Grant’s Rants on Christianity

Anyone who has completed a thorough read of the New Testament could very well conclude that the church of today is about as far away from what Jesus preached as Capitalism is from Communism!

Or to put this another way: A friend and long-time missionary recently wrote me, while lamenting over the MAGA crowd in America, “I simply cannot find the Jesus they talk about in the New Testament.”

Let’s get something straight from the git-go, church attendance does not make you a follower of Jesus. Jim Rutz, the author of “Mega Shift”, aptly describes the weekly church service as “like having a hockey team listen to the coach’s pep talk for an hour, and calling that ‘a game’ ”. The token attendance at a church service is not service. Service involves the conscious act of reaching out to your fellow man. Webster defines service as “a contribution to the welfare of others.”

Sure, the Bible does encourage us to meet together for the purpose of “considering how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24), the phrase “good deeds” based on the Hebrew word “mitzvot” which refers to actions taken to heal and repair the world. For the writer of Hebrews, the church therefore is to gather with the purpose that the body will spur one another on to live a particular way day in and day out.

Wolfgang Simson, in his challenging book “Houses That Changed The World” writes, “Jesus expects Christians to live the truth He preached. Jesus said: “I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Mt.25:35,36)

The church is supposed to exist for the benefit of non-members. And a true follower of Jesus is easy to spot: They are the ones actually doing things Jesus spoke of — rather than just talking about it.

Bob Goff writes in his book “Love Does”: “God says to ordinary people like me and you that instead of closing our eyes and bowing our heads, sometimes He wants us to keep our eyes open for people in need, do something about it, and bow our whole lives to Him instead.”

Thankfully, in many places around the globe including China, Africa, India and Southeast Asia, the grandstand is emptying as action-oriented Christians pour out onto the playing field and discover the giant challenge of every-member ministry.  … Instead of one pastor doing the heavy lifting while 100 laymen watch (and often criticize), you may now have 100 “team Christians” sharing the ministry. This concept of Christian “team players” is growing, so that “none but the cultist or culturally challenged diehard thinks that his is the only true church and font of all truth.”

Grant Montgomery – Grant’s Rants on Christianity