“I’m pretty sure that when Jesus talked about the kingdom of God that was at hand, he had more in mind than a pending Christian sub-culture that could sell its own t-shirts and make its own music and movies.

After a quick google search I was able to see such shirts as “Abreadcrumb & Fish”.  A Reeses peanut butter cup looking shirt that says “Jesus” rather than “Reeses” who is our “sweet savior.”    As well as one that so aptly and lovingly reminds us that “stop, drop, and roll will not work in hell.”

With all my heart, I would love to see the Christian sub-culture in this country dry up and blow away to be replaced by a group (small if necessary) of people who take Jesus far more seriously than Christendom.

I say that because I think the Christian sub-culture is so freaking distracting.  It’s counterfeit.  It makes following Jesus harder to do for those of us that actually want to do it, because it perverts and poisons the language.

Imagine a world where “worship” wasn’t thought of as a genre of music but a state of the heart.  Imagine a world where Jesus was thought of as the Jesus that we find in the Gospels rather than the Jesus found in today’s religious sub-culture.  Man, that would be nice.”

One of the greatest challenges to an accurate, authentic expression of Christ is the ability for almost anyone to become the “expert” or “herald” of some fad or movement simply because they wrote a book, recorded a CD, started a blog or was blessed with great oratory skills. How sad it is that more believers seem moved by outward manifestation or gifting rather than inward transformation and a recognition of grace. Indeed, many believers have become sympathetic to and accepting of the ungodly lifestyles of “Christian artists” and “ministers” because they are enamored with the person’s gift.

Beloved, it is my conviction that the degree to which the counterfeit has become acceptable is directly proportionate to the lack of overall spiritual discernment and power in the lives of most believers. Having endured “worship services” that were little more than soulish, emotional experiences, and “spiritual awakening conferences” that spent more energy and space peddling the wares of the speakers – I am at the place where I must speak: both to contend for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints, and to protect the generation which is to come from the devastating consequences of adopting a cross-less, Christ-less, emotion-driven, merchandise-centered Christianity.

When did mimicking the cultures of the world become “evangelism?” When did believers have to resort to cutsie phrases and worldly methodologies to make Christ “relevant?” Answer – in almost every generation since the resurrection. I am reminded of one John Tetzel, who is infamous in his peddling of indulgencies during Luther’s days. One of his favorite jingles went something like this…

As soon as the gold in the casket rings; the rescued soul to heaven springs.

So then we find the ever-present need to express accurate individual and corporate expressions of Christ as a testimony against the continuous efforts of those who belive godliness is a means of financial gain.

A true representation of the Kingdom of our God reveals its irresistible ability to overtake the kingdoms of the world. So when we observe well-meaning but misguided believers using worldly techniques and marketing strategies to make Christ “appealing” to the masses it is time to encourage an honest evaluation of the depth and authenticity of our expression of Christ. He is altogether lovely, awesome and irresistible when He is revealed. But that level of expression requires a measure of personal transformation that many are simply unwilling to undergo. It is so much easier to create and market a t-shirt than to lay down our lives for one another, forsake all, and follow Him. But the words of the John cannot be ignored.

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

I already know this post might get me in trouble but bear with me to the end. I want to discuss the accurate use of scripture and being led by the Spirit, not our emotions – and this scripture passage is, in my opinion, the best example. The passage is Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the sheep and goats.

Quite often these verses caption a picture similar to the one above and are intentionally crafted to tug on our emotions so that we will support the work of caring for the poor. Now, caring for the poor is definitely scriptural and needful – but the use of these verses as a call to action is inaccurate for the following reason. Throughout this passage Jesus consistently refers to a specific group to whom the good deeds were being done: His brethern. And as Jesus clearly stated in Mar 3:33-35,

But he replied to the man who told him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! “Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (ESV)

So we see that His brethren are those who do the will of God – not any and all who have need. Jesus was not moved by need. Even salvation is a work that was motivated by His purpose rather than our need. Thanks be to God that by His mercy these two coincided! Generally, His works were wrought towards those who came to Him in faith. And the remainder were done when He specifically was motivated to do them by the Spirit. As difficult as it may seem, human need was seldom, if ever, His motivator. True enough, He was often moved by compassion, but He only did what He saw the Father doing – He did not act solely on the basis of an emotional response to human need.

Think of the miracle at the pool of Bethesda. It was all great for the man who was healed, but what about the “Crowds of sick people–blind, lame, or paralyzed– (that) lay on the porches?” (NLT) Were they not in need of healing as well? Where was the compassion of God for them? These are difficult questions but ones with which we must wrestle if we are to understand the ways of God.

Indeed, the Father desires that we mature into son-ship, and sons are they who are led by the Spirit of God – not by their emotion. Being led by emotion will generate many good works – being led by the Spirit will manifest the glory of God. Being led by emotion will earn the appreciation and attention of men – being led by the Spirit will cause us to be good and faithful stewards.

Another problem with the inaccurate application of scripture is that it breeds bad theology. I would venture to say that most people view the Sheep & Goats parable as referencing the poor, sick and imprisoned – regardless of their standing before God. However, there is a depth to this parable that far exceeds the mere satisfaction of human need, revealing something of the incredible grace of God that will challenge most people’s theology! (For a thought provoking view on this passage check out this post.)

So to sum up, I am not saying we neglect the poor – saved or unsaved. I am saying that our actions must not be motivated by clever marketing that plays on our emotions, nor on the depths of human need we see around us. Our works must flow by the Spirit, regardless of appearance, so that we will be found serving the purpose of God and not the purpose of man. Human poverty – emotional, physical, financial, spiritual and psychological – is far too great for us to satisfy. And even though we may feel the need to do our small part to alleviate suffering, we have a greater mandate: the will of the Father. Remember our Lord Jesus with the woman at the well. His food, that which satisfied Him, was to do the will of the Father. Let that same attitude be in each of us – that we would find our joy and wholeness, not in the fulfillment of human need, but in doing His will and finishing His work.

Thanks be to God He has revealed that the only presentation of ourselves which is fit for Him is that of a living sacrifice – as Paul said in Rom. 12:1-2

“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, {which is} your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” NASB

For the only life that truly pleases God is that of His Son – Jesus our Lord. So then, to offer Him anything of myself is worthless. The Father is only pleased by the Son and by grace we have been raised up with Christ and are now in Him. So then we are found to be pleasing to God because He has pleased the Father. I hear so many pray, and once prayed this way myself, “Lord, I just want to please You.” But dear ones, this is a futile prayer. For we either walk in the new man, who has been created in Christ and made alive through His resurrection – or we walk in the old man who has already been judged and slain (for when Christ died all died 2 Cor. 5:14). If we walk in the old man we cannot please God in anyway or with any work – regardless of how sacrifical or biblical it may be. For a person can apply biblical principals and morals and be unknown to God. But if we walk in the new man we can only please God – for Christ who is our life is forever pleasing the Father, and if we are found in Him, the pleasure of the Father which rests upon Christ then rests upon us – for we are called to be co-heirs with Him. 

Now, it is still our responsibility to choose to walk according to life. However, the failure comes when we are tricked into thinking that it is the exercising of our choice that makes us pleasing to God. That is the subtle lie that differentiates the worthy walk from the worthless walk. It is not my choosing of His will that makes my walk worthy – for it is God who works in me both to will and to do. Rather it is that when I make the choice to walk in the new man that I find myself in Christ, who is forever pleasing to God. This is my spiritual service of worship – to be a living sacrifice. To walk as one already dead. To walk in Christ who is already resurrected. 

Consider Paul’s words of exhortation.   

For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. 1 Thess. 2:11-12 

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph. 4:1-3

And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. Col. 1:9-10

The Father has called us into His kingdom and glory, with humility, gentleness, patience forbearance and love. To eagerly seek the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and bear fruit in every good work. Beloved, these things can only be expressed by and through our Lord Jesus. So then it is only as we walk in Him that we walk worthy of that calling. It is not the doing of His will that produces life and brings us into fellowship with the Father, Son and Spirit – it is the choice to walk in Christ, by the Spirit that causes us to be all these things because Jesus, in whom we live, move and have our being, is all these things!

Finally, consider Peter’s words.

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God;” 1 Pet. 1:14-16, 22-23

Indeed we must cast off our former conduct and manner of living. But our holiness is found not in the putting away, rather it is found in Christ – in whom we walk after having put away these things. How glorious this is! That in all things, Christ is glorified. He is both the one who wills and the one who does. By His word our minds are renewed to accept His will. By His spirit we are empowered to obey His will. And having done so, by His grace we are then found in Christ who is acceptable and well-pleasing to God – who has also chosen that we should be co-heirs with Him. Oh the incredible humility of Christ! It is beyond comprehension. As the Psalmist rightly said,

O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.
You have taught children and nursing infants to give you praise.
They silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers– the moon and the stars you have set in place– what are mortals that you should think of us, mere humans that you should care for us.
For you made us only a little lower than God, and you crowned us with glory and honor.
You put us in charge of everything you made, giving us authority over all things–the sheep and the cattle and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.
O LORD, our Lord, the majesty of your name fills the earth! Psalm 8, NLT

I pray that you will begin to understand the incredible greatness of his power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else in this world or in the world to come. Eph 1:16-21 NLT

There is certainly more in this passage than could be addressed in a lifetime, let alone a blog post. But I want to draw attention to a theme that is central to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians – that of the heavenly places. Beloved, we desperately need to believe the Word concerning our position in Christ – that of being raised with Him and seated with Him. We need to see beyond the borders of our natural horizon, and believe beyond the borders of our horizon of faith. We need elevated sight that only comes from living in the reality of our heavenly position. Consider Paul’s continuing exhortation in Eph. 2:6-7 NLT

For he raised us from the dead along with Christ, and we are seated with him in the heavenly realms–all because we are one with Christ Jesus. And so God can always point to us as examples of the incredible wealth of his favor and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us through Christ Jesus.

We see that just as Christ is raised from the dead and seated in the heavenly realms, so also are we with Him! Beloved, this is glorious! For just as He is far above any ruler, authority or power – so are we. We are His ambassadors to the earth, that we might show forth His excellent greatness, His dominion over sin and His authority over the power of Satan. Remember His promise, that we would be endued with power after the Holy Spirit comes upon us, and that power – the power that raised jesus from the dead – now dwells in us. All that separates us from manifesting the truth of our position in Christ is faith. Do we believe what the Word says? Do we truly believe we are now raised from the dead and seated with Him?

Now, I am not speaking of an exercise of faith in keeping with certain preachers and teachers who think godliness is a means of financial gain, but rather a faith that exercises the power and purpose of God with respect to the advance of His kingdom in the earth. The faith that is exercised for His benefit, not man’s. A faith that is consumed with the Spirit, not the flesh. For without this type of faith being applied our sight will be earthbound rather than heavenly. Our walk will be more futile than overcoming. Consider the following.

To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in [fn] God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. Eph. 3:8-10

Beloved, there is a testimony that needs to be manifested through the body of Christ to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, and we need the elevated sight that comes from walking in the reality of having been seated with Christ to affect this testimony. We are a heavenly people, not an earthly people – whether we realize it or not. Unfortunately, most of the effort in serving the Lord is taken up from an earthly position. Rather than believing who we already are, many are still trying to become. Rather than walking in the new man who cannot sin, many are still trying to rehabilitate the old man. Rather than boldly coming before the throne of grace, convinced of the finished work of Christ, most believers still wrestle with guilt and unworthiness for they lack resurrection sight.

Lastly, consider Paul’s words near the end of his letter.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Eph. 6:12 NLT

Beloved, as long as the enemy has us earthbound he keeps us spiritually impotent – unable to effectively download the Father’s purpose into the earth. Oh how we need elevated sight and radical faith – not for our fleshly desires but for His eternal purpose! Oh how we need to pray from a place of heavenly authority rather than earthly need. Not that we forsake upward prayer, but we add to it downward decree. If God is going to affect change in the earth He does so through the agency of mankind – even to the point of becoming a man, tasting our humanity and showing forth what it means to walk with God as a man. And if that same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us then He will give life to our mortal bodies. That life flows from the Father, through the Son by the Spirit and seeks to manifest the glory of God in the earth. How blessed is mankind that God would choose to reveal Himself through us!

As the Psalmist said,

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet… Psalm 8:4-6

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. Give us elevated sight and radical faith that we might walk in the fulness of Your resurrection power in this life. That we might show forth Your glory, which You have so graciously bestowed upon men, so that the world will see an authentic expression of Christ, through Your people.

Q: I have seen religion for what it is; but I can’t get away from the fact that God calls us to fellowship with others.  You talk a lot about “What’s Wrong With the Church” but you don’t offer any solutions.  Do you believe the problems are too great to be solved?

A:  I do offer a solution, which is: obey God’s call to “come out of her” and embrace His original purpose for the Ekklesia.  I am not a reformist; I am not trying to fix what’s wrong the system because God has no desire to salvage something that is fleshly.  I am not much of a revivalist either, not in the since of pumping life into something that is carnal to start with.  “That which is OF the flesh IS flesh…”  He calls us to something that is Spirit and Truth, not a cleaned up, reformed version of man’s religion.  If you have seen religion how can you remain in the religious system?  The reason people in that system feel like they MUST have fellowship is because they have never been taught how to abide in Christ.  The Church system wants you to have a relationship with IT, not with HIM. There is a price that has to be paid and that price must include being ostracized from the people and the system that keeps them in spiritual darkness.  This is not my saying, but His.  Jesus warned His disciples that they would be expelled from the synagogue, just as He was despised and rejected.  That has application to us today.

There is a spiritual fellowship of those who are learning to walk with Christ in simplicity.  Rejecting the religious system is not a rejection of true spiritual fellowship, but a rejection of all that passes for “fellowship” taking place under false pretenses.

The  essential discussion is: How do we interface with those brothers and sisters still trapped in the bondage of the Christian religion? Difficult as it may be to admit, there is something called the Christian religion – and it is no different from the other religions of the world. It has a clergy and sacred spaces. It has liturgy and sacraments. It has traditions that are themselves rooted in pagan ritual and religion. It is in many ways a modern day Tower of Babel, complete with a vision of uniting the faithful under the singular vision of building a structure that shortens the distance between God and man. And it is equally as futile.

I agree with Chip that we cannot reform that which God never formed or revive that which was never alive. I also firmly believe that as long as we abide in that system we will never come to maturity individually or corporately. Yet, there are many sincere brothers and sisters who function within the Christian religion who simply do not see. Is that their fault entirely or do we who have seen bear some responsibility? And if so, what are the boundaries of that responsibility?

I have heard it said that we should not preach against the church system. I have heard some question our of sphere of authority. But I clearly see Jesus speaking directly against the religious system of the day – and on more than one occasion the scribes and pharisees questioned “by what authority do you do these things?” I have been counseled to “start your own church” so that those who want to hear what I have to say can do so – and “those of us who don’t” can be left alone. It seems to me that most leaders within the Christian religion are quite content to let us do “our own thing” in so much as we leave them and “their flock” alone. But by what authority do they lay claim over “their flock” – man’s or God’s?

Now, as you can probably imagine I have a personal position on these matters. But I am curious what you think. I encourage you to share your thoughts and I will follow up with mine in a secondary post.

Today with so many “born again” people claiming salvation without the accompanying evidences and fruits of repentance, Jesus might well be saying to them, “You have made an intellectual decision to embrace the Christian religion, and you have confessed a certain level of agreement with Me and My teachings; and for that, they consider you ‘born again.’ But mental acceptance, doctrinal agreement, and canned confession is not enough for you to be My disciple. Your first born-again experience under the auspices of religion is seriously flawed. Leave that ground now and come to Me; experience new birth the way I intended it from the beginning. You must be born again – again! “

Another excellent line of thinking on this subject comes from Dr. Noel Woodroffe wherein he discusses the need to be figuratively born again, again, whenever God shifts our understanding of His kingdom and purpose. For Nicodemus, his understanding of the purpose and kingdom of God was relegated to the Law. In order to see the kingdom as God was now revealing it, in the Person of His Son Jesus, Nicodemus needed to be born again. In this case the born again experience was one of the Spirit – but I believe the same is true when God reveals something new, or recovers lost truth that requires radical readjustment of our thinking. 

If we refuse to enter into the present truth of God we are no better than those before us who clung to their tradition and failed to enter in because of unbelief. We must be willing to be reduced to the status of children again concerning what we so confidently assert mature knowledge of – for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

This chapter is so rich it is difficult to extract the salient points. Nevertheless, here are some of my favorite passages followed by reflection.

“People who are submitted to the king, and whose lives are therefore being transformed into a domain in which God reigns, are called the “first fruits” of God, because they manifest in their lives what humanity and the world will look like when God’s kingdom is fully manifested.”

Before we would see the kingdom manifest corporately it must first take the ground of our hearts and minds. We, as individual believers, must endeavor to become a domain of the king – and then as we are built together the kingdom is enlarged through our corporate expression. As Paul said in Eph. 2:2, “…you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.”

“The way we advance the kingdom is by being the kingdom of God in contrast to the kingdom of the world. This is why Scripture repeatedly stresses that we are called to be a “holy” people, a concept that indicates something consecrated and set apart. Like the Israelites coming out of Egypt, we are to come out from the world and be “set apart” for God. We utterly trivialize this profound biblical teaching if we associate our peculiar holiness with a pet list of religious taboos. No, the holiness the New Testament is concerned with is centered on being Christlike, living in outrageous, self-sacrificial love.”

So often well-meaning brothers and sisters attempt to tweak the model or form of church in an effort to advance the kingdom. I submit that it is not fundamentally about form but about love. Of course we have form, for God is ordered and measured. He is keen on the correctness of structure. However, it is not having the right blueprint that establishes the domain of the king. It is our love for one another, which allows our hearts to be enlarged so as to embrace the uniqueness that each one brings. Men cannot build the kingdom. We can only facilitate the structures that allow the Spirit His greatest effectiveness in establishing the rule of God both individually and corporately.

“Whatever anyone thinks about the New Testament’s eschatology, it certainly does not encourage this sort of irresponsible escapism. The hope offered to believers is not that we will be a peculiar, elite group of people who will escape out of the world, leaving others behind to experience the wrath of God. The hope is rather that by our sacrificial participation in the ever-expanding kingdom, the whole creation will be redeemed.”

Christians must get their eyes off heaven and get them on the purpose of God in the earth. The days of waiting for Jesus to come take us away while we hang on to what little victory we have are over saints! Satan has blinded the eyes of believers for far too long, knowing that if we ever truly grasp both our position and purpose in the earth, his time will be through. Unfortunately, Satan knows the outcome better than we know the outworking. Jesus has finished His work and is waiting for us to co-labor with the Father until His work is complete.

“While we, of course, have no business judging people’s hearts and deciding who is and is not “saved,” kingdom-of-God citizens must have a vested interest in discerning and declaring what is and is not the kingdom of God.” “Far from defending the church, kingdom people should lead the charge in critiquing it, for when it exercised power over others in Jesus’ name, not only was it not the kingdom of God – it constituted a demonic distortion of the kingdom of God.”

As Jude said, we must contend for the faith – for if don’t, who will? Ironically, the church system has gone from attempting to exercise power over the world to lording over God’s people. As with escapism, the days of singular headship are coming to an end. That form has been rendered invalid by the unfolding revelation we are receiving from the word by the Spirit that is both enabling us to see further than before, and challenging traditional paradigms that are so desperate to be abandoned.

I leave you with a passage from near the end of the chapter. It needs no continuing thoughts from me.

“The kingdom of God is not a Christian version of the kingdom of the world. It is, rather, a holy alternative to all the versions of the kingdom of the world, and everything hangs on kingdom people appreciating this uniqueness and preserving this holiness. We must always remember that we are “resident aliens” in this oppressed world, soldiers of the kingdom of God stationed behind enemy lines with a unique, all consuming, holy calling on our life.”

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations–”Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)–according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Col. 2:20-3:3

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. Rom. 6:5-12

Oh how we need this revelation! We have been set free from sin, no longer held captive to do its will. Sin is no longer our master! Not because our old man has been remade but because he has died and we have been raised with Christ. Am I saying that we can walk free from sin? Absolutely! But not by trying to overcome sin through the rehabilitation of the old man, for indeed the old man is fatally flawed and hopeless. So then we must walk in the new man who is one with Christ in His resurrection and cannot sin. Indeed sin is no longer the issue, for when Christ died Adam died. Sin has been done away in Christ.  We either walk after the old man, and give expression to the sin nature or we walk after the new man and testify of the resurrection. For this is His overcoming, not ours.

How then do we walk? Consider Adam, who at one point had the freedom to choose which tree to eat from. By consuming from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil his eyes were opened – his mind corrupted. From that point forward until Christ, men were shackled to the depravity of a corrupt mind that always tended toward the desires of the flesh. But Christ became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him and raised us to newness of life – a new creation. Now we have the power of choice. Are we still eating from the wrong tree?

I assert that insomuch as we battle with right and wrong trying to discern and overcome sin we have already lost. Instead we must consume His life by the new man and no longer employ the old man. What does Paul say? “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies.” By wrestling with the old man we have already lost, for he is completely given over to the reign of sin. But the new man has been created according to righteousness and cannot sin by virtue of His life. So then let us keep our minds on things above and sow to the Spirit that we might reap life.

How great is our God that He has magnified Himself in the weakness of humanity and allowed us to participate in His glory. Let us then not follow the same pattern of unbelief that kept Israel circling the mountain for 40 years. Rather let’s enter into the promised land, who is Christ, and walk according to the power of His resurrection, having been conformed to His death.

“It is a costly and a suffering thing to come up against the religious system that has ‘ settled down ‘ here. It is far more costly than coming up against the naked world itself. The religious system can be more ruthless and cruel and bitter; it can be actuated by all those mean things, contemptible things, prejudices and suspicious things that you will not even find in decent people in the world. It is costly to go on to the heavenlies, it is painful; but it is the way of the pioneer, and it has to be settled that that is how it is.”
- T. Austin Sparks (HT: Steve Owen)

I found this wonderful quote following a link from Steve Owen’s site Biblically Speaking and it reminded me of an excellent podcast I listened to by Al Hirsch wherein he brings out some interesting points concerning the Pharisees which include:

• The Pharisees were the OT equivalent of Word people. They dissected the Word to uncover every nuance of truth and defended doctrine against the Saducees. But they were clueless as to the Spirit of the letter.
• They were tithers, who unfortunately had neglected the weightier matters of the law.
• They were self-disciplined and yet unrestrained in religiosity and desire to be seen among men.
• They were prayerful, even though their prayers were often self-righteous.
• They believed in miracles, though were quite disturbed when Jesus worked miracles in their midst.
• And they were missional, traveling many miles to win a convert only to turn him into twice a son of hell as themselves. 

By all accounts these were solid Word people (possibly evangelicals?) who took a stand for sound doctrine and righteous living. Yet for all their adherence to an outward form of godliness, they both denied His power and His person. Indeed, these are they who shouted “Crucify!”

Those of us who endeavor to walk outside the camp of the Christian religion are inevitably bound to confront Phariseeism. The question is, how do we deal with it? Do we compromise the truth revealed in our hearts by the Spirit in an effort to find some common ground? Do we seek them out and confront them to expose the tenuous nature of their spiritual position? I must admit I have spent hours considering both of these options. 

Until my wife, in her quiet wisdom, prompted me to reflect on the words of Jesus in Luke 9:60: “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Indeed, that is what I intend to do!

However, I don’t always (in fact seldom) get to read the blog posts I subscribe to on the day they are sent, although I do keep them until they are eventually read. Today I have the day off and a quiet house as well (at least so far this morning) and have been enjoying some posts from deep into last year. So, rather than comment on them I decided to share a few gleanings.

From Steve & Marilyn at Harvest Now: “A Prophetic Word for 2009”, posted Jan 3, 2009,

“There is a major problem with all of the prophecies about revival to come.  It is a religious problem which Jesus encountered.  Religion will get all excited about the Messiah to come but try to kill Him when He is standing in their midst (Luke 4:16- 30).   Why?  The Messiah in the future does not demand faith and obedience now!”

From Jeff at Losing My Religion: “Are You Christianized?”, posted Dec 18, 2008,

“A Christianized person is the safest kind of person to know. A Christianized person is steeped in the sterile culture of Christianization, consuming mostly Christianized things because, again, they are safe. A Christianized person is fluent in Christianese, the accepted language of Christianization, and rattles off the lingo without a second thought, no matter who might be listening. A Christianized person is often well-sheltered from the uglier aspects of the world we live in, spending most of his/her time safe within church-based activities and fellowship during the week, and venturing into the “secular” world mainly out of necessity, out of the need to make money. (Some of the more Christianized people find jobs in the church so they don’t even have to go out into the world.)”

From Rich at The Unfolding Mystery: “The Pattern”, posted Dec 27, 2008,

“I think the motto for much/most of Christendom would be as follows, ‘They do not know where they are going, but they are certainly on their way.’”

With a great follow-up from Rich at And Then Life Happened: “A Working Model-Pattern”, posted Dec 27, 2008,

“Within the revolution happening amongst so many people wanting to embrace the only truth and reality found in the person of God’s son, Christ Jesus, there are so many outer expressions that folks are trying to manipulate into a “working model-pattern,” that will somehow differentiate them from the religious clubs they exited from. At best a mere cosmetic makeover will never replace or substitute His divine imprinting upon our soul.”

From Alan at The Assembling of the Church: “The Depths of Community”, posted September 18, 2008,

“There is a misconception that community is built around uniformity: people who believe alike, act alike, respond alike, desire alike, etc. However, uniformity will not create the type of community in which God calls us to live. This is evident in the constant exhortation for believers to bear with one another, forgive one another, have patience with one another, and consider others as more important than themselves. Thus, the authors of Scripture recognize that there would be relational frictions between believers.”

Daily, I thank God for the tremendous out-pouring of truth from such a diversity of people. I truly believe we are in the beginnings of a fundamental shift in the expression of Christ corporately and rejoice at being a part of this generation.