concern for the viability of the baby is
now totally acceptable. Abortion is no
longer strictly limited to cases where the life of the mother is truly at
stake. It is viewed as just another form
of contraception and deemed as simply a right of a woman’s reproductive
healthcare. No longer is the baby called
a baby. It has been renamed as just a
fetus to distract from the recognition that abortion is the taking of a human
life. The church is practically silent
and has all but given up any major influence in fighting back against the
onslaught of an increasingly lawless and godless world. Some few churches are struggling to be
actively influential, but for the most part our voice is silent and our actions
as a unified body are few.
The alcoholic, who wants to be set free, has a place to go
for help even in this secularized world.
Where was the church when it should have been prominent in providing the
alcoholic help? Perhaps they were made
to feel as if they were horrible people and; therefore, not free to go to their
church leaders for any real and devoted help.
Where was someone to walk alongside them through the difficult journey
to restoration, freedom, and wholeness?
Where are the pastors, or group of church leaders, committed to helping
the person who is confused about his/her sexuality? Perhaps they too accept the lie of the
secular world that there is no escape from those feelings because ‘God made
them that way.’ Perhaps they too have
been made to feel that there was no one to go to for help from within the
church, for even mentioning that one’s struggle with such feelings may have
been considered too great a sin. True,
there are those who do not feel that their homosexuality is of any harm to
themselves, and do not want any help offered, much less provided. There have been churches, though few and far
between, which have developed support systems for those who wish to be set
free. It is not an easy journey, just as
being set free from drugs or alcohol is not easy, and it is often a lifetime
struggle to defeat such a stronghold.
The point is to endure and never give up. The churches who have seen fit to make a
commitment to offer help to the homosexual, or freedom from other such immoral
behaviors, are being attacked by the secular world for even trying to offer
such help to the ones that do seek it.
But then who said that standing for God and against the world was ever
going to be an easy task for any Christian or any Christian Body? This kind of help should be offered, but
never coerced. It has to be left to the
choice of the individual, just like the alcoholic must make his own choice to get
help or remain in the grasp of its hold.
Let us read I Corinthians.
5 and Matthew 18: 15-17 to gain an understanding of possible solutions for how
the Church is supposed to handle those who practice daily to walk in sin
without remorse or repentance. This is
not focused on the treatment of unbelievers, but rather for the church to
practice “tough love” towards the believer for his good and not for his
harm. Paul, in I Corinthians, is writing
to the church and scolding them for allowing a person to continue as a member
in their brotherhood of believers even though he is choosing to continue in the
practice of the immorality of incest. He
tells them that they are just as guilty of sinning, for they have not acted in
love to reprove and rebuke the one who is willfully and purposely choosing to
do that which is not pleasing in the sight of the Lord. In fact, because of their inaction to deal
with the problem, not only are they contributing to the harm of the one who is
living out the sin, but they are also contributing towards the contamination of
the entire membership of the congregation.
Remember, the practice of sin is not a momentary
act of sinning, but rather a willful practice to continue in sin. When the trespasser is not being confronted
with his deliberate wrong doing, he is allowed to sink deeper into sin, instead
of being reprimanded that he might choose to turn away from sin and return to
the Lord and His ways for his own good.
We are not loving such a person by ignoring his acts; thereby, giving the
impression that their action, or sin, is good and acceptable. We contribute to their harm. We have lacked the courage to tell someone
what they needed to hear instead of telling them what they wanted to hear. Think of it this way. Do we love someone who
is drunk if we tell him, “Sure, you’re just fine; go ahead and drive?” We know full well that he could possibly
crash and harm himself or others. Ah,
but we chose to tell him what he “wanted” to hear, instead of telling him what
he “needed” to hear, as if we had no care for the harm he might be headed for.
I would think that
the example that was given in the scriptures as to how to deal with the open
practice of sin should be considered as a first step of action. Perhaps the
Pastor should go to that person to have a little heart to heart talk. Not out of self righteousness or anger, but
out of love and understanding that we all fall short of the mark and need one
another to administer truth and correction when it is needed. That doesn’t minister condemnation, but is a
call of reproof to urge the person to confess the sin and turn away from it
before they bring more harm to themselves and others. Then, if that was not effective, go to him
again with the pastor and a group of the elders. Still all counsel should be administered in
love, not in condemnation or by force. The response or choice to ask
forgiveness and to remove one’s self from the practice of sin has to be a
personal decision, sincerely submitting his will to the will of the Lord. If this latter action of call to repent is
still of no effect, the last and only choice that the church has is to expel
the one that is willfully refusing to repent and change his ways. Even this is to be done in love and not in
any attitude of self righteousness. One
of the purposes of the church is to support and encourage one another to stay
on the straight and narrow path.
None of us is exempt from being tempted to indulge in
sin. We all need a safe haven, support
group, or ‘sponsor’, to whom we may go to express the problem with which we may
be struggling. We should not have our sin condoned and accepted because it is
now condoned and accepted in the eyes of the secular world. The church must be willing to minister care
and correction that the trespasser may be returned to the right path, not
choosing to continue sinning until he is up to his neck wallowing in the muck
and mire.
One time, I got so upset, because my husband had chosen to
return to smoking after being free of it for three years. I was stooped in continual crying, throwing
fits of anger, and demanding that he stop immediately. Finally, I realized my actions were tearing
me up from the inside out. I went for
counsel from my minister’s wife. She
gave me some very good advice that lifted a false burden of responsibility from
my shoulders. She told me that my
problem was greater than my husband’s problem of smoking. I was involved in the sin of trying to
control him. The spirit of control is
related to the spirit of witchcraft.
Besides that, at the same time, I was trying to take on the
responsibility of the Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit is the one who is capable of speaking to the heart of the believer
to convict of sin unto repentance, and lead and guide him into all truth for
instruction and correction for his good.
In addition, I needed to understand that I wasn’t in control of God’s
agenda for him; only God knew what my husband was most in need of at that point
and time in his life. This is only one
example of how someone within the body of Christ was used to bring
understanding, reproof, and correction into my heart to pull me back from the
edge of disaster and harm. It might not
appear like a big thing to you, but it was for me. A false burden was lifted from my shoulders;
I truly experienced what it means to have the chains of sin taken off and to
gain the glorious reality of being set free.
I Corinthians 5 states
that the purpose of expelling the continual trespasser was not for his harm,
but for his good. Through experiencing
the lose of fellowship with the Lord and his brethren in Christ, he might
realize that being given over to Satan and his ways was no picnic. Hopefully, he would come to realize what he
was missing in following the Lord and His ways, and make the choice to repent,
leave his wicked ways and sincerely seek God’s forgiveness. If and when, this repentance was true and
sincere as demonstrated in his deeds and words, the Church should be forgiving and
willing to welcome that brother to return once more to the fold.
Do we see this kind of reproof and godly discipline being
exercised in the church today?
Unfortunately, it is all too often weak or none existent. Instead, it seems the Church is finding it
easier to cave into the ways of the world.
Rename, redefine, tolerate, condone, exalt, and celebrate that which is
evil as good, and call that which is good evil.
Conform to the ways of the world; join the ranks of the worldly masses
and forget about God and His ways. Do
that which is pleasing in the eyes of mankind instead of standing strong for
God and His ways. Compromising and
perverting the word of God is the acceptable practice in the church of
today. Let a little leaven in, and the
whole loaf is contaminated. All are
harmed, and few if any receive correction and help in resisting the devil. We just join his ranks of deception. Sin is an ‘equal opportunity master,’ and
none are exempt from its invitation to enter in.
In conclusion, what is the church doing today? If the church, who is supposed to know and
follow God, deletes homosexuality as a sin, what other sins are we going to also
deem as good and not evil. Where and
when is the church going to say, “Stop the compromising; stop the deceit, stop
the perversion and twisting of the truth?” When is the church going to stop
bending to the will of the world? When
are we going to choose to take a stand against the advancement of evil? When are we going to retake the position of
being that High Tower
"Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but
“If my people, who are called
by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin
and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:
14 )
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