In our churches, there is a lack of understanding by Christians that the Bible is asking them to make a commitment to Christ. So many of our church leaders today only teach what Christ can do for us and leaves out what God asks of us. It is easy for us to go to church and feel good about being a Christian; in fact it is an accepted practice in today’s society. However making a commitment is different than just going to church and proclaiming our Christianity. Making a commitment to the Lord takes understanding of what He expects and then following through on what it says. Christ teaches us that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul, but what does that mean? One of the clearest ways to show love for the Lord is through our service to those in need. So doing for those in need should be a primary focus of those who say they love the Lord and that is just not being taught by many of our church leaders. It is not possible for a Christian to say they love the Lord without actually doing as He commands? In 1John 2:3 6 it says, “We know that we have come to know Him if we obey His commands. The man who says, I know Him, but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”
So often our church leaders will pick and choose scripture they think people want to hear and are not challenging the Christian of the importance of service as a way of showing love to the Lord. Our church leaders do not want to upset the body by challenging them to do too much and thereby make them uncomfortable in church, but they have an obligation to preach the full truth from our Lord.
I have heard it quoted that 70 of our country proclaims to be a Christian. Let’s assume half of them are not practicing or even care about a close relationship with Christ. So if we are told the greatest commandment is to love the Lord and we do this through taking care of the less fortunate, then there should be 35 of the country taking care of the poorest 10 . That means there would be more than 3 people taking care of each of the poorest people in the US. This is not happening for 2 reasons. First many of our church leaders are not teaching what I believe is a primary focus of Christ’s gospel, or in other words, putting forth false teachings. Then secondly, the Christian is not making the effort to know and understand what the Bible teaches.
Another verse that applies is Ephesians 2:10 that says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” In order for us to do the works God has prepared for us, we must make a commitment to pray and understand what God has for us to do and then do it. We must know what God commands of us, follow those commandments and produce fruit. In turn we will be blessed beyond our greatest imagination. Then as you study God’s Word, challenge your church leaders as well. What they say may sound biblical and holy, but read between the lines to see if they are only saying what everyone wants to hear in an effort to maximize the Sunday collection.
Author Resource:
Steve Childers is the author of Catholic or Protestant: What our Churches Should Be Teaching. Visit http://www.CatholicOrProtestant.com to learn more about the book and to register for FREE newsletters that include an article he sends out weekly.
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