A Firm Foundation, or Shifting Sands

Berin Loritsch — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 13:47:00 +0000

Yes, I’m a software engineer and a photographer, but first and foremost I am a Christian. I’ve been serving Jesus for over 20 years now, and I am saddened by the quality of people that call themselves Christian now. The word “Christian” means “of or like Christ”, and it was first used to describe the people in the church at Antioch. These people were Christlike, honoring the Lord with their lives. Part of the ills of people who call themselves Christian today stem from the societal ills we have in the world. Part lies on the shoulders of men who compromise the Word of God to fill in their auditoriums. They will answer to God for their compromise. The rest and majority lies in the hearts of those who only want to be hearers and not doers, having a form of Godliness but denying the power of God in there lives.

The bottom line is that God is real, Jesus is real, and he is intimately involved in our lives whether you recognize that fact or not. He wants to have a relationship with you, to empower you to live free from the shackles of sin. I know that atheists don’t want to acknowledge anything that does not fit for their finite minds to understand and quantify, but that doesn’t change the fact that God exists. It’s as if there are two people at the bottom of the well, one says everything is only blue and white outside the well and the other says that there are a wondrous variety of colors including green, red, yellow, etc. Just because one only can see blue and white (sky and clouds) does that mean that these other colors (grass, flowers, etc.) don’t exist? But I’m not talking to atheists right now. I’m talking to those that profess to be Christians.

Jesus gave us a parable about building a house on the rock vs. building a house on the sand. Jesus is that rock, and His Word is how he reveals himself to us. If we build our lives on anything but the Word of God we will fail, and great will be that failure. The problem with many churches is that they want to mix the Word and secular humanism. They want to add existential thought. They want to use psychology and situational ethics to define what is good and acceptable to the Lord. This is blasphemy. How can something that always shifts and changes be a foundation for a life that can withstand hard times? How can you expect your house to stand when your very foundation moves? The church of universities has done much harm to the minds and hearts of Christians in this regard, and it is by design. They site such ridiculous examples as “is it OK to lie if you are hiding refugees from the Nazis”. The premise being that if you weren’t a Christian you could lie and it would be OK because the Nazis are bad people. Of course that premise is faulty because if the Nazis were Christians there would be no need to hide refugees—they would not be bad people. Remember that my definition of Christian is “Christ-Like”, not someone who goes to church. All this is designed to wear down the hearts and resolution of Christians to do the Word.

The problem is that it worked. According to statistics the teenage pregnancy rate, divorce rate, age of losing virginity, etc. in the fundamental Christian churches are no different than the world. No different than those who don’t profess to be Christians. This is an outrage. Its because these kids aren’t taught how to contend with the world. These kids are merely babysat and patted on the head even though their lives are appalling. “Just name the name of Jesus….” Paul said that if Jesus is not raised from the dead than we are of all men most miserable. Why? Because a life in Christ means a life of death to self, a life of denying those lusts and passions that are normal to all men. Because we are not called to a natural life, but a supernatural one where Jesus empowers us to live free from the power of sin (Rom. 6:14).

There has to be a relationship with Jesus to be successful. In John 15, Jesus is giving his parting words to his disciples. He admonishes them to abide in the vine, and that He is that vine. That vine that brings life and power to the branches to be able to bear fruit. The fruit of a Christian is a changed life. It’s the ability to remain pure in an impure world. It’s the ability to know that Jesus is real when everyone tells you He isn’t. Its a life that is an example of Jesus to an unbelieving world. How can you name the name of Jesus and not have any fruit to back it up? How can you claim to be alive when the fruit of your life is death? How can you say you are like Jesus when you look and smell like the world?

In Revelation 3, Jesus admonishes the church at Laodicea that he wishes that they were hot or cold, but because they are luke-warm He will vomit them out of his mouth. It’s not time to play games. It’s not time to mix the fire of God’s Word with the cold of this world’s system. As Isaiah challenged Isreal, choose this day who you will serve. Quit riding the fence. If you are going to be a Christian, be like Christ and He will give you the power to do it. If you are going to be worldly, than quit pretending to be a Christian. Stop lying to yourselves. There is nothing more sad than someone who claims to believe something but everyone around them can tell it isn’t so.

Sure this is a strong word, but its been on my heart lately. If it’s wrong prove it in the Scriptures, but I can’t see anywhere that allows you to claim to be like Christ and live like the devil. People who do that are liars, and there is no truth nor life in them.

Just a Thought...: Tag Christlike

A Firm Foundation, or Shifting Sands