The World According To Chris Brewer

I’ve had some things on my mind lately. The following is scripturally based and I’m backing it up, so KER-POW, in your face, here it is. The top 3 things that make a mockery of Christianity. This has been my devotional for the week…enjoy.

THE TOP THREE THINGS THAT MAKE A MOCKERY OF CHRISTIANITY

1. When people say they are Christians but only live for him when it’s convenient. [bible]2 Timothy 3:5[/bible] clearly warns us that we need to stay away from people who call on the name of God when it’s convenient, make a show of religion, then go for the “best” the world has to offer. Sadly, this is the #1 problem in Christianity…people who say they’re Christians, but then they completely illegitimize their witness by going off and willfully sinning. Struggling with sin and trying to make an improvement is one thing, but living in sin and putting on a “form of Godliness” is treading a VERY dangerous line. [bible]Jesus said in Matthew 10:32-33[/bible] that if we deny God then he will deny us to His Father (God) in heaven.

When we willfully sin with no intention to live a holy life for Jesus, we deny God with our actions and basically spit in His face. It’s up to each of us to make the commitment to Jesus, because now is the time of salvation. Why wait? It’s time to live a holy life for God NOW ([bible]2 Corinthians 6:2[/bible]) because we don’t know the day or the hour when Jesus is coming back ([bible]Matthew 24:36[/bible]). We have GOT to be ready.

2. When Christians don’t fulfill the Great Commission and minister to EVERYONE. It sucks to see people not move outside of their comfort zone and minister to everyone. God did not send Jesus down to earth to die for certain groups of people. Jesus died for EVERYONE and it’s our duty to spread the message to everyone we can, and not care if we look crazy doing it or not. [bible]John 3:16[/bible] says it all, and [bible]Matthew 28:19-20[/bible] is the call that we as Christians need to heed.

So often, we only minister to those we feel comfortable around. I touched on this issue in an earlier blog post.

Listen up…it’s not true ministry if there is no unction from the Lord or the Holy Spirit to tell someone. If we go and tell someone the Good News in and of ourselves, we’re relying on our own power to get the job done. We need Jesus’ help and the guidance and discernment of the Holy Spirit in EVERYTHING we do.

3. When people get carried away during a move of the Holy Spirit. This is one of the largest problems I see in church myself. Someone will start speaking in tongues, then others will join in and maybe you get one bad apple out of the whole barrel, drawing attention to themselves and detracting from the real manifestation of the Spirit that is going on.

I’ve struggled a lot with this subject. I know for a fact that there are many cases in which speaking in tongues is genuine, but I also think many other cases they are not valid. Basing my theory off [bible]1 Corinthians 14[/bible], the gift of speaking in tongues is genuine but in order to edify the church it needs to be interpreted. In other instances, when it’s simply a prayer to God alone or worship to God alone, it does not need interpretation. But when someone in the middle of church stands up and gives a message in tongues, someone had better respond to God’s call to interpret the words spoken. Otherwise it’s just gibberish to the church and the work is incomplete. (DISCLAIMER: I am still finding out more about this subject, please bear with me.)

When it’s the Holy Spirit, we’ll know it’s the Holy Spirit because the Spirit and the Word agree. The litmus test for finding out whether a word that is given or a manifestation is true or not, line it up with Scripture. God NEVER disagrees with himself.

By following the Lord and living holy lives in all that we do, we can stand up and make our witness to the world, and our ministry bolder. It’s time we as Christians stopped making a mockery of the very thing we say we believe in!!! Lord, help us all to operate in Your will and Your way, and give us the power and conviction to live a holy life, pure before You!!! Amen!