Our Deeds versus the Word today…
Reading the Word, (for me it was) Mathew 6 today, it appears that some of what goes on in a Christendom is not necessarily biblical anymore… Minute details are being modified & those seemingly inconsequential modifications facilitate the exchange of God’s Word for public speaking, preaching for performance, worship for entertainment, learning for spectatorship, spiritually integral work for powerless activity…among other things.
Seriously: PLEASE READ YOUR BIBLE. KNOW WHAT GOD SAYS…not what the pulpit or stage says cos the two MAY be different.
Sadly, one can’t just sit & trust what is being fed to your Spirit as truth. The Word says to test the spirits…study to show yourself approved…RIGHTLY dividing the word of truth. Meaning there is a WRONG way to divide the word of truth. There is a growing number of people saying “God said…” when God hasn’t said… And they aren’t just the bad “televangelists” who once gave Christ a bad rep. Now it may be church leaders who though they have charisma, charm, or even knowledge, are NOT called by God with an anointing to save souls. It may be as complicated as planned deception in the pulpit for profit, or as simple as the misquoting of scriptures to suit a specific message.
Little jots and tittles are being added to or removed from the Word of God. It seems irrelevant but the ramifications are crazy because we forget scripture that says whoever adds what shouldn’t be added will have punishment added to them, and whoever removes will have their part in God’s kingdom removed. Certain traditions & processes have taken the place of Christ’s example. So we’re slowly losing our reverent fear for the Word of God which would lead to wisdom in service.
For instance, Christ said not to do alms before men to be seen of them; said not to pray repeating words over and over as though God didn’t know what we would ask before we asked it; said not to let the right hand know what the left is doing when it comes to giving…
But contemporary Church says let’s publicize giving to the poor for the purpose of publicity, let’s have corporate hours and hours of prayer (not praise) services to ask God for personal breakthroughs with machine gun prayers, & then let’s make public announcements of pledging & giving hundreds or thousands of money for the approval & applause of folks in church because “God said” 10 people NEEDED to give a certain amount, 20 half of that amount, and 40 a fourth of the amount for a budget God isn’t somehow capable of providing without publicly brow-beating people into making oaths they may have to pay back for years in credit card debt. I pray for your understanding… Yes we are to give freely, yes we are to pray without spirit, and yes we are to fulfill our oaths to God. That being said however, according to THE WORD we are respectively to give in secret (outside of offerings), we are to pray in the SPIRIT all manners of prayers not vain repetitions, and not make oaths at all if they are not from a willing heart… It’s the little foxes in our understanding that spoil the vine
Christ said to ask & it will be given, seek and we’d find, knock and the door would be opened. But traditional-contemporary Christianity inspires people that rather than asking, seeking, & knocking directly to God in Jesus name, to solicit prayer & counsel from “men & women of God” in order that those individuals can do the “work” (‘ise’ in yoruba) for them of praying, searching the scriptures for answers, and give them the response in a certain period of time. As though God were a juju or black magic god to be appeased & solicited by representatives for a price rather than a Father who can freely be approached by His own children. So the blame is both on leaders who can mislead AND the people under them who lazily don’t search the scriptures for themselves or seek God, but want to be spoon-fed salvation & discipline in the already gracious, new covenant, faith to which we are called. I highly doubt this is God’s will… And if i’m right that it isn’t, we have a problem because it’s by default a strategic dilution of the gospel by the enemy.
Ok i have to stop here. …but remember this: Be careful not to get caught up in religion and forget scripture. Do NOT trade God for god-likeness. The counterfeit truth is always apparent in that it does not satisfy and takes more than it gives.
