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Scripture for the day: Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Thought for the day: I saw an advertisement on the TV the other day. I sat there utterly amazed at the scope of the offer these good folks, who certainly only have my best interests at heart (that was sarcasm in case you missed it), told me how I could get to watch three basketball games at one time during the month of March when all the tournaments are going on around the U.S. and how their satellite system would be showing every single game throughout the duration – and I could get it all for a mere $59.95 per month! What an amazing age we live in when a poor retired preacher like me has the option of totally wasting his time watching college students run back and forth in a gymnasium for an entire month or, since I couldn’t care less about “March Madness,” turning my mind to mush by tuning in to 150+ channels of mental opiates all for the introductory price of $59.95. What a country!
But that’s not really what I wanted to talk about, at least not completely. I’m sure most of you have heard of the seven deadly sins in one context or another. To refresh our memories, they are; pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. They were considered by the early Catholic church to be deadly because they are primary and lead to all others. Again, someone much more intelligent than I has undoubtedly come up with a list for the Church today but I’d like to share what I believe are the seven deadly sins of the church of the 21st Century. In my not-always-humble opinion, the seven deadly sins of the Western church of today are as follows:
1. Pride – we think we have all the answers when we don’t even know all the questions.
2. Apathy – together with ignorance keeps us from caring that a lost and dying world around us is going to hell in a handbasket.
3. Materialism – where success is measured by bigger and better; bigger congregations, bigger buildings and better programs.
4. Optionalism – defined as having a lot of choices when it comes to the admonitions of the Lord
5. Secularism – allowing the world’s value system to infest and infect the world of the church.
6. Relativism – thinking that truth is subjective and not absolute; what’s good and true for you may not be for someone else.
7. Denominationalism – the strange idea that your denomination is the only one that will make it to heaven (actually, I’m not convinced everyone in my denomination will make it).
Well, there you have it. We could make any number of lists but the item I wanted to talk about this morning is Optionalism – the idea we have a lot of choices when it comes to God’s plan. We like to treat the things Jesus said about sin and salvation as if we were standing at a buffet table with an empty plate. We go gleefully down one side of the table and back up the other, selecting the things we like and leaving behind those that don’t appeal to us. “I think I’ll have a big helping of grace, a scoop of mercy, lots of forgiveness and a side order of peace. Next I’ll smother them with love so they’ll all be sweet. I think I’ll pass on the obedience; it doesn’t look very appetizing. I don’t think I’ll have any of the repentance either; it’s hard and it doesn’t look done. Oh, and I never put self-sacrifice on my plate; it gives me indigestion, you know.”
But what does the Bible say? Jesus said, “unless a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” He told Nicodemus very pointedly, “You must be born again.” And when he first began his ministry, he preached, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but I see little wiggle room in those statements. True enough, Jesus accepted everyone who came to him just as they were, but he never left them in the same condition they were in at the beginning. And when we talk about a life of holiness, which Jesus also taught, the options don’t get any greater. Paul said to the Thessalonians, “we are not called to uncleanness, but to holiness.” Hebrews 12:14 tells us that “without holiness no one shall see the Lord.” It’s what Jesus talked about when he stated so boldly, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.” clearly, neither salvation nor holiness are optional for the follower of Christ. We need clean hearts, filled with the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in order to follow Him and there is no option about it.
The good news is that we can have it if we will pay the price the apostles paid; waiting on the Lord to fulfill his promise of His Spirit while hungering and thirsting after righteousness. The call is clear; how will we answer?
Now go take on your world. - Bill