Time to Get Things Right
I was talking to a Christian today. She said her Pastor was talking to a few members and said that many who go to his seminary have told him they’re only there to get a degree in Business Management “because they wouldn’t make money as a pastor”, they’d only make money in the business world. I told her, I was glad that they weren’t there to be pastors, we don’t need any more of those heretics who preach things that aren’t 100% biblical while duping people out of their money. I also told her I hope her pastor responded “That’s good you aren’t here to be a pastor, because only those who have the gift from God are to be pastors.”
She said her pastor was going to seminary for a Healthy Church degree. Really?! You've got to be kidding, they have a degree for that silly idea? Why not get a degree in Theology, that’s the most needed area that every pastor should be trained in. The churches today are filled with pastors who have no solid training in Scripture. They’re all about useless things such as degrees “focused on Healthy Church” or “business management”. A pastor’s job is NOT to handle all the different aspects and jobs in the church. He IS to be solely focused on studying the Word of God to communicate Scripturally saturated messages to the congregation. That’s his job. His only job. He shouldn’t be getting degrees in anything not related to the job description that they’ve been given - according to Scripture. And the churches need to stop trying to have the pastor do everything under the sun. The Saints need to use the gifts God gave them as to serve the Lord in the church in any other capacity that is needed to maintain or assist in those other areas in the church. This is one of the main reasons churches are all messed up. The members don’t know their purpose and function within the church.
Who’s Healthy?
There is no need for Healthy Church programs. Every believer is a Healthy Christian. Jesus is the Great Physician who spiritually healed them when they got saved. He transformed them into a new creation. They become more like Christ daily. They are the ones who love the Bible, they enjoy reading it and do so very regularly, they pray constantly, they encourage others in spiritual things and look for opportunities to share God's word and the gospel with those who aren't saved, or who are new believers, or who are weak in the faith. They enjoy being around Christians, and they enjoy fellowshipping with those who are saved (both at church and any other day of the week).
Sure their may be a few Backsliders in the congregation, but they are simply “someone who's not walking with the Lord as they should, but they correct themselves when someone brings it to their attention or they realize it themselves”.
Those who think they are saved and call themselves backsliders (they live like the rest of the ungodly in the world, and hardly if ever go to church or participate in worship and don’t serve God in the local church), are not saved. They had a false conversion.
Then you have those in the congregation who clearly aren’t saved; they only come because someone drags them there all the time, be it children, teens, a steady, or a spouse, (hoping the pastor will save them, when its their job to reach the lost). Or they think they're "good to go" with God because they have always come to church. There are a group of people in the church who are not saved either because they have never discussed being saved, or they are false converts.
Don't Get Me Wrong
Those who cometo church and regular hear (truely biblical) Gospel and Christian Living sermons from the pulpit can be brought to the foot of the cross for salvation in Christ. New and growing believers will forsake their lifestyle that is prone to flippant transgression of God’s Law and worldly pleasures. They actively fight temptation, and are delivered from them, no more to be controlled by them. They have a new nature and new desires that are God-ward. But in order for them to be saved they need to hear the real deal from Scripture. Truth resounding and conscience pounding messages from the pulpit that are Biblical. The problem is that many pastors today are not equipped to do this, because they have degrees in other things, or they spend so much time doing everything else at church that they don't have proper time to put useful messages together and end up downloading a sermon off the "buy a sermon" website. It's time for pastors to take control and make the necessary changes in order to have a useful ministry in their community for Christ. Otherwise the world will blaspheme His name, and the ungodly will mingle with the godly in the church and present an unequally yoked message to the people of their town.
Gasp, some pastors themselves are not saved! I've known three in my lifetime who had been pastors for 7-15 years who realized they weren't themselves saved, they then got saved. This is one reason things can be messed up in churches across the globe. Some dont take control and lead the congregation biblically because they dont really care, or dont know they are supposed to, or just go through the motions. Did you know 1,800 pastors leave the ministry every year! I say the pastor needs to start in his own life and home before he starts looking to make others "healthy".
A Wake Up Call
The problem within the church isn’t that the Saints aren’t healthy, the problem is that we have people in the pews month after month, year after year, decade after decade, who think they are a Christian when in fact they are not. They came to Jesus for the wrong reasons, reasons that sounded like good news, but in fact was a false gospel. When they "came to Jesus" they did not lament over their sins, their transgressions against God’s Law, having violated them, and did not clearly see their dire situation before God. Realizing should they die this instant, Hell is all that awaits them who die in their sins. They did not forsake their sins, They still live as the ungodly (just look at their speech, entertainment preferences, books the read, movies they watch, music that is ungodly, and wouldnt dream of giving up their treasured sins). THEN (in connection with the previous) they didn't humble themselves before the Creator, asking Jesus to forgiven them of their terrible rebellion toward God, so that God could give them the free gift in Jesus Christ, wiping their record clean with Jesus payment so God’s Justice could be served and his Wrath would be cooled against them. They never received the Righteousness of Christ because they never were transformed into a new creature, they just shaped themselves into something that looked like one; as the wolf in sheep’s clothing that they are. Stirring up trouble in the church meetings, putting their idolatrous views into the mix and causing confusion in the church so that things are watered down and Truth and Discipline never reign from the pulpit nor the classrooms.
Weak Christians have gotten these people into the church doors and they’ve never left. The congregation members befriended them, and they are afraid to call the person to repentance or to question their salvation. So the lost sit among us and live as the hypocrites they are (that is what a faker is). Do we wait for the Lord to come back and separate the wicked from the justified? No, God forbid! Then what do we do? First the pastor needs to take control and rewrite the way the church functions and teaches. The people need to let God’s chosen one (the Pastor) do his job, and not circumvent His authority over the flock. The church constitution and bylaws need to be altered so that the Pastor has the highest authority in the congregation and is not to be removed from his position, as long as he is a godly man who teaches what’s in Scripture, and does not do anything like (embezzlement, adultery or pedophile acts, etc). Then he can reorganize the deacons and the teachers so that only those who are Saved are in those positions. Then the word of God is studied and preached boldly from the pulpit (no more wishy washy or modern stuff). Those who are false converts and do not love the truth of God will leave the church. Forget about "numbers" and "money"! God will provide and rebuild the church so your ministry can be a beacon of light in the community. And those Christians who stay and sit under the authority and leadership of the church will begin to grow in the faith through the pulpit, grow in the knowledge of Scripture, and be challenged to read the Scriptures regularly at home, so the Spirit of God can shape, mold, and mature those who follow Jesus. And those who don’t may shortly join those who do, once they fall to the foot of the cross and surrender their lives to Jesus Christ; our Great God and Savior.
Challenge to the Church
It’s time for Christians to stand up and stand solidly on the Scriptures, not deterring or going to the left of the right, but staying on course, following in the Lord and the Apostles footsteps so that those who name the name of Christ will be true Christians who are firm in the knowledge of Scripture and understand it and apply it to their daily lives, all the days of their life.
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*Hopefully you understood all that I've said and tried to cause you to think about. I'm not great in the grammar and sentence structure department, as college educated people are.
