Turning the Tables

Matthew 21:12-13 (NKJV)

12 Then Jesus went into the temple of God and drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’”

When Jesus entered the temple, which was His Father’s house, He was righteously indignant about what He saw happening there. They had opened up a house of prayer to make it a commercial venture. In many ways, in these days of compromise, we too often look for a seat at tables we should be overturning. Here are three of those tables.

The Table of Commercial Christianity

2 Peter 2:3 (KJV)

3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

There are entire industries built on marketing to the Christian market. Everything from home decorations to the latest spiritual fad is available amongst a host of books. These books are plentifully interspersed with both good and heretical content. The music section alone represents a CCM industry that is rife with the unregenerate who are exposed for scandals on a weekly basis. This is music designed to suspend rational thought and enter into a spiritual experience that primes their minds for heresy and worship that is based on how if makes one feel rather than what it contains.

The Table of Worldly Approval

John 17:14-17 (KJV)

14 I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

Jesus never promised us popularity. In fact, He promised us the opposite. He said the world would hate us! So, while we shouldn’t set out to offend people, we should not be adjusting our message so that if doesn’t offend sinners! Jesus said they hate the light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19-20). If we seek friendship with the world, we become enemies of God (James 4:4). Our commission is to preach the pure, unadulterated Gospel and let the Word of God do what it was designed to do. It will not return void! 

The Table of Denominational Doctrine

2 John 1:9-11 (NKJV)

9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

All too often, we (including me) fall into the desire to be like those around us. This was one motivation for the Israelites wanting a king to rule over them, just like the nations around them (1 Samuel 8:20). We all know good and sincere people who are attempting to follow Christ, but have differences in doctrine which are major. I’m not talking about how many cups to use for communion. I’m talking about belief in salvation before baptism or being baptized for reasons other than salvation being valid. In our desire to have these fine people as friends, are we leading them to hell by not giving them the truth about such things as baptism and miraculous gifts of the Spirit for today? We even adapt their music to acapella in an attempt to be more contemporary, not realizing that many of these songs sound odd because they were designed for instrumental accompaniment. Brothers and sisters, there are certain things we cannot bend on and certain lines beyond which we cannot go. If we become just like everyone else and meld into the denominational milieu, we will continue to witness souls wander into error since “all churches are basically the same”. In fact, we should be evangelizing them.

Conclusion

It is not my intent to be divisive, but rather to stand for the truths which we need to hold dear. Not because that’s what churches of Christ have always taught, but because that is what the Bible continues to teach! We need to serve in the Lord’s house and sit at His table, while invited everyone in the highways and byways to feast upon the Word of God and be biblically saved. We dare not strive to please anyone but our Savior!

Picking A Different TULIP

On many occasions I encounter staunch Calvinists, who hold to a system of doctrine that uses the acrostic of T.U.LI.P. These letters stand for:
Total Depravity
Unconditional Election
Limited Atonement
Irresistible Grace, and
Perseverance of the Saints.

As with many doctrinal systems, there is an element of truth in each of these doctrines if one defines their own terms. Well, I have decided to pick a different TULIP, using my own titles to make the acrostic work. Plus, finding away to make anything memorable out of chrysanthemum was just too hard.

Total Natural Inability – Apart from an encounter with the Word of God, and the Spirit which makes that Word living and active, the natural man is incapable of, and unwilling to, find salvation and regeneration. Only when the Word of God is heard and understood can there be faith (Romans 10:17) and without faith it is impossible to please God. Left to his own devices, a natural man is totally unable to find salvation.

Unconditional Corporate Election – God has predestined that all who are “in Christ” will be justified, sanctified and glorified. This election is one of the group, or corporate, vice individual in nature. The gift of salvation is free to “whosoever will” appropriate it. At that moment, one is in Christ and has access to everything else that is in Christ, such as redemption and justification.

Limited Efficacy of Atonement – The atonement, purchased for the elect at the cost of the blood of Christ and through His finished work on the cross, is only beneficial (or efficacious) for those who are saved. It’s value is sufficient for all mankind, but only efficacious who believe and obey the Gospel.

Irresistible Love and Grace – Once a sinner whose heart is prepared (i.e. good soil) hears the Word of God preached and truly comprehends the love that God has shown him in his lost state through the sacrifice of His Son, he or she will repent and run to Jesus Christ for salvation. Those who reject this invitation either do not comprehend, or have hearts which have been hardened to the point of inability to receive the seed of the Word.

Perseverance of the Saints – Those who are saved and are faithful to the end, or at least by the end, have persevered and receive the crown of life. The saints should continually be encouraged to persevere, so as not to grow weary and quit the race. In the vast majority of cases, salvation is not lost; it is left. The secret to final victory is this – don’t quit!

I know there will be points of agreement and disagreement, and there is probably some verbiage that could be tweaked to make what I am trying to say more easily understood. But the purpose is to provoke to discussion and to individual searching of the scriptures like the Bereans in Acts 17:11.

Simplicity In Christ
There is something to be said for keeping things simple. It seems that with everything that we add, with every layer of complexity that feels like a good thing at the time, we give ourselves more opportunity for distraction. In the end, we can even end up focused on things other than what we started with. As with driving your car or running a race, we tend run to go in the direction we are looking. And as they said in West Texas, “if you don’t get off the road you’re on, you’re liable to end up where you’re headed!”
The same is true when it comes to the church and the things we do as the Body of Christ. Over the past two thousand years, many layers of “good ideas” and new programs have been added on by well intentioned people. As a result, the focus has shifted to things other than Christ. We have come to see those who attend as the audience, while those up front on the platform perform. Yes, the congregants sing along with the songs from the band, but most of what happens is designed to minister to us and bring in more people.
Many would be shocked to discover that Jesus didn’t say a thing about marketing the church. Or for that matter, about programs designed to provide what other churches don’t or can’t, in an effort to win over people like they are religious consumers and the church is a service provider in the marketplace.
The Apostle Paul put it this way:
“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:3 NASB)
A call has gone out, and continues to go out. It says to strip away the programs, the marketing and everything else that has been added on, and return to simplicity of devotion to Christ! Let’s gather as a spiritual body and worship with only one person in the audience — Jesus Christ. Let’s focus on love and spurring one another on to good works. Let’s get rid of the marketing plans and draw people to Christ by lifting Him up instead of what we have to offer spiritual consumers!
It may be uncomfortable at first. After all, we have gotten used to some things that we like. But if we can get back to the basics, to the simplicity of devotion, we will be able to keep the main thing as the main thing. What does that look like?
Well, here are some examples of things that are add-ons. Let’s dump D.L. Moody’s invention called the “sinners prayer” and go back to having converts accept Christ and ask for His pardon the way they did in the First Century. It was and is called baptism. The concept of an unbaptized believer is foreign to the New Testament. Modern churches have someone say a prayer, wait awhile, and make their faith public by water baptism. But in the New Testament, baptism was the sinners prayer. It is an “appeal to God for a good conscience (1 Peter 3:21) and the way sinners “called upon the name of the Lord.” Acts 22:16. While some will point to Romans 10:9-10, those verses have a context. Even the NIV Study Bible says they contain the early baptismal formula, required before one could be baptized like Paul had said earlier in Romans 6:3-11.
There were also no choirs or instruments for the first 700 years of the church, in large part because they wanted to avoid being like the world. Singing without a choir or instruments means we all must participate sing to one another, and worship the One who is our sole audience. It is not that instruments and choir are evil. I have been in and used both. But it is a distraction, and if we aspire to be like our original brethren, they just don’t fit the paradigm of simple Christianity.
Where can this simplicity be found? Well I can tell you where some are attempting to do it. It was the place I grew up in, left, and have come home to. I would encourage you to look for simplicity at one of the churches of Christ. I am part of a congregation that is striving to keep it simple, yet keep it in love. If you are in the Fox Cities area in Wisconsin, come on down to the Appleton church of Christ. We don’t believe in denominations because Christ is not divided, and denominations represent institutionalized division. We are just Christians worshipping and serving in simplicity.