Compromised Christianity Part 3
Seeking Jesus Part 1
Scriptures: Hebrews 11:6; John 11:5-16; 14:1-7; Hosea 4:1-6
Before I go into the message, I want to share a story with you about a friend of mine named Taylor. Taylor was told by one of her peers that he was gay. Taylor without hesitation told the peer that he was not according to the Bible. She was not trying to be rude or anything; she was simply telling her peer what the Bible says. “In her mind” she was just speaking the plain truth to someone who did not know or understand it. And for her it was no big deal. She believes what the Bible says and you can see it in how she lives. Now you may be thinking that I’m talking about someone who has a leadership role in her Church but I am not. Taylor is eleven years old and in the fifth grade and the boy she was talking to is a classmate of hers.
When Taylor relayed the incident to her parents they were proud of her but cringed when Taylor told them exactly what she said to her classmate. Her parents proceeded to “coach” her on how to say things without being judgmental. According to her mother, as they coached her, Taylor looked at them and asked, “Well aren’t we supposed to spread His Word?” Although Taylor is only eleven years old, she truly loves the Lord. She is the one I told you about previously who would be found on the playground alone singing and praising God while all the other kids played. She is not ashamed of God or people knowing she is a Christian! This interaction with her classmate is atypical because most kids (and adults) do not know or interpret the Bible with such confidence that they can firmly say without flinching that something is wrong based on what’s in the Bible. She spoke to her classmate out of concern for him with absolutely no malice. I want you to listen to Psalm 119:128 because I believe it describes Taylor’s heart when it comes to the Bible. “Therefore I esteem right all Your precepts concerning everything. I hate every false way.” You see, for Taylor, what the Bible says about homosexuality is right and if the Bible is right, someone else must be wrong.
This is part three of my series titled “Compromised Christianity” and this morning I want us to think about the difference between someone who actively seeks the Lord to have a relationship with Him versus the one who “falls into Him” because of someone else’s relationship with Him. Someone who “falls into Him” is one who goes to Church regularly and participates in worship but outside of the Church they seldom think about the Lord. Someone who seeks Him out is one who will continue to search for Christ and His teachings to ensure their lives are in line with Him. James 2:19 says that believing in God is not enough as even the demons believe and tremble. We have to do a lot more than just know He exists. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” The word diligently means to show “persistent and hard-working effort in doing something.” The word “seek” means to “try to find.” This verse is telling us that we should be persistently working hard to find the Lord – it’s not a one and done as we should be seeking Him in in every area of our lives! If we are not seeking the Lord and His truth, we will not be able to determine a lie when we hear it and again, that is the beginning stage of being compromised.
This week I thought about and meditated a lot about the first two messages in the series. They have been two of the most difficult messages I have delivered because the subject matter goes against the grain of what people are comfortable hearing or talking about. And I could see how uncomfortable some of you were with some of the information that I shared. But I truly believe that we are at a point in the life of the Body of Christ where it’s time to take off the kid gloves and aggressively do everything we can to first keep Christians, our brothers and sisters, not the lost, from spending an eternity in the lake of fire. If you thought it was hard witnessing to the unsaved, then you know it’s harder trying to talk to someone about changing their lifestyle when they think they are saved, but living as if they are not. It is not easy standing on what you believe and sincerely trying to help others. I’m sure some of you are wondering, what’s going on with pastor and why is he being so adamant about believing and submitting to what the Bible says? I hope to answer that question in this message because when you read the message to the seven Churches in the book of Revelations, those messages were clear about what Jesus wants from His Church and compromising does not make the list.
I cannot tell you how heavy my heart is right now concerning what I see in Christians and what I hear or see published from men and women standing in the pulpit. The Lord is showing me (and you too) that the Church, the body of Christ, is really in trouble. In fact, I read an article this week about a survey that showed 64% of pastors do not feel like they can speak out on social issues like abortion and/or homosexuality. I can understand why they feel this way especially in those churches where preachers are trying not to offend anyone while pleasing everyone. This mentality, even in the best of circumstances, creates an environment where only safe topics are preached about while topics that can send the unrepentant to hell are pushed to the side. If you offend people they will stop giving; they will hold a Church meeting and vote you out. While Pastors truly report to God, some understand the impact on their families if they stray from what is acceptable. This is where we are today, but we cannot remain there. If we remain there, we will repeat the mistake that Thomas made before he truly understood who Jesus was. Today and next Sunday we will examine the disciple Thomas and relate how some of the things he is recorded as saying are symbolic of compromised Christianity.
As a quick background on Thomas, the Gospels do not tell us a lot about him but he is the one identified in John’s gospel of doubting the resurrection of Jesus – hence he is referred to as “doubting Thomas.” Although the Gospels mention Thomas, only the book of John records any words spoken by him. It is the times that Thomas spoke that I want us to examine as it relates to compromised Christianity. Let me say up front that even though Thomas made mistakes, he was saved and went on to continue the work of the Lord. Church tradition hold that Thomas became a missionary and possibly ended up in India. Do not lose focus on what he became after he truly understood Jesus. He was not a Judas. However, Thomas’ actions, in my opinion, resemble the Church today and that is what I want us to see. On the surface Thomas gave the appearance of really being with Jesus but when we truly listen to what he says, he shows that there were some misunderstandings that he had of Jesus.
Turn with me to John 11 and we will begin reading at verse five. “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to Him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.’ This He said, and after that He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.’ The disciples then said to Him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.’ Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” (John 11:5-16)
Here in John 11, Jesus has gotten the message that Lazarus is sick but He doesn’t immediately go to see Lazarus. He waits two days. Finally He says it’s time to go to Jerusalem to wake Lazarus up. The disciples were confused and questioned His thinking because everyone knew that the Jews wanted to kill him. But when Jesus answers them He speaks of a man not stumbling in darkness because he has a light within him. In other words what He tells the disciples is “The reason we have waited until now to go Judea is because that light on the inside of Me, that Spirit on the inside of Me, told Me to wait.” Now how many of us, if we had someone who was sick on their deathbed would not hop on the next plane to be with that person? That’s what our emotions will tell us to do but Jesus was walking in the Spirit. He was led by the Spirit. Think about it. Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters. Do you not think He wanted to go to Lazarus and heal him? Let’s not make Jesus something He wasn’t. He was a man who was tempted in all points, just like us, but He didn’t sin by giving in to the temptation. Don’t you think that as soon as He got word from Mary and Martha that Lazarus was dying He didn’t want to go right then and there? But that was not God’s plan. God had a purpose for not allowing Jesus to leave immediately. And yes, even though He must have wanted to go, He obeyed the Spirit on the inside of Him and waited. So many of us would have ignored that voice and left anyway, but not Jesus. If Jesus had went immediately, Lazarus truly would not have died and the disciples would have still walked in doubt not understanding the end game. When Jesus told the disciples that they must go to Jerusalem to raise Lazarus from the dead He also told them “…..I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe…” There was a life lesson that Jesus was preparing to teach His disciples that would affect how they believed. Would you like to know what it was? I believe that by waiting and not reacting, Jesus was teaching the disciples that they will have to learn to control their emotional responses to situations if they are going to be led by the Spirit. This is a lesson that I am still learning especially as I am dealing with this series.
Now look at what Thomas said; “‘Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” (Vs. 16) Doesn’t that sound like the right thing to say? Thomas is saying “I know it doesn’t make sense for you to go to Judea Jesus but if you want to go, I’ll go with you.” But I want you to listen to what Thomas is saying with your “spiritual ears”. When Thomas says “Let us go that we may die with Him” you can hear the unbelief. Thomas really believed that they would die in Jerusalem. He did not hear Jesus say they were going there to raise Lazarus and He was glad they had not left earlier so that the disciples could believe. He totally missed this. He did not understand. Like so many in the Body of Christ who are compromising their beliefs, they will say the right things but when you listen closely, you can hear the uncertainty and/or disbelief based on their perception of what they thought or believed Jesus said. Thomas heard Jesus as all the other disciples did and what he heard was they were going to Jerusalem to die.
I want you to understand something and this is important. Many Christians today, who profess to be Christians, fell into Christianity. Their parents went to church every Sunday and took them – whether they wanted to go or not. This reminds me of something a southern minister once said. He grew up with a drug problem. His parents “drugged” him to Church every Sunday! Many of us grew up with this problem but the question is did we ever break it. Did you ever transition spiritually from being “drugged” to Church to going freely because you were seeking Christ? If you are here this morning because you feel obligated to be here or because your parents drugged you here, you still have a spiritual “drug” problem and that “drug” problem opens you up to be compromised because you are not seeking Him on your own. Many people fell into Christianity because going to Church on Sundays was what they did and what was expected of them by their parents. And so now, as adults, they say, “I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior.” Now listen closely, if someone “falls” into Christianity because they were “drugged” to Church and they accepted Jesus as their Savior by default because Christianity was what they were exposed to, then they are opened to being compromised. Please understand what I am saying. If you are a Christian because your parents were and that is the “religion of choice” for your family, then you are open to other teachings because you have not sought the Lord for yourself! Jesus sought out Thomas; Thomas did not seek out Jesus although he accepted Jesus when the offer was made. Until you seek out Jesus for yourself and shift from being a Christian because that is all you knew growing up to being a Christians who diligently seeks Christ for yourself, you will never know the fullness of the truth. I want parents to bring their kids to Church, but the reason we lose kids as they become teenagers and young adults is because while we are dragging them to Church when they are kids, we are not teaching them how to seek out Christ through His word for themselves. We are not teaching them to have a relationship with Him that exists beyond what they see in our relationship with Christ as their parents. Christians who fall into Christianity repeat all the right things based on what they heard, but because they did not actively seek it out, their confidence in the words they speak is not there. And that means they are not living by faith. Remember Hebrews 11:6 that we read earlier?
Let me give you another Thomas example of someone falling into Christianity. Turn with me to John chapter fourteen and we will begin reading at verse one. “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way where I am going.’ Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?’ Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” (John 14:1-7)
Listen to what Jesus is saying. He’s telling the disciples “You know the road I’m walking. You know the job I have to do. You know that road I’m on leads to the cross.” Now let’s read what Thomas says. “Thomas said to Him, ‘Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?” Sounds like a very innocent question doesn’t it? Sounds like one that Jesus would respond to with something like this: “Thomas, do you remember when ‘this happened’? Thomas do you remember when ‘that happened’? I’ve been telling you things all along the way. You remember that don’t you Thomas?” Is that what Jesus does? Oh no. We see a completely different response from Jesus in verses six and seven. “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.” Now pay attention to this. At this point, Jesus has been in His ministry about three years. The question He asks Thomas, who has been with Him for about three years, is this: “Thomas, after all of this time, you still don’t me? You don’t know why I’m here? You don’t know my Father? After all this time? Seriously?” Jesus responds to Thomas as if Thomas should have known better and in truth, after three years, he really should have! I’ve got news for you and please here what I am saying, Jesus could ask the majority of the Church the same thing in our current times. Just because we’re around Christians, just because we’re around Christianity does not mean we know Jesus, especially if we never sought Him out. It does not mean we know why He came. It does not mean we know His Father.
I am trying not to be offensive to anyone and if I am please understand that I care about what is happening around us and we need to wake up to it. Being a Christian is not being part of a union where the longer you’re in it the more seniority you get. Just because we’ve been a Christian 10, 20, 30, 40 years doesn’t mean we truly know Jesus, especially if we never sought Him out! And yet we have seen people who have been Christians for years who think they know Jesus. We see here in scripture that Thomas was with Jesus every day of his life for three years and yet Jesus tells him “You don’t know me! You have no clue what I’m about Thomas!” How does that happen? Believe me when I tell you that Jesus was not happy when He said that to Thomas. Although He’s loving He was not happy. Thomas should have known him. Can you imagine me sitting down to dinner with Nikki and we’re talking and all of a sudden she stops and says “Rodney, you didn’t know that about me”? Can you imagine that?
How many of you are familiar with a “Green Card”? A green card allows a non-U.S. citizen to gain permanent residence in the United States. Many people from outside the United States want a green card because it would allow them to live and work (lawfully) anywhere in the United States and qualify for U.S. citizenship after three or five years. There are different categories of Green Cards and one is “Green Card through Family.” If a U.S. citizen marries a non-U.S. citizen the non-U.S. citizen can apply for a Green Card under this category. But there is a catch. The final step in the application process is the Marriage Green Card Interview. The purpose of the interview is to determine if the couple really knows one another and the marriage is not a marriage for the sole purposes of getting the non-U.S. citizen a Green Card. To prep for the interview the couple is advised to gather all of their recent documents (photos of them together, joint bills and banking accounts, etc.) to present to the interviewer. They are also told to refresh their memories of key dates, events, likes/dislikes, etc. of each spouse so that their answers will be the same. If they consistently answer questions wrong or there are other red flags in the background checks the Green Card can be denied on the spot. Now think about this for a moment, your legal status in the U.S. will be based on what you know about the person you’re claiming to be married to.
Now imagine what would happen if there was a test you had to take in order to get a Christian Card which was required to get into heaven and without it you went straight to hell. The test has two parts, part one is on knowledge and part two on lifestyle – living the Word. You only progressed to part two if you passed part one because in order to live the Word you have to know it. In part one you had to answer questions like: “What was Jesus’ last name?” and, “What is the Gospel?” If you answered that Jesus’ last name was “Christ” and that the Gospel was the first four books of the New Testament, then you would fail the test because those answers would be wrong and you could not progress to part two. Now it’s not a one and done because by grace you can go back and reapply once you have studied some more. The only problem is you have to pass both tests before you die so there is some urgency around getting it done. In part two, you sign an agreement to allow constant monitoring of your behavior to ensure you did not change your behavior just for the initial test. Can you imagine how we would live if this was in place? I can tell you with a certainty that someone who “fell” into Christianity because they were “drugged” to Church might not pass the test. I mean think about it. This is what Jesus was saying to Thomas. After three years Thomas should have known Jesus!
Think about this from Jesus’ standpoint. Thomas has been with Him for three years and yet He tells Thomas, point blank, you don’t know Me. Can you imagine how it broke His heart to tell Thomas “you don’t know Me”? A Christian who does not seek out Jesus will have no depth of knowledge and understanding about Who Jesus is; why the Father sent Him; or what Jesus believed or taught. Now because they do not know for themselves they are forced to accept what others tell them to believe. And if the person does not know these things they could be compromised with false teachings because if you don’t know the truth you will believe a lie. You can only recognize a lie when you know the truth. If you don’t know the truth then anything could be truth to you. And what’s most interesting is that some who fell into Christianity sincerely believe they know Jesus, what is important to Him, and what He teaches although they have not sought Him out for themselves. They are living on word of mouth doctrine – you know those teachings that are shared from one mouth to the next. These Christians know Him so well, in fact, that they can tell when other Christians are not being “Christ-like.” I am being as transparent as I can be. I do not know about you, but I have to continue studying because even things that I have studied for years as I age my memory is not what it used to be – so I continue to study. I have to know and believe that what comes out of my mouth is biblically correct because I will be held accountable for it. You may not agree with me but at least you can know I am trying to impart wisdom to save a life. And because of that you will never hear me:
• tell people they no longer have to repent from their sins; or
• that God’s grace covers all of their sins now and in the future so there is no need for repentance; or
• that two men or two women can love each other in the same way that a husband and wife can.
I won’t ever say it because I do not see that in the Word of God, plain and simple. I can only speak for me and how I understand the Bible and likewise I will stand before God for myself. No one can take my place and give an account for me. That day is coming so I am trying to be prepared. So if I am making you uncomfortable or making you think differently, just understand that over the years I have been where you are – many times – and I am now making my own personal preparation for the day I stand before my Lord and Savior and I hope to hear the words, “Well done My good and faithful servant.” That’s my hearts’ desire.
But before I close this morning I want to remind you of what was recorded by the prophet Hosea. When God drove the people out of the Promised Land to give the land to the Children of Israel, He expected them to prosper in the land through their knowledge of Him. They were to worship and follow His heart as demonstrated in the laws that He set before them. As you know, they did not. But as I read this to you this morning, I want you to listen closely and ask yourself could these words be spoken to the United States of America today? And if they can, what must we do? Hosea 4:1-6. “Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel, for the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land, because there is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing, deception, murder, stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everyone who lives in it languishes along with the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky, and also the fish of the sea disappear. Yet let no one find fault, and let none offer reproof; for your people are like those who contend with the priest. So you will stumble by day, and the prophet also will stumble with you by night; And I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
