Division is unavoidable. Sects are unavoidable. As the darkness encroaches on the church, the need to confront that evil and darkness will grow. This is not a time to be passive or fearful.[7] Yes, we should not accuse, slander, gossip, or provoke, but like Jesus, we must boldly, for the truth’s sake, for the sake of the church, for the sake of the gospel, speak the truth in love.
Here in March 2021 in America, most churches are still either shut down entirely, or, if they are meeting in person, meet with a reduced capacity, or meet virtually or by virtue of a livestream broadcast, or a combination thereof. Very few have reopened to pre-pandemic occupancy; most continue to follow their state or local government’s emergency health orders.
After an entire year, why do churches continue to follow these health orders?
Simply put, it’s faith — but not faith in God. Rather, it’s faith in the institutions of government, media and medicine . . .
It’s commonly understood that Christians should not hate — anything. How could hate possibly be compatible with love? These two emotions – these two intentions – are diametrically opposed to each other. But if you believe that hate is off-limits, you’ve been deceived.
The truth is, we are commanded to hate. But hate what? — EVIL.
How then do we overcome this inertia, what we often say to ourselves: ‘I’m too tired,’ or ‘I’m just exhausted.’ We’ve all been there and no amount of guilt-tripping, motivational speeches, or rah-rah Christianity can long deliver us from our chronic fatigue. It will take something more fundamental. I hope to scratch that surface here. Here then are five keys to ensure we won’t fritter away our lives — five keys to overcome the inertia we all feel.
We are not owners but stewards, managers of God’s unlimited wealth. If we let that sink in, if we truly believe that, we will become the most . . .
When time is abstracted into hours, minutes and seconds, time becomes uniform, commodified and standardized so as to be used. So life becomes and is reduced to the use of time’s standardized commodities. One minute is treated like any other. The problem is that hours, minutes and seconds are not real; they are artificial constructs, and they will ultimately lead to an artificially-constructed life.
Lie: Churches must be named.
Truth: Naming churches divides the body of Christ.
Where I live four churches lie within a quarter mile or less on the same street, each with its own designer sign. To get to my church I have to pass two of them. Something is wrong with this picture.
We’ve grown accustomed to the thousands of denominations that dot the landscape and even consider it normal. Most of the Christian church in America believes that our churches – to be a legitimate church – cannot exist unless . . .
Lie: Passively looking at human images is harmless.
Truth: Passively looking at human images reduces our ability to relate to people.
Until the early 1800s the only images of the human face and form were reflections from reflective surfaces and portrait artwork. But George Eastman’s invention of roll film triggered a landslide that continues to build, even today.
It’s estimated here in 2018, that the average person in the western world sees hundreds, if not thousands of images every day, many of which are, or contain, images of human faces and bodies.[1] Since the advent of the Internet . . .
Lie: I have a right to punish those who hurt me.
Truth: I have a responsibility to love those who hurt me.
Vengeance comes in many ‘christianized’ forms. Many of those forms are accepted or winked at by Christians as harmless and unavoidable – forms such as: the ‘silent treatment’ — ignoring, shunning, avoiding, rejecting in their many forms — so-called righteous indignation, flaming emails, gossip and slander, sowing discord among brethren, ‘evil eyes,’ ‘cold shoulders,’ or intimidating looks. These may appear to be small slights that people shouldn’t ‘be so sensitive about’ or ‘should just get over.’ But while that may be true, these forms of vengeance can also do major
Lie: To avoid rejection I must pretend or perform an admired role.
Truth: To avoid worrying about rejection, I must enter the ‘secret place.’
We’ve all felt it. I’m talking about that anxious feeling we get at a social event, when we can’t find one familiar face. Some panic, others wade into the crowd with relish. But for both, often the solution is to put on a smile and fake it. That is, we pretend, we put on a role, a persona, perhaps the best version of ourselves or, for some, we assume a completely different personality; others are less subtle – they clam up or hide or avoid the conflict altogether.
The question is ‘why?’ Why do we do this? Why can’t we simply without pretense or bother, strike up conversations with a simple sincerity, taking a genuine interest in the life and well being of those we meet? Why is that so hard? The answer is obvious: . . .
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