Tsk Tsk
Mark 8:38 Whoever has a feeling of shame because of me and my words in this false and evil generation, the Son of man will have a feeling of shame because of him, when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
I will have to answer for my lack of proclamation of my beliefs. All around me, at work, with friends, are people who I hold their respect. At work I am their leader. The one they call when they cannot figure it out, and I almost always am able to think past their fallen logic. When complexity cast a wall for their thought, I almost always just walk though it. Sometimes to their amazement. Yet I am afraid and unable to tell them the truth. Jesus will have a feeling of shame when I walk into his fathers kingdom.
I will have to answer for my lack of proclamation of my beliefs. All around me, at work, with friends, are people who I hold their respect. At work I am their leader. The one they call when they cannot figure it out, and I almost always am able to think past their fallen logic. When complexity cast a wall for their thought, I almost always just walk though it. Sometimes to their amazement. Yet I am afraid and unable to tell them the truth. Jesus will have a feeling of shame when I walk into his fathers kingdom.
posted by Jim Fisher at 7:27 AM
10 Comments:
"Yet I am afraid and unable to tell them the truth."
Are you really? Or are you using some wisdom in "how" you proclaim the Gospel? Running up to people and grabbing them by the lapels of their shirts is not necessary. But then finding those opportunities to tell the truth is something we should not avoid either.
Don't be too hard on yourself. If the Spirit is doing a work, then you will be used by Him in His time.
I would be more concerned with what you know to be true. Do you believe God's Word? Are you under one of His undershepherds in a local body? Do you learn from a pastor who is faithful to proclaim the Word and sacrament Lord's Day after Lord's Day?
I think you have a far greater trial. How to unify with a woman who has been faithful, who has raised your daughter and given you two more children, who has relied upon her faith through the most trying times, who has a clear love for Jesus, and with a church that is not by definition able to preach the Gospel.
I was concerned about that dilemma long before you came to believe. I still scratch my head with that one.
I don't think the issue is worth arguing over by any means. Just a situation which is delicate and must be dealt with as so.
Your mind has a great appreciation for the Laws of Logic and reason. What is needed now is Wisdom and patience. This is to be learned from the Scriptures in union with Christ and his church.
How to unify with my wife? Yikes. You really don't understand me. If anything, our unification grows stronger. So she believes a priest can absolve sins and I don't. Perhaps a couple of other differences. These things are small relative to the big picture. In the 4 gospels Jesus teaches us what to do. He speaks very little of worship, yet talks constantly about our hearts. God will judge us by the true content of our hearts.
"If anything, our unification grows stronger."
Of course it has. The unity I was speaking of however was religious beliefs.
For example, I am a Calvinists. It has taken me many years to explain to my wife and slowly bring her to an understanding of the Biblical texts that teach what I believe. Even though she was by far the older Christian, I had to carefully help her to see what the Scriptures teach on certain doctrines.
I was simply saying that your thinking does not just accept things at face value. Therefore, you may question some of her beliefs as you study the Scriptures. Perhaps you may not.
You said that the differences "are small relative to the big picture". I was not questioning whether she has a priest or not, but the "whys" and the more foundational issues.
You may think the issues separating Reformed Protestant theology and Catholic theology are minor. I simply disagree. I have debated enough RC apologists over the years to be able to say this:
"Any RC apologist would agree, that the Gospel he would present would be very different from the one I would present."
Perhaps you are converting to RCism, then everything I have said is irrelevant. I suppose it comes down to the issue of authority. For RCs, it is sola ecclesia. For Protestants, it is supposed to be Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone).
One thing you need to realize is I am neither a reformed Protestant nor am I coverting to RCism. But I do enjoy going to Jens church and listening to them read from the gospel. For the time being I prefer to read from the gospel and make my own unguided opinion. Think About how Jesus viewed the church (or scribes, or temple) of that day. I wonder if his opinion would be any greater of any of the churches today.
Nice introspective post. I'm the same way. A lot of people know I'm religious, but what does that mean? Being religious is safe. I don't claim the name of my Savior the way I should. Thank you for setting the example, identifying the need for repentance.
"I wonder if his opinion would be any greater of any of the churches today."
Understatement of the year.
:-)
I haven't heard a consistent Gospel presentation from my own church's puplit in a looooooooooooooooonnnngggg time.
"I haven't heard a consistant gospal presintation from my own church's pulpit in a long time" Howard: perhaps your first focus should be at your own church
"Howard: perhaps your first focus should be at your own church "
1) I spend a lot of time attempting to communicate the Gospel as a teacher in a local body. Does this somehow mean Christians should never say anything till everything is perfect in one's own church?
2) Could you imagine if the Apostles viewed the world in such a fashion? The Gospel would never be preached. The things that the church needs to grow and be sustained would certainly never have been addressed in the NT.
3) Why be anonymous? This statement has no bearing on what is being said. It is simply a way of using Ad Hominem argumentation to shut another person up.
Think of the original post. Jim stated that he was going to have to answer for his lack of proclamation. What a great problem to have. He sees the exact need you are saying shouldn't be done.
He actually is following the Apostles quite well at this point. Remember the Apostle Paul, a persecutor and killer of Christians? Yet did Paul go around saying I'm sorry? No! He went out and proclaimed the Gospel and gave a defense for it.
My original point is this:
Jim obviously sees the need to proclaim the Gospel. I am simply saying that the same Bible he claims to love also says he needs to be in a Gospel proclaiming church learning from a godly Christian pastor and submitting to his pastoral authority.
This could cause problems at home if he did that by going to another church that does proclaim the Gospel (no, it does not have to be Baptist. I have some great presbyterian friends, and a Lutheran friend.). Is there a way for him to do that while not disrupting his family life? I do not know. I certainly hope there could be.
God Bless
Howard
Jim obviously sees the need to proclaim the Gospel. I am simply saying that the same Bible he claims to love also says he needs to be in a Gospel proclaiming church learning from a godly Christian pastor and submitting to his pastoral authority.
Where in the bible does it say I must submit to a pastoral authority. And just because you keep repeating that the Catholic church does not proclaim the gospel doesn't mean its true
"Where in the bible does it say I must submit to a pastoral authority."
Great question. This is a topic I wish to address with Pastor Chris to get a pastoral viewpoint with my own.
Jesus did not leave here without giving instruction on the nature of the church. The Apostles also taught quite a bit on this as well. Hebrews 13, the pastoral epsitles Timothy and Titus, and Peter's description of the role of pastors.
However Jesus lays the foundation for their teachings on the topic which I hope to address soon.
"And just because you keep repeating that the Catholic church does not proclaim the gospel doesn't mean its true."
Right On Brother! Please make comments on my Blog on imputation or justification as you see where they are in error with Rome's viewpoint.
Perhaps emailing me would be better?
God Bless
Howard
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