The Word for Today
With Bob Gass

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God's Strange Choice God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. - 1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV

Has someone told you you're not qualified? If so, read on:

Dear Paul the Apostle:

We received your application and, quite frankly, we're amazed you've been able to pass as a missionary. Here's why:

1. We're told that you're afflicted with eye trouble. We require 20/20 vision.
2. We hear that you have to make tents on the side to support yourself. How come?
3. Is it true that you have a prison record? Think how this would reflect on our organisation.
4. It's reported from Ephesus that you made so much trouble for the local business community there that they refer to you as the man who "turned the world upside down." We deplore sensationalism in ministry.
5. You refer to yourself as "Paul the aged." Our new pension policies don't anticipate a surplus of elderly recipients.
6. Doctor Luke, the physician, reports that you are a frail little man, frequently sick, and always so agitated over your churches that you sleep very poorly. He indicates that you pad around the house praying half the night.

Our ideal applicant has a clear mind and a robust body. We believe that a good night's sleep will give you zest and zip so that you will wake up full of zing. So, we regret to inform you, Brother Paul, that in all our experience we've never met a candidate so opposite to the requirements of our board. If we should accept you, we would be breaking every principle of current missionary practice.

Signed, Most surely, J. Flavius Fluffyhead.

SoulFood Bible Readings: Num 14-15, Matt 7:15-29, Ps 37:32-40, Pr 11:7-8

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This message from The Word for Today came from Rhema Broadcasting Group Incorporated in association with The Vine, New Zealand. "The Word for Today"® is copyright © Bob Gass Ministries.

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Many Christians have a heart for the lost and long to see them saved by God, yet I am constantly surprised by the way many of these same people seem to judge other fellow Christians as unsaveably unsaved, lost causes, and eternally judged and damned.

We see this on some websites and spoken about by some Christian individuals/groups who proclaim to be actively involved in reaching out to the unsaved to see them saved for Christ, but in the very next breath proclaim other believers who believe something different, were saved by 'the wrong' person/group, or have publically and visibly sinned in a way that we judge unforgiveable (or possibly less forgiveable for a Christian) to be unsaveable or hell-bound.

It is not usually as obvious as this; I often read information prepared by groups of Christians who explain how an individual has sinned or believes something wrong and that they should be avoided and not trusted by anyone. This includes high profile Christians who have done or said something unwise (even years after the incident) and other mainstream Christian denominations/groups who have slightly differing points of doctrine. And worse still, if you were led to salvation through this person or group, then you are still in need of salvation.

I am sorry, but I just don't understand all this! Besides, I thought that it was God who saves.... Also, how come we speak with loving kindness of those who are lost and in need of salvation, and have a heart to see them saved, and yet we judge fellow Christians with a much harsher and less forgiving scale which presents the view that people would be better off to remain unsaved than to be saved wrong or to be saved, become high profile, and then to sin.

In my opinion, there are only a few things that distinguish those who know my God from those who do not; those things that make us brothers in Christ and allow for unity and peace.

1. Knowing God
2. Understanding and accepting the salvation offered by God through the death of Christ.
3. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit as promised to us upon salvation.

To be fair, point 3 covers the other two points as how can the Holy Spirit be given to you unless you know God and have accepted salvation?

You may wish to add other points or requirements for being a Christian, but I respond with these points.

• If God has seen fit to accept someone and give him the sign of the Holy Spirit, then who am I to tell God that he is wrong?

• We all have differences in belief (large or small), but as it says in Philippians, as we look to God, God will make these things clear to us. It also says that we must constantly push on to take hold of what Christ took hold of us for. Even Paul did not feel that he had attained all that there was to know and understand of God, instead choosing to push onwards. I should therefore not expect that I know everything that there is to know of God or that anyone who disagrees with me is 100% wrong. As we all push on in Christ, attempting to fully understand our salvation, realising our common link as brothers with Christ and walking in unity, we will become more like Christ and understand more of his heart.
• Perhaps most importantly, who am I to decide who is saved and who is not? God looks at the heart, and frankly I would rather avoid the embarrassment at the end of the age of having to admit that I was wrong and that God will save who he will, and that I had spent my life fighting other Christians rather than being involved in reaching the lost. And besides, I do not think that God will be asking me anytime soon as to who I think should be unsaved and why.

While we are looking at Philippians, let's look at ch 1 v 12-18. What a brilliant scripture. Paul mentions that there are two types of people spreading the gospel. Those who do so with good intentions and with love, and those who do so for selfish intentions or with bad motives. Yet Paul says "What does it matter? The important thing is that Christ is preached."

It is funny how it is OK for people to be led to Christ by the right kind of Christian, or on their own, or some extraordinary means, but if they get led to Christ by a Christian individual or organisation who we disagree with, then that person was not truly saved. Again, I say, it is God that saves, not man. And if God calls someone to salvation, then surely God counts that person as saved when they accept that salvation.

Let us realise who we are in Christ. Let us constantly work out our salvation, encouraging each other to do the same. Let us stop wasting our time trying to convince ourselves that "we have it right" and those others are just misguided.

I know that there are many arguments against what I have said and many Christians who feel that they must rid Christianity of incorrect belief and disassociate more extreme views, but I would rather be involved in encouraging all people (whether Christian or not) closer to God.

• Let God call to himself those who he would call to himself.
• May I be known as someone who encourages people closer to God.
• May all things (and people), whether of God or not, serve as useful tools to bring people to Christ and the salvation available.
• May those who have worked against the best interests of God, whether intentionally or not, whether by a big public scandal or by more hidden sins, be forgiven and remain useful to God.

 

Hayden Andrews