Has The Churcħ Drifted From Truth?

When you listen to many in the Christian community who profess they believe the Bible is the word of God and the ultimate authority in their lives you might want to dig a little deeper to see if that is in fact the truth or if  what they really mean is they support their Christian doctrine with their particular slant.  There are many who profess they believe that scripture is the final word in their lives when it is not.

When we read scripture we need to be very careful that our particular bias does not twist scripture to say what we feel comfortable with while shunning what makes us feel uncomfortable. All too often believers drift towards what makes them feel good rather than letting scripture sort out their heart’s motives and action.

A case in point is when Jesus claims to be the Son of God. Once we decide to embrace his confession it makes us responsible to embrace what he taught along with the implications of that belief. Jesus saying that we are to love our enemies has so much more weight and liability for us if indeed he is the Son of God. If Jesus is who he says he is, what he says becomes the standard that we must follow or we need to stop calling ourselves Christians. I find many things Jesus taught to be difficult for me to swallow but, since I do believe he is who he said he is, I obligate myself to work at conforming my life accordingly.

Secondly, some people who profess to believe that the Bible is the authority in their lives twists scripture so they don’t have to do anything uncomfortable.  An example of this is when the apostle Paul taught about the gift of prophecy in the church. Paul said that the gift of prophecy was the most important gift for “EVERYONE” to seek in order to edify the body of Christ. Paul said it is the number one gift to seek for that reason. How is it that a good portion of professing believers have learned to “Sanitize“ scripture so they don’t have to follow that instruction by claiming prophecy hasn’t been in operation since the time that the first twelve disciples that followed Jesus? How is it possible to be a follower of the word of God and then totally “DISCOUNT” that word by reinterpreting it to say what it does not say in order to avoid being accountable for your behavior? It all comes down to living for comfort rather than living for transformation and becoming more like Jesus.

1 Corinthians 14:1

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

Within the context of this chapter of 1 Corinthians 14 Paul states very clearly that this is a gift that we can desire to use and the Holy Spirit will give to those who pursue it. Paul makes clear that some gifts are given by design to individuals and some gifts are given when a person pursues such gifts. The point is that if we don’t embrace what God offers we won’t get that gift and thus the body of Christ is hindered by such neglect.

In the early church, probably since it had been in existence for only 20 years since the resurrection, the church learned to take God at his word. They attempted to exercise their faith in the gifts of the Holy Spirit and thus they had not only power for personal transformation and intimacy with God but also had the results of turning the world upside down for God.

The church in Antioch in particular walked in the gift of prophecy and had resident prophets because they believed the word of God. They didn’t just talk about the gifts of the Spirit. They actually exercised the gifts of teaching and prophetic ministry! It was by exercising these gifts that the first missionary commissioning took place with Paul and Barnabas.

Acts 13:1

Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

These men who walked in the ministry gift of the office of a prophet were both recognized and functioning in those gifts and thus the church walked in the power of God. Had the church not believed in the prophetic gift the Holy Spirit would not have been able to lead the early church. God is always looking for people who trust him even when doing so is scary or uncomfortable, unlike so many believers and churches today.

Another thing to notice about this church in Antioch was that by putting the word of God into practice they learned the value of “MINISTERING” to the Lord.  What this means is that they didn’t use the gifts of the Spirit to entertain or meet their personal needs only.  They realized their obligation and privilege of loving and ministering to God, which is a far cry from most church services today.

Acts 13:2

While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.

Prophetic ministry is risky because the people who operate in such a gift could be wrong about what they declare for God. But the opposite is also true that when believers are afraid of the supernatural gifts of God and deny those gifts to the church because they might be messy everyone suffers. If the Holy Spirit is allowed to operate as God designed him to believers have to first believe the word of God and secondly they have to act in faith upon what the scripture declares to them.

Acts 13:4

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Although two men, Judas and Barnabas, were defined as “PROPHETS” of God and exercising their faith in the word of God, teachers in the modern church try to again sanitize the word of God to say something it doesn’t so that they won’t feel uncomfortable with the gifts of the prophetic ministry. Today, many teachers and pastors “REDEFINE” the word prophet to mean pastors preaching or teaching so as to avoid raising up people in the prophetic ministry. How shameful for leaders in the body of Christ to change what the word of God clearly states in order to control the various churches they lead all because they are afraid of the prophetic. They have taken the power of the Holy Spirit away from the body of Christ for the purpose of control.

Acts 15:32

Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message.

We need to get honest with ourselves and consider if we have compromised our understanding of God’s word because of some leaders teaching or because of some fear within us. In either case, the enemy loves nothing more than to distort the truth of God’s word because he knows if we understand the word and apply it as God intended it will change all of us for good and for the glory of God.

Questions:

1) Has the Holy Spirit been speaking to your soul about something he wants you to understand in the word of God? If so, let him reveal whatever he desires you to see in the word because it’s for your good and not for your harm.

2) Have you been convicted that leaders in the body of Christ have caused you to discount certain truths in the word? Confess and repent if that is true and let the Holy Spirit wash your mind in a new and refreshing way.

May the Holy Spirit challenge any area of disbelief that hinders our walk with God,

Pastor Dale