Go Ye

"That word is back again. We need to discard it and focus on the gospel."

I’M LOOKING for a pastor who loves his or her congregation, who adores teaching them, who holds their life’s successes and needs close to his heart. I’m looking for a man or woman who’s desire to serve is so great they found themselves called, and God opened the way, and they stepped into it. I’m looking for a congregation who worships Jesus and adores their leadership, in that order and with those words. I’m done with discipleship, to go out and get people into programs designed to make them into carbon copy Christians, who don’t even know the gospel but repeat what is said.

There is no place for pride in the pulpit. In leadership, government, or authority. In fact, a person of pride needs to be at the bottom until they see Jesus, the most humble King. We have no idea what this is, no idea WHO HE IS as gentle and lowly until we meet Him. I assure you, He is nothing like the image I was given in church culture. That it is a culture, separated from society and not influencing society through God’s love, absent of loud braggadocio, is against who Jesus called us to be. Minister Lance Wallnau was arguing with Jesus, and if you’ve listened to him then you will understand this remark, but in his argument for bigger churches with more electronics, Jesus put him in his place. The Scripture says GO YE into the world, not COME YE into the church.

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 16:15 KJV)

The apostle Paul was a changed man after seeing Jesus on the road to Damascus. If you do not see this in his writings, you are blind. Some have accused him of arrogance, but every word he pens is filled with love. In Romans, he wars with himself between the Gentiles, whom he was sent to, and his Jewish family. Minister Rick Renner has a fantastic historical look at Paul where he describes the moment Paul left the Jewish synagogue and entered a Gentile domicile. He’d had no success amongst the Jews, just countless arguments and battles. They were his people, but the work God called him for was to those outside of Israel. Peter acknowledged this. He had a dream, a vision, of a sheet let down from heaven, filled with all manner of beasts considered unclean. The Spirit said, “Take and eat.”

Peter argued. No, he’d never eaten anything not in the Old Covenant. Which was the point. God did a new work.

Romans 14 is the most fascinating look at walking in love. It shows how we must set down personal preference to honor others, regardless of where we stand in disagreement. Paul uses food as an example, saying not to eat what you know is good if it offends the other person. Even if what they believe is incorrect, the fact we would make them break their conscience causes them to sin. Idol worship was a huge industry in that time. Paul had no problem eating food dedicated to idols. He knew idols were inert objects. However, he refused to eat what someone else would view as sin. We must apply this to other things of society and personal taste. Tattoos, music genres, and yes, food, but also things like doctrinal issues, worship styles, and church culture.

That word is back again. We need to discard it and focus on the gospel. Our teaching should be focused on the principles described in it and on maturing, growing up in God. We should see everyone through God’s eyes and not sarcasm or sar-chasm, as I like to say. It does open a gulf between people. Asked to love, do you love? Are you selective? You love only these people but not those. Is love a status symbol, a sign of worthiness in your eyes, or as easy and natural as breathing? Because that’s how it should be. So also is “faith.” We love because we are loved on a scale out-of-this-world. Here is our trust, our belief in God. And compassion is our heart. Mercy are our footsteps.

LISTEN TO "The Church" by Austin French

Image by Roger Casco from Pixabay


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Suzanne D. Williams, Author
www.suzannedwilliams.com
www.feelgoodromance.com