Monday, May 19, 2014, 4:30 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put this song in my mind:
Wonderful Peace / Warren D. Cornell / William G.
Cooper
Ah, soul! Are you here without
comfort and rest,
Marching down the rough pathway
of time?
Make Jesus your Friend ere the
shadows grow dark;
O, accept of this peace so
sublime!
Peace, peace, wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray
In fathomless billows of love!
(Last verse and chorus)
Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. Yesterday I read 1st
Timothy 4. I will quote some verses from that chapter. Today I read chapter 5. These verses are what jumped
out at me:
Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands,
and do not share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure… The sins of some
are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them; the sins of others
trail behind them. ~ 1 Tim. 5:22, 24
Paul was speaking to
Timothy here. He told him that he should not be too quick in the selecting
(ordaining) of men to serve in positions of spiritual leadership. If he was too
quick to ordain or to appoint a man for spiritual leadership in the church,
without showing great care in examining the man first, and in taking the
necessary precautions to be sure the man was sound in faith and doctrine, and
that he was a godly man whose walk was in the Spirit and not in the flesh, he
could be guilty of sharing in the man’s sins, if it turned out that the man was
engrossed in some not-so-obvious
sins.
As well, we should
be challenged here to take the same kind of care and precaution before willingly
coming under the authority and leadership of anyone who calls himself a
minister of the gospel lest we, through giving our support and adherence, are
guilty of sharing in his sins. We must, too, examine him first to make sure he
is of sound doctrine and faith, and that he walks the walk, and not just talks
the talk; that he lives a holy life surrendered to God, and that he holds to
the purity of the word of truth, as we should, as well.
The Not-So-Obvious
The Spirit clearly says that in later times
some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by
demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have
been seared as with a hot iron… Have nothing to do with godless myths and old
wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly…. Watch your life and doctrine
closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and
your hearers. ~ 1 Tim. 4:1-2, 7, 16
Recently my husband and I were invited to visit a new church
work in the area. I prayed about it, the Lord Jesus told me not to be afraid,
so I checked it out. The pastor spoke about the importance of discipleship,
which I am definitely all for, and in the course of conversation we were
invited to attend their “discipleship” groups. They were using a book called “The Tangible Kingdom Primer,” by Hugh
Halter and Matt Smay.
So, I began reading the book. The first chapter is titled, “What is Missional?” The description of Missional given was: “In simple language, it means that we are
passing through this life with a sense of purpose, duty, passion, and
responsibility for the ‘mission of God’… A Missional life is a gospel-centered
life… The foundation of a Missional life is the decision to offer to God our
plans in exchange for his plans. It is to allow the truth about who God is,
what he has done, and our new identity in Jesus inform all of life.” [TTKP,
1.1]
It sounds good on the surface, right? But then I continued
reading. In TTKP, chap. 1, Abraham is used as the prime example of “intentional
missionality”: “He was told that the
blessing God was giving him would extend through him to the whole world… There’s
no way to say it gently: spreading God’s blessing to the whole world does not
come easy,” the authors stated. [TTKP, 1.2]
So, what is this ‘blessing’ that would extend through Abraham
to the whole world? I asked myself. I looked it up. In actuality, it was/is the
promised seed, Jesus Christ, and thus salvation from sin by God’s grace - by
Jesus’ blood sacrifice for our sins and through faith in Jesus Christ and in
what he did for us on the cross in putting our sin to death so we could go
free. Abraham believed God, and thus, through him (his bloodline) came the
promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, through whom the world was blessed by his
sacrifice for our sin, i.e. in him making the way for us who believe on him to
be saved. Yet, is that what the authors of this book were teaching here
concerning the blessing? I asked myself. Not exactly!
God’s ways versus man’s
ways
I turned to the next page [TTKP, 1.3]. Isaiah 55:8 was
quoted in BIG letters on the next two pages: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.
Yet there was no scriptural reference, and no obvious connection given, per se,
between the verse quoted and the discourse that followed on those two pages. To
me, to quote this verse in large letters, divided over these two pages, was to
give the impression that the material on those pages was somehow connected with
God’s ways versus the ways of man, i.e. that they were subtly suggesting these
were God’s ways.
So, what were the “ways” talked about in section 1.3 that
were suggested by the subliminal message, per the Isaiah 55:8 quotation, that we
were to, perhaps, think were God’s ways versus man’s ways, i.e. the ways or
plans of God for which we were to exchange our plans? Well, in the context of paralleling
Abraham’s calling with the calling of the early Christians, the writers suggest
that as Abraham and the early Christians were sent, that experientially “1) They were immersed in a new culture; 2)
They were immersed in community; 3) They were immersed in god (small ‘g’); and
4) They were immersed in tension.”
So, what does it mean to be “immersed”? It means “to submerge; to baptize; to engage wholly
or deeply; absorb; embedded deeply” (thefreedictionary.com); and/or to throw
yourself into. So, is it truly God’s ways that call us to be deeply embedded (implanted;
entrenched) in our culture (world’s philosophy, customs and values), community
or tension? No! Absolutely not! We are to be baptized into Christ Jesus and into
his death to sin, and from that we are to be immersed in his word and to follow
his teachings. And, all else will flow from that, including the life of the
church, our witness for Christ and love for others.
Not to be evangelistic
but to bless
I seriously take issue, as well, with the points made under
the heading of being “immersed in god.” The authors state: “God didn’t call Abraham or the early communities to be evangelistic…
He told them to bless the world with the blessing God gave them. Blessing means
‘the tangible touch of God’… To give the blessing of God to people you must be immersed
in him.” [TTKP, 1.3]
So, we are not to be evangelistic? - Really? Who says? So,
what is the definition of “evangelism”? CARM.org Ministry describes it in this
way:
Evangelism,
the communication of the gospel message, includes a warning, an explanation,
and a call. Evangelism includes warning people about sin and the consequences
of sin (John 16:8; Acts 24:25; Revelation 20:11-15). It includes an explanation
of God’s remedy for sin—the gospel (Acts 8:29-35; Romans 3:21-26; 2 Corinthians
5:21). And it includes the clear call to repent (to turn from sin and to turn
toward God) and believe the gospel, by faith (Mark 1:15; Luke 13:1-5; Acts
17:29-31; Romans 1:17; Romans 10:9-13).
Going back to the Isaiah 55 passage, it is an invitation to
the thirsty to not spend their money and labor on what does not satisfy but to
eat what is good, i.e. of the Word of God, the Messiah, the Gospel of Salvation,
sound Biblical doctrine and of the Holy Spirit of God. God said, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil
man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him… for
he will freely pardon.” So, what is clear here is the Lord is speaking of
the new covenant through Jesus Christ and that it involves repentance (turning
from sin) and turning to the Lord God in faith. These are not man’s ways, and,
in fact, many professing Christians reject the idea of repentance and following
Christ in obedience as necessary components of believing faith, yet these are
God’s ways.
Jesus preached, “Repent
for the kingdom of heaven is near.” When he called his disciples he said, “Come, follow me, and I will make you
fishers of men.” When he sent out the twelve, he told them to preach the
nearness of the kingdom, to heal the sick, raise the dead and to drive out
demons. Coupled with that, he told them that all men would hate them because of
Christ, but they were to stand firm in their faith. He told his disciples that
they were to go and to make disciples (followers of Christ Jesus) of all
nations… teaching them to obey Christ’s commands (See Matt. 28:18-20; cf. 1 Jn.
1-5). The early church prayed that God would enable them to speak the word of
God with boldness. And, the early church was persecuted and scattered, not
because they went around blessing people, but because they spoke the truth in
the power of the Spirit within them, and they were hated for it.
Peter did tell us one way in which Jesus ‘blessed’ people,
though. He said that Jesus was sent to bless the people by turning each of them
from their wicked ways (See Ac. 3:26). Jesus told his brothers that the world
hated him because he told them that what they did was evil. Jesus did not come
to bring peace, but a sword, i.e. by this he meant that following him in
obedience would mean that even members of our own families would hate and
reject us for our testimonies for Christ. He said that anyone who did not take
up their cross and follow him was not worthy of him. He said that whoever
willingly dies with Christ to sin will find eternal life with God, but whoever
holds on to his old life of sin will lose his life for eternity (cf. Lu.
9:23-25; Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 6; 1 Jn. 1-5; Tit. 2:11-14; Ac. 26:16-18, et al). Peter
also said, “Repent, then, and turn to
God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from
the Lord” (See Ac. 3:19; cf. Is. 55). Amen!
The Call to Be
Missional
So, how does the Missional movement describe what it means
to go and to make disciples of all nations? They say, “Sometimes going will require a 30-second email to encourage a friend,
a five-minute walk across the street to help a neighbor… It will require that
you creatively look for opportunities that God provides you to leave what’s
natural and self-serving in order to extend his love to others.” [TTKP,
1.6]
Basically, the gist of what they call “Missional,” which is supported by many of their personal applications,
has to do with being good-deed doers. We need to do that for sure, but in the
power of the Spirit within us, and always willing and looking for opportunities
to share the gospel of Jesus Christ, and never at the sacrifice of truth, or
with a belief that being “evangelistic” in sharing the gospel of salvation with
others is not what we are called to do, or that it is not necessary, or that it
is bad because it is not “blessing” people.
What is Incarnational?
One of the main “buzzwords” of this movement, besides the
term “Missional,” is “incarnational,” i.e. meaning “in bodily form.” What they mean
by this term is that we are to “be the gospel” to people by blessing them, i.e.
through acts of kindness and good-will in our communities.
The word “incarnate” is used of Jesus, i.e. he was God in
bodily (human) form. Yet, if we are truly to “be the gospel,” and the gospel
has to do with death to sin and walking in newness of life in the Spirit of God
and not in our flesh, then being the gospel would first of all require that we must
turn from our sin and that we allow the Spirit of God to transform us in heart
and mind away from our sinful lifestyles to walks of faith and obedience to
Jesus Christ, being conformed to his likeness, holy and pleasing to God, no
longer conformed to the ways of this world (See Eph. 4:17-24; Ro. 12:1-2). This
would also be evident in our speech, i.e. we would be intentional to share with
others the only hope of their salvation, i.e. the gospel of Jesus Christ as
taught by the apostles, i.e. God’s grace to us in freeing us from slavery to
sin so that we can walk in his righteousness and holiness by his grace.
In section 3 of this book, which is given over to the
subject of the gospel, there is a mixture of truth and lies contained within.
There is some description given of the true gospel, yet it is mixed with this
whole idea of the centrality of being good-deed doers apart from being
evangelistic. In section 3.4 it says this about Jesus: “While our ministry efforts often focus on getting people to convert to
Christianity, He seems to be much more
interested in helping them with what concerns them now. The Gospel does
that.”
The inference here is that Jesus Christ is not primarily concerned
with the conversion of the unsaved to God’s saving grace, which is clearly
false, and is clearly a contradiction of scripture. It is true, nonetheless,
that Jesus Christ is very much involved in our daily lives in our present world,
and not just in the hereafter. I agree that too many evangelicals are more
interested in getting people “saved” so they can go to heaven one day, without
teaching them what being saved means for them while they still live on the face
of this earth. Salvation for us means death to sin and living and walking in
the Spirit of God, in Christ’s holiness and righteousness, forsaking sin and
idolatry, and living to please God by his grace, through faith. It also means
loving people the way Jesus did then and now, which hasn’t changed.
What’s the Take-Away?
So, what should our response to this be? We should pray for
discernment of deceiving spirits which exist within much of what is being
passed off as Biblical and of God, but is neither, but is filled with lies,
deceptions and manipulations of truth. Notice with me how not much of what was
taught in the chapter on what it means to be “Missional” actually reflects their
answer to the original question, “What is
Missional?” It is subtle, but the two don’t match.
Also, we should not share in the sins of others, including in
their hidden (subtle) sins of spiritual adultery, but we should remain pure to
Christ and to his word. And, we should train ourselves “to be godly…. Watch your life
and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both
yourself and your hearers.” And,
lastly, I believe scripture teaches that we should test the spirits to see if
they are of God, and if they are not, we should reject them.
In searching out
this Missional movement, I discovered
that there is a close association between them and the Emergent Church, which is definitely involved in false teaching.
So, be wise, be discerning, pray, test, know the truth, and follow Christ, not
humans.
Note: On the
subjects of the Missional Movement
and its connection with the Emergent
Church, I read various articles online. This is a sampling of some of what
I read. I am not endorsing any of these, but am sharing them for educational
purposes, and for what they are worth: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=4116;
http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/churchandministry/carey_emerging_church.aspx
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