I’ve had something stirring in my heart for awhile now, and especially the past few days. I guess a question that sums it up is: What are we, as followers of Christ, doing to lead others to God?
I recently was in the midst of a few folks who are followers of Christ and a few topics came up that seem to be a “faux pas” in the Western Church. I believe I’ll address a few of these things here.
As we were discussing Jesus casting demons out of people in His day as part of the lesson, someone stated that he thought that just maybe there were still demons that possessed people today. Of course there are!! As this situation unfolded, I felt led to share my limited understanding of this. I shared about how I had worked with a group of women and we did cast out demons in Jesus’ name. As I shared, both astonishment and a hush came over the group. One person even said, “I don’t know that I could have been a part of that.” My question is: Why not? If we are disciples and followers of Christ, are we not called to do what Jesus did? Jesus, laid hands on people and healed them. He prayed for the blind and gave them sight. He cast demons out of people. These are just a few of the things that Jesus did. Why is it that there are churches full of “Christians” who choose to believe that these things are not for this day and age?
We live in a time where people who are afflicted with the demonic, don’t know it and are often sent to doctors in the belief that it is mental illness. Now, although there are folks who do have physiological problems that do cause mental illness, not all people need medicine to treat their issues. Some are demonic issues and some are physiological issues. The problem within our society is that we, for the most part, choose to not believe the demonic part of that statement. I have witnessed a young woman diagnosed as bipolar have demons cast out of her. Afterwards, God transformed her mind and she was no longer taking meds for these issues that were obviously misdiagnosed not only by the secular doctors, but also by pastors in her church.
These things are real, but for some reason, our society has decided that they, for the most part, don’t believe it.
One of the things I said during our discussion was the Jesus had the Holy Spirit without limit. This is the same Holy Spirit that lives in us … the same! There is no reason why we shouldn’t be doing the same as Jesus did! So, my question is:
Why are we just sitting back doing nothing about situations like this? I believe it’s because of our unbelief. The majority of the Western church simply refuses to believe. This is nothing new. I was reading in Matthew 17 today about how a man brought his son to Jesus to be healed. The son would have seizures and often fall into the fire or into the water. The man had taken his son to the disciples and the disciples were unable to heal him. Jesus then called them (the disciples) a faithless and perverse generation. Later Jesus told the them that it was due to their unbelief that they were unable to cure the boy. He said that they must have faith and also, this situation called for prayer and fasting. Now, if the disciples, who walked and talked with Jesus missed it, I can see how easy it would be for us to miss it, as well.
But, what if God is trying to get our attention here? Just maybe He wants to remove scales from our eyes and unclog our ears. What do you believe? Do you believe that God has made a way for you to lay your hands on people, pray and heal others and cast demons out? Or do you choose to not believe? What are you doing for others in this respect?
We live in a society that, more often than not, chooses to live the “easy life.” We have churches full of “Christians” who come from generation after generation of Christians who are now coasting on the prayers of the generations of the past. We have Christians who believe that because someone is having a difficult time, they need to walk away from that person and not help them because that “issue” is beneath them and it’s best that they not associate with that person. Trust me, this is true! I, more often than not, have had people … “followers of Christ” walk away and not offer any help whatsoever simply because they “didn’t have the time, or didn’t want to get involved, or simply chose to have no compassion.” Is this how we see Jesus when He encounters people with troubles or sickness in the Bible? No, it isn’t.
Why do you go to church? Is it because it’s a social event? Do you go because of “good programs?” Do you go because you’re expected to go? Do you go to praise and worship God?
If you go to praise and worship God, what do you do with what you have received from God in that experience? Do you keep it to yourself? I’ve had people say, “Wow Angie, you really put yourself out there,” when I have shared my experiences. Or, “Wow, you’re really in tune with the Holy Spirit!” Well, my question is: Why aren’t you putting yourself out there? Why aren’t you in tune with the Holy Spirit, as well? This lifestyle that I have chosen isn’t just for “special people.” I’m not special. I’m simply choosing to live my life to the full as a follower of Christ. Isn’t that what God wants of all of us?
Look, Easter / Resurrection day is only a few days away. It’s the time of year that we take note and celebrate the truth that Jesus, while sinless, sacrificed his life for all mankind. I ask you: Did He die so that we could sit back, coast through life, and then go to Heaven when this life is done? No … He didn’t! It’s His will that none … NONE, should perish. 2 Peter 3:9
Are you allowing God to work through you to reach the lost in your world? If you consider yourself a Christian, what are you doing to advance the Kingdom of God? God isn’t telling us that we should all be missionaries, or sit on street corners with signs warning of the end, etc. It’s actually fairly simple. We simply have to be intentional about living a life led by the Holy Spirit. I have to tell you that I don’t believe there are very many Christians who choose to live their lives this way. Far too many people attend church, head home and then go about their lives with no intention of being led by the Holy Spirit. Sure, we pray, meet with our Christian groups during the week, and head back to church the following Sunday and repeat and repeat and repeat. But, what are you doing to reach the lost in your world? Are you coasting through life just to make it through so you can enjoy Heaven in the next life?
Folks, there is an arrogance within much of the church that believes that this is the way we should live our lives. This isn’t truly living a life of a follower of Christ. We can go to church, praise and worship God, learn everything there is to know in the Bible, be inspired by awesome stories of God’s goodness to us, but if we’re not doing anything to share with the lost, what good is any of it?
Jesus’ ministry on this Earth was three years long. Look at what He did to help the lost and hurting. He was a friend to sinners. He met them where they were and sincerely loved them. Are you able to sincerely love someone who won’t attend church with you? Are you able to simply allow God to work through you without demanding that the non believer do things the way you want them to? God’s ways are not our ways. We are not God. Only God is God. Jesus loved people and walked with them. Jesus is our example. I wonder how long he walked with us without demanding that we live our lives a certain way before we accepted Him as our Savior? He is our example. ~ Selah
Look at the “religious leaders” of His time, what did Jesus have to say to them? Well, just to name a few things, He called them a “brood of vipers” and “whitewashed tombs”. He described them as having the cup clean on the outside, but the inside of the cup dirty, meaning that they had a great appearance, but anything deeper than that appearance and He wasn’t impressed. They were superficial. They knew the scriptures by heart. They had a plan and acted accordingly, but, when the Savior of the world stood in front of them, they didn’t even know it. They saw Him spending time with sinners, healing them and casting out demons. Then, they accused Him of being led by Satan. Their faith and belief system was superficial simply because Jesus didn’t fit the mold that they had been taught. I don’t want to live my life that way. I choose to live the way Jesus did to the best of my ability. I believe His way is not only much better, but, the only way.
The beginning of 2018, I posted a blog about making time to reach the lost and hurting in our world like the good Samaritan. I believe that God is trying to get our attention. I believe that many of us do truly love the Lord, but that our process is somewhat flawed. The Western church believes too much of what is taught in our seminaries today … not that it’s all flawed. That’s not what I’m saying. But, what I am saying is that we are all called to be disciples of Christ, not just “the leaders” who have attended seminary and are now paid to lead a church. It’s not just the leaders job to lead others to Christ. Many of our churches are designed to “feed” followers, but are not set up to teach us to be true disciples of Christ. We are all called to be disciples. We all have a specific purpose for our lives no matter where we work or spend our time.
So, with all that said; What are we, as followers of Christ, doing to lead others to God? Are we following Christ and leading others to Christ ... or just following? ~ Selah
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