Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Ten Things Christians Do To Lose Their Christian Witness


Ten Things Christians Do To Lose Their Christian Witness

In a dying world, we that proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, truly need to show Christ in our lives. Only the spiritually dead would not be able to recognize how awful and corrupted this world has become. Christian persecution is everywhere in the world, including right here in the West.

Add all the so called pastors and Christians that wrongly proclaim worldly influences in their church services and lives, it has indeed become very difficult to differentiate between who does, and who does not truly belong to Christ Jesus of the Bible. Does this mean we are in the time the Apostle Paul spoke of in 2Timothy 3:1-13 ? It very well could be.

Knowing and recognizing, as well as being keenly aware of the Biblical prophetic times in which we live, can  both be a blessing and exciting for those of us ready to go home with the Lord. There is with that blessing however, a sense of urgency to make sure our lives right before Him, and also to see many others come to Christ as well.

This means we need to pay closer attention to our Christian witness. That is... how to act in a sick and dying world. Of course we know the Bible tells us we are not saved through our works, but Jesus also said that Christians will be recognized “by their fruit”(action and words).

Check out the list below to see where you are with your “fruit” and in following Jesus Christ. You may not agree with the order in which these Christian witness buster's are placed. That is not the point of placing them there in this order. The entire point of this article is for all of us to do a Holy Spirit-led, “self-check” to make sure we are right with the Lord and in telling the world, we belong to Jesus...

When reviewing all 10 items below, please be attentive, your very soul and of others depends on it.

Matthew 16:27 “For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”
  1. Divorce. Jesus gave only one reason for divorce and that was for infidelity, or otherwise known and adultery. There are many Christians who have divorced for reasons other that infidelity. Despite a recent 2014 article falsely proclaiming the divorce rate being lower among Christians as compared to non-believers, “Christians” in fact do have an equal rate of divorce as compared to the world. The reason for this is that upwards of 75% of American's choose to call themselves “Christian”, but most of which hold no true Biblical relationship with Jesus Christ.
  2. Profanity. James 3:8 describes the tongue as “It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” We bless and we curse with the same mouth and the same tongue. The world is always waiting to pounce on Christians for what we both speak and also in our actions. Using profanity when speaking, will surely bring us to look like hypocrites, not disciples of Jesus Christ.Ephesians 5:4.
  3. Smoking Cigarettes. Smoking tobacco products makes us not only weak in our faith, it also makes us according to the world, look as if we do not care about the temple of the Holy Spirit, which are our physical bodies.
  4. Lying. No one likes a liar. Certainly not God nor the world. If you profess Jesus as Lord, you must always speak in, and with truth. Does that mean we have to blurt-out truth in brashness ? Certainly not ! We all also have the option of having some couth in our communication with others. Leviticus 19:11 states “Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.” The Christian should be ready to be the object lesson to the world in regards to honesty.
  5. Gambling. For the Christian, we are to be faithful to the Lord with all our money and goods. Why? Because it is the Lord Himself who gives us those funds and blessings. Therefore, let us be faithful to the Lord in using His money and goods to build up the Kingdom of Heaven. As a matter of fact, if you follow God's Biblical precept of “sowing and reaping”(NOT the false prosperity gospel), the Lord Himself will bless you if you do not waste your money on such things as gambling. When an unbeliever in Christ see's a Christian gambling, it sends a message to the unbeliever that the Gambling Christian does not trust God to help and bless him.
  6. Alcohol and Drug Use. This is a huge issue for Christians. As a former Internationally Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, I have seen many alcoholics and drug addicts that refer to themselves as “Christians.” As I mentioned earlier regarding tobacco use, our body's are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Our spirit cannot hear what the Spirit of God is telling us when our minds and bodies are polluted with chemicals. For those who ignorantly give the excuse that “Jesus turned water into wine” as their reason to consume alcohol, they better do some research as to what the Greek context of what (is translated into English) as wine really is. Jesus turned not water into “wine” but actually turned water into “unfermented grape juice.” Also, read Romans 14:21.
  7. Refusal To Confront Injustice. Biblical Christians do not follow the false narrative of the social gospel but that does not mean Christians should ignore injustice. In both the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, matters of justice are written about. The world loves to oppress and act wickedly. The answer to end this sort of evil is always Jesus Christ of course. As the Western Christian has fallen into the devil's trap of “pray only”, thousands of folks die every day from acts of injustice set against them. What has occurred now because of Christians not partaking in their Biblical duty to pray and act(James 2:17-20), Christians are now being persecuted and killed. Even right here in the USA. Christians are supposed to be God's banner here on Earth as how to live a righteous life and help others to do the same. This Biblical mandate on how to live and fight for justice has fallen on the wayside. The world see's Christians doing nothing to end injustice, therefore, God allows our persecution because we are no better than the world with our heads shoved up inside our clouds ignoring evil.
  8. Pornography. The issue of pornography is a huge issue amongst Christians. With the age of the internet, no one needs to visit the pornography shop “on the other side of the tracks” any longer. Many Christians today have been trapped off by the devil's use of pornography. Pornography has not only broken the lives of men either. Many Christian women are also negatively impacted because they also too engage in it's use. How many Christian marriage and family relationships have been ruined because of pornography ? I am not sure. All I know is that pornography for the Christian(and the world) is a wicked thing and a Christian caught with pornography is a real Christian witness blocker.
  9. Theft. Stealing is a huge issue in the West. Each year, Billions and Billions of US Dollars worth of goods and services are stolen. Christians are sadly not immune from stealing. Some Christians when asked, will tell you that stealing is only wrong when a high priced item is taken without permission. How about a paper clip, if you take that without asking permission, is that also stealing ? According to the Bible, it is. Ephesians 4:28 “He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need."
  1. Idol Worship. A simplistic definition of “idol worship”, is anything that a person puts before God. It can be money, people, statues, “saints”, religious beliefs. Christians are certainly not immune to this sin and Christian witness blocker. When the world see's a Christian looking like, acting as, putting items, people or things in their life before God, it tells those in the world that “Christians are hypocrites.” I see “pastors” and “Christians” with multimillion dollar homes, driving expensive (multiple)cars and dressing like pimps. Those “Christians” are certainly looking more like the world, and the world also see's them as belonging to the world as well. Our money and goods all belong to Christ for the building up of the Kingdom of God, not for bringing shame upon the name of Christ and looking like a fool. 

    Repentance to Jesus is the first way to recover from all these and all sins.1 Thessalonians 2:19 “For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you?”
Rev. Paul P. Waldmiller~Black Robe Regiment Pastor


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1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this post. It has made me examine myself and my actions and think about what I need to do to improve myself.

    ReplyDelete