wildernessVoice

Christmas time is causing me to do a lot of thinking regarding Christianity. Here are some observations I have made:

1.  The church in downtown Berthoud caters to those who have been “burnt out” on Christianity or who have been burned by their former churches.
2. The reformed church in Fort Collins claims to be historically Baptist and refrains from any focus on <s>music</s> entertainment that caters to the flesh.
3. Most of the blogs, which I no longer read, are simply re-printing materials from men of old.
4. Piety is still confused with holiness.
5. Holiness is still mistaken as something we do.

I am really not qualified to debate all of these observations. They’re simply observations and there is much similarity between them and what goes on outside of Christianity. For example, is it wrong to cater to those who have burned by other churches? After all, some of us have certainly seen the ill effects of what goes on in the name of God.But to market to such folks seems somehow very worldly. What about just quietly doing the same deeds?

Is it wrong to refrain from contemporary music in our worship services? I have heard this argued to the nth degree over the years. But to dwell on how you’re not focusing on the music is to in fact focus. It’s rather ironic. Ever wonder at what point Victory in Jesus was considered contemporary? Better yet, look inside a Baptist Hymnal and read about how at the turn of the last century the piano was considered a contemporary instrument that should not be used within the worship service. At my last church in CA, I was originally put off by the music service. But I had been determined not to allow music to interfere with doctrine. The end result is I found a very loving, yet strong church that has lived out the scriptures better than any other church I have seen.

Somehow good Calvinism is often confused with quoting or reciting various authors. Apologetics has nothing to do with quoting books about the scriptures– that is if we’re concerned about defending the faith. Our faith derives from the scriptures. When we defend them, we’re defending the doctrine contained therein. When we lean to other works, we rely on other men and their interpretations to help us form ours. In reality, we’re to depend on the scriptures and upon the Holy Spirit’s witness within us. Anyone who knows me well, knows how irritated I get when people just re-hash stuff.

Piety may be a good thing.  Most of the time, I really never see it, just false piety. Many cults practice the art of self-denial. There’s nothing new there. But somehow I expect true piety to be refreshing and a magnet. It ought to be charitable and loving in nature, not judgmental. It should never look down upon those who do not live likewise. 

As we live this life, we are continually conformed to the image of Christ. It is God who brings various events into our lives that break us down and mold us, just like when he originally drew us unto him for regeneration and salvation. This was not our work. It was his. Yet somehow we get mistaken. We somehow think that holiness, or separation, is an active behavior or manifestation– like clothes we wear. It has little to do with our clothes or appearance, but more to do with our heart and mind. What do we think about everyday events? What are our initial reactions?

As I stated in the beginning, I simply wanted to make some observations. We’re going into a time of year that is identified as belonging to Christians. Yet we all know that most of the behavior we’ll actually see will be anything but Christian in nature. Will we strive to be different? Or will we strive to be consistent with the scriptures? There is a distinction to be made. 

Trackback URL