Good day my friends. Please don't mind if I vent a bit. This blog is being written at no better a time because of how clear I am seeing the pharasaic attributes of the church which serve to stagnate the church and it's mission. If we look at the modern church and consider the time of Christ we see very similar diversion tactics being used by those who want to defend their view or institution. For example, consider time when Jesus began to explain that the Sabbath was made for the man not man for the Sabbath, the Pharisees looked for ways to accuse Him according to the Law rather than see the truth in the matter at hand (Mark 2:23-3:6). Another example is that as Jesus is teaching the Truth of the law and do miracles the religious people continually find reasons to question what He is doing for example in Matthew 15:1-20, they focus on the fact that Jesus' disciples do not wash their hands before they eat and therefore break the tradition of the elders. Legalism, what you should not be doing, was the greatest method of diversion to get people to ignore what Jesus was truly doing, and it even extends to the Apostles. Consider all the times that the Apostle Paul had to explain and reiterate the difference between law and grace and was constantly accused of making it ok for people to sin( Romans chapters 2-7; Galatians chapters 2-3; Ephesians chapter 2; might I add that you should just read the New Testament as a whole). Today, many in the Church are clearly allowing a man to determine where they will stand in regards to the truth and are not studying things for themselves, and that's depressing because one must consider how many Jews in the first centruy where led astray by this tactic- following their Rabbi. In Matthew chapter 23, Jesus Christ is issue the judgement text as to what is going to happen to the religious teachers of the Law in his time, might we read in context yet glean some wisdom from blindly following teachings that may just seem right:
" Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are (Matthew 23:13-15)".
This week I sat down with a Jehovah Witness and during our 3 hour discussion/ debate he continually emphasized that I remind him of Obama because of how well spoken I am. Obviously, this diversion tactic was used to say that it's my speaking that is convincing, not my theology. At this point I am all to familiar with diversion tactics and strawmen that are used to confuse and diffuse truth (Check out my video series on Pulling Apart the Strawman). Fact is, truth will prevail!! And since it has been said that I am similar to Obama, I will stay true to form and say- "There is hope"! :)
There is hope that the truth will prevail over the deceit, deception, falsehood and lies that are a plague to the church and its mission. There is hope that the true gospel spoken by Jesus Christ and the apostles will be ressurected as the Christians begin to use discernment and search the Scriptures. There is hope that the gospel message that emphasizes the mission of making disciples for Christ will be renewed and revitalized in contrast to the prevailing apathetic misinformed "churchianity" message that many are comfortable with.
I titled this blog- A Theology That Works- for a dual purpose. If one is to consider the works versus grace contraversy that has continued in Christianity and is clear in the book of James, we come to the Biblical conclusion that
"In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead (James 2:17)".
Therefore, we conclude that our lives must be marked by action. But what produces the action? Our Faith! Theology is our understanding of God, so we recognize that the natural outpouring and fruit of our faith should be action. Do you feel that tug of action? What exactly is your understanding of God (theology) urging you to do?
The purpose of this blog series- Missional: Attacking the Static- was to get us to take an honest inventory of the Church, our participation as members of the Body, and now I am clearly up some of the issues so prevalent (all of which have been expounded upon in books, through quotes, and personal discernment):
apathy, passivity, Pharasaic separatism, comfortability, and inconsistent discipleship.
What I pose through this blog is an emerging profitable Christianity that starts with our theology which will produce action, as I like to term is "zeal empowered by knowledge".
As I said before, there is hope, and that hope is through a through us, the body of Christ, the Christians doing what we are commanded by studying the Scriptures, using discernment and searching the Scriptures, and allowing a natural outpouring through our lives of the things we begin to know and how we look at the world (a true Christian worldview). Their are some amazing things that are emerging thanks to the current times and the good ole information age. The challenge is on the table though, it is not an easy task for an apathetic passive comfortable Church to begin to be consistent in our dealings with the world, to offer a true good news that is rational and reasonable, and to truly engage.
Come, let's reason together....Can you consistently discuss and if need be defend/debate your faith? Are you presenting a message of good news to the world that is actually accepted as good news?
Read Ephesians chapter 2-3 (notice "you will be able to understand", "make plain to everyone the administation of this mystery). Does your gospel presentation sound like that?
These are contentions I have had for a while living as a fully engaged Christian who looks at the world as a mission field. Through my studies of the gospel we present to the world I have continually realized that we fail to speak about the kingdom of God. My continual contentions were that we are not seeing the miracles, signs, and wonders that Jesus and the Apostles did (or the 3000 people coming to the faith) because we were not being true to form. Jesus came on the scene of ministry and declared:
"Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has drawn near; repent, and believe the good news. (Mark 1:14-15)"
"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near (Matthew 4:17)".
AND THE APOSTLES:
"They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even large numbers to the place where he was staying. From morning till evening he explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets (Acts 28:23)".
"For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 28:30-31)".
My continual focus of seeking to understand and declare this message to the world has led me even further in realizing the failure of being consistent to the message. If you look to the end of Revelation, it is then that the kingdom of God is given to men- what kingdom is this? Is it a physical kingdom that will one day be on earth? Is it a restored world? If you read Revelations chapters 21-22, along with the Old Testament prophecies of the hope of this kingdom you realize the popular view is hardly consistent with the text. What did Jesus say to Nicodemus about the kingdom?
"I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again (John 3:3)"
Unfortunately, as you study church history you will see the confusion and debate concerning the realized kingdom of God, the mix of Gnostic teachings, and much to our detriment today- new teachings upon new teachings to explain misunderstands by what Christ meant. If you study doctrines you will see that due to much of the confusion the popular gospel message today has many gnostic tendencies:
"Gnosticsism is a radically dualistic view of reality where physical reality is completely separate from spiritual reality...They claimed "salvation" involves escaping from the physical world, which is the source of corruption, into the spiritual realm, which is pure and eternal...deny the goodness of God's physical creation and teach that God must replace it with a new universe in the future...one of the many things that the Christian docrtine of the incarnation shows us is the perfection of Jesus Christ is possible in God's physical world. Many other holy and righteous men in Biblical history also demonstrate to us that man's problem has nothing to do with the created order; the problem is sin which resides in the human heart. The curse related to sin is not inherent in the elements of the physical world; the curse has to do with human beings and their covenant relationship to God. That is why believers can be saved, right here and now, in this world. The problem mankind has is sin, and God can take care of that for those who believe. He doesn't have to throw away the physical universe in order to do that (Paraphrased from the book: Beyond Creation Science)".
Biblical truth sounds a bit different than the spiritual hogwash being spouted at many sunday services today, doesnt it? You know... the whole recieve Jesus in your heart today that way you have the hope to be wisked away with him into heaven when you die, but you will have to follow some rules and live a good life separate from the bad people and come here to sing alot of songs, etc, etc.. And that's the good news we present to the world? Sounds a bit like Gnosticism.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking"- Steve Jobs
I love that quote above. Sadly, many in the Christian Church today are living by dogma, doctrines, and a spinkle of Scriptural truth. The aspect of thinking out-side-the box or really thinking through things with discernment (intellectualism) is considered a fault in the eyes of many- because many equate faith with a lack of rational thought. As I have posed through this blog, looking at the socio-religious climate- THIS IS A MAIN TENENT OF THE PROBLEM WE HAVE IN BEING A STATIC INSTITUTION!!
"Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritains worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24)"
Jesus was speaking to a woman outside the covenant of Israel. He was telling her of a time when truth would be revealed to all those who seek to know God through Christ, the Messiah. Notice that it would be spirit and truth that the Father wants those to worship Him through, we must not ever compromise these aspects! That my friends is the solution.
Becoming missional in our efforts to attack the static of the institutional church through faith and works is the solution and the greater things that we would do through Christ (John 14:12)- living in love, fulfilling the Law (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14; etc..).
Unfortunately, the separatist/ retreat from the world aspect that makes Christians feel good about them being the "righteous" is the hypocritical doctrine that blocks us from living in love and living missionally. Besides..it's easier to just separate and know our differences. That's exactly NOT how it is done, the incarnation of Jesus Christ is a prime example.
There is a difference between true Christianity that is reforming and emerging in small unions in radical Christ-ways from organized churchianity. We have seen the need to reform and critique many times and for many reasons in Christian history, and I would imagine the list I can compile is a very minimal list compared to the needs that must change as we emerge and engage the world as the true Christ-followers that we are.
"Where the church is faithful to its Lord, there the powers of the Kingdom are present and people begin to ask questions to which the Gospel is the answer"
Some of us from The Fellowship C.H.U.R.C.H. have taken up the opportunity to gather and learn with the local Unitarian Univeralists on Sunday mornings. Originally. we started out just going and listening and seeking to demonstrate the gospel in word and deed. The more time we spend there and befriend more and more people, we are realizing the commonalities we all share, the value of friendship ("love beyond belief"), and the process of enjoying the journey of learning, loving, and living. Recently, the minister has been sharing with us about the convictions of the UU congregation and summation of his "What Do We Believe" sermon was:
"The most important point of faith which I have not yet mentioned is, faith is for a purpose. It's to motivate you to care for yourself, so that you may help others, and to exhibit concern for the world of we're apart of"
As Christians, we are not just simply universalists with a concept of “love beyond belief” nor do we hold an atheistic do-good view rather we have a proclamation of truth changes all things. Read Hebrews chapter 11 to learn of what part faith has had in the lives of the heroes of our faith. Yet we fail.
It is time, especially in a religious, social, politcal, and economical culture we face today to be offering a consistent, clear, and not so absurd good news to the world. This will enable our efforts to smash false paradigms and views that are set up contrary to the true gospel and the reality of it. We have the unction to demolish strongholds and therefore make all thought captive to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5). We have the call to be rational, reasonable, and offer the answers to the world around us through the gospel of Christ (1 Peter 3:15)- this is truly the healing of the nations (Revelation 22:3).
The depressing news is that many are misinformed because of the serious lack of studying the Scriptures, knowing church and secular history, and instead of defending the faith and searching the Scriptures many have trusted in doctrines of men and sough the the easy way out. Popular teachings stand in stark contrast to the concept of iron sharpens iron, and especially the challenge of Proverbs 18:17: "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him". Instead of searching out the matter, and diligently searching the Scrictures the popular teaching, even said by pastors is the inconsistent aspect of sitting under a man or school to learn truth (oddly enough, in time this is and can be disputed as reguritating the doctrines of a man, or as you learn more as desire to search things out you may recieve the rebuke of taking information from too many sources -sorry bit of a side not there :))
Sadly, as you may have noticed at the beginning of this blog the issue of defending and teaching the truth gets personal for me. As a committed missional Christian, committed to study of the Word and searching the Scriptures- I am at odds with popular doctrine. Emerging missional theology is not a stated way of doing things it simply means to emerge (defined as moving out of the way or away from something and come into view) and become missional as you learn more and more about God. I pray that this blog series has been edifying to you and that through the Spirit of God you will continue to diligently study the Scriptures and share the gospel through your learnings!
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!". And let him who hears say, "Come!". Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life (Revelation 22:17).
and I guess this is where I extend my invite of "Come!", lets hang and let me buy you a coffee.
A brother, friend, servant of the Lord,
Pastor Michael Miano
*And yes I really am inviting you to fellowship with me over a cup of coffee, tea, or maybe a frappachino, ha ha ha...give me a call or text 239-603-5695
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