A Christian in Name Only

Over the past several weeks I have been working on a family tree, which has been extremely fun and yet at the same time difficult. You see I have been married three times and while it was not my decision to do so it was my choice, which I will explain later. The other difficulty is that the wonderful man who raised me and provided my last name is not my biological father, he adopted my brother and I after he married our mother. So not only do I have children from 3 lines that I must research I also am researching my biological and adoptive lines and the lines of my current wife and her children's parental line. In doing so however both on her side and my two older children's maternal side I have been able to take their line back, in some cases 106 generations simply because of who their ancestors were.

The one thing that I have always rejected even while running away from God was that we came from the Catholic Church and yes I know that the organized Protestant Church was separated from the Catholic Church but as the body of Christ we did not come from any organized religious establishment. Many of us may have been truly born again but just as many have not been and are merely a Christian in name only, much in the same way that we are categorized with all the acts that have been attributed to the title of Christian through out history and this is how I have come to write this. In reading many of the historical documents that have been preserved regarding history and the ancestors of my wife and children I have seen the gradual transition from the teachings of Christ and that of the infiltrated organized church. Pliny the younger wrote of the difference in the Christians that were in his territory and requested aid in knowing how to handle them. His account was one of admiration because of the difference in them from others. We saw the same difference in the book of Acts because Luke recorded that they not only turned the world upside down but the new believers had a good report from ALL men, even from those of pagan beliefs. This was not because they were self serving but because they were serving Christ using the example that He provided and not one of mans own devices. Even as the Catholic Church grew and expanded these first believers had already gone before them and many of the countries that early Catholic priest went into were not totally barbaric or of pagan belief because when the early believers were scattered they preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ where ever they went. Thia has been recorded by their accounts often time known as Chronicles.

Paul nor any of the original Apostles taught anything but Christ and Him crucified and rose again and yet we claim homage to the Catholic Church who from the beginning paid much homage to Mary, who was nothing more than the vessel chosen to bear the Savior. Jesus did not put her on a pedestal, for we read when she and His brothers were hoping to speak to Him that He said, pointing to the crowd, these are my mother and my brothers, anyone one that is willing to do the work of the Father is my family. I am paraphrasing here simply to make a point that the title Christian is not just in name but must be in heart and spirit. Further more He said that anyone not willing to forsake all is not worthy of Me. That sounds more like a total commitment then the Christianity that we claim today.

The disciples did not use their teaching to dismantle governments nor to create riots in the cities nor did Paul use it to destroy the Roman Empire while awaiting trial and the persecution that he knew would eventually come. When Jesus said that He came to bring the sword it was not the sword that everyone thinks of but the very words that the Father intended for Him to speak because those words are what divides people. Those are the words that cut to the heart and convict man of their deeds against a Just and Holy God who while not willing that any should perish can not be in the presence of sin. His words were the sword used to defeat the temptations of Satan in the wilderness during His fasting before beginning His ministry. They are the words that have caused many dissensions through out history because man can not bear to be convicted of his sins. It has been mans design at the instigation of Satan to cause the terrible deeds of the Crusades and other wars in the name of Christianity because the result was not one that pleased God or furthered His kingdom. The results were that false religion were able to prosper and man himself was lifted up. You see they were Christian in name alone and just as my adopted name does not make me blood to the family line calling yourself a Christian does not make you part of the family of Jesus Christ and just as my actions did not always bring honor to my adopted name neither do our actions bring glory to God when we refuse to surrender all to His Son and do the will of the Father. You see it was my will that caused the failure of two marriages and it is my will that still gets in the way of Him working. We are always looking for Him to move when it is us who have to move. We must get out of the way that He might be able to perform in us and when we do that the result is as it was in the early church and that is when true persecution comes because others are convicted by your life not just your name. We are not Baptist or Catholic or Church of God or Methodist or any of the other organized religions we are the Body of Christ. Jesus said that by this men shall know that ye are my disciples and that is if you love one another as I have loved you. The name Christian means nothing and that is why it has been destroyed, because the actions have not reflected Him nor has they glorified the Father.

There is not other way to heaven but by Him. It is not through our church affiliation nor by the name or title we bear, it is through Jesus Christ and Him alone. It is only through our repentance and turning away from sins and towards the perfect sacrifice whose blood was shed upon that tree that we can truly call ourselves by His name and the reason that that is so difficult for so many of us is that we know that it requires sacrifice on our part. Dr Tony Evans preached an awesome message the other day on the radio, which moved me in a tremendous way because it was confirmation of what was being laid on my heart. It not only mentioned what I am saying in a different way but it went further to say that just because we have possessions does not mean that we are being blessed by God especially when they keep us from a relationship with Him. You see the early church did not just meet once a week, they met daily in each others house, breaking bread or fellowshipping, today we would look at that as an invasion of privacy, we would see it as other people getting into our stuff because we have our hidden stash in our house. We have our secret sin closet where we keep all the things that prevent us from serving Jesus Christ in our house and we don't want others to see it because they just might judge us or is it that they might realize that we are not as pious as they think we are? We enjoy walking around in our fine robes as the Pharisee's did and with the solemn look of the early Quakers so people would know that we are serious about God and all the while it is merely a facade so they can not see the truth that lies in our hearts that the only reason we took the name of a Christian is because it presents us with some prestige. In the past it looked good on a resume to be able to put that you were a deacon or an elder in the church. Today it doesn't bring as much recognition unless you are running for political office and that is only so you can gain the votes of Evangelicals in your precinct. No, today we are more worried about what the neighbors might think or that our parents might leave us out of the will or that we simply need to go to build up our brownie points with God so He will look at us favorably. Actually, there is no reason for us to go to church anymore because no one looks at us any differently anymore and that is why the church buildings are empty unless the people there are actually moving themselves out of the way so that God can work through them and the thing is that they are growing and God is blessing because it is not about them, it is about Jesus. They are not just a large church. Oh they may still have a few sour apples but you can spot them by their faces. They are not Christian in name but part of the body doing the work that God had prepared for them to do. They are not perfect, just willing to allow God to use them. They are willing to pour themselves out and allow Him to fill them up. The question becomes will you pour yourself out and allow Him to fill you up or will continue in name only hoping that it will be enough?