“WHY NOT JUST BE CHRISTIANS?”

Preached by Rev. Ed Brouwer at The Gathering Place, Osoyoos

Pulpit Series Volume 21, Issue 18     October 2, 2011

Acts 11:26  “The disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.”

Acts 26:28  “Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuaded me to be a Christian.”

I Peter 4:16  “If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.”

Acts 11 shows that non-Christians referred to us by the name Christian, while in Acts 26 we see King Agrippa referring to the Jewish sect as Christian. Again, it was other people or non-Christians referring to us by this name.

Finally, Peter says, “If any of you suffer persecution as a Christian…”  It seems that Scriptures are clear that the term Christian, which identifies the followers of Christ, was at first derogatory and used by non-Christians to identify the followers of Jesus.

Today’s definition of the word Christian is:

As an adjective…..

1. Professing belief in Jesus as Christ or following the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. Relating to or derived from Jesus or Jesus's teachings.
3. Manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus; Christlike.
4. Relating to or characteristic of Christianity or its adherents.
5. Showing a loving concern for others; humane.

As a noun…..
1. One who professes belief in Jesus as Christ or follows the religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
2. One who lives according to the teachings of Jesus.

We are surrounded by people professing to be Christian.

The church’s greatest enemy is not without but within.

The temple of truth will not be damaged half as much by woodpeckers on the outside as by termites on the inside.

If the church would only be the church and if Christians would only be Christians, nothing would be able to hold back our onward march!

We are smitten with an inferiority complex because there is something wrong with us in both creed and conduct - in what we believe and in the way we live.

In the old days battle lines were drawn, battles were fought in the open.  Today it is not fashionable to take a stand against anything.

Defenders of the faith have become week kneed - tolerant of every thing - offensive in nothing.  What was black and white has become gray.

• If I speak out against heresy, I am declared un-Christian.
• If I dare express even a suspicion about wolves in sheep’s clothing, I am declared to be un-loving.

Sermons on Sunday are denied by the way most church members live during the week.

The greatest scandal of Christianity is the low grade of Christian living.

We are many but not much!

Somehow the quality of our Christianity hasn’t kept up with the quantity.

The average church member shows no evidence of being born again.  Very few are concerned about forsaking the world, crucifying the flesh and resisting the devil.

 Revelation 3:14-22

The Church of Laodicea... “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot: I would you were cold or hot. So then because you are lukewarm I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and don’t know that you are poor wretched and miserable, and blind, and naked: I counsel you to buy from Me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness does not show; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”

There is much talk about unity today, but if churches are unified to each other it is of little effect.

We must be united in Christ!

We need to once again stand out in stark contrast to the world around us.

• There has to be more of a contrast between believers and non-believers than the fact that believers attend meetings.

There is no “new” code of conduct for Christians.  You either are or you are not!  Hot or cold!

• For soldiers, there is the army way.
• For sailors, there is the navy way.
• Ordinary citizens have little or no knowledge of such internal ways of doing things.

Likewise, there is the way that God does things in His Kingdom and unless you are in the His Kingdom, you will not understand His ways.

Matthew 6:33
 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you.”

How will you seek His Kingdom if you don’t know what it looks like?

The Kingdom of God can be translated as God's way of doing things.  It is how God would do things here on earth.  And the first step to do things His way is to give up your own way.

 But today, the majority of people who attend church, week after week, are two kingdom-minded.

On a typical Sunday, four out of every 10 adults or 40%, attend a church service, which is a big decline from the early 90s.

Today, more than 1/3 of Protestant attendees are not born again.  Only 3% of people who attend church truly tithe.

 Jesus said in Luke 12:34, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

In other words, the condition or the direction of your heart can be understood just simply by looking at your bank statement.

  Most astoundingly, there is no difference between the way the world lives and the way churchgoers live.

 You cannot mature spiritually if all you do is show up at church meetings and absorb a few ideas.

The difference will become strikingly evident between those who make faith the core of their lives and those who simply attach a religious component to an already mature lifestyle.

We are living in the shadow of the church of Laodicea; spiritually lukewarm with very limited effort being devoted to spiritual growth.

When comparing the lifestyle choices of born again Christians to the national norms, there are more areas of similarity than distinction.  This can be seen in the way they live, in their opinions on specific moral issues, in viewing adult-only content on the internet and in reading magazines or watching videos with explicit sexual content.

The divorce rate within the church is the same as outside the church.

Please do not misunderstand me - we must be more than critics of the situation around us… it is not enough to expose the unfruitful works of darkness we must turn the light of a positive Christian testimony upon them.

The only way to minister effectively to this generation is to be Christians in it!

Not just church members, but Christians!

 God give us a handful of all-out Christians who scorn the values of this world and live by rigid discipline willing to be called the scum of the earth and be a spectacle to this world for the scandal of the cross!

Why not just be Christians!