Boldness

Luke 11:1-13 is a passage that we all have heard many times.  It is the passage in the New Testament where Jesus gives us the Lord's prayer.  Today, most of the folks around the world know it by heart.


Most of the time the passage is taught as a play-by-play on how to talk with God.  As I was reading further (past the Lord's prayer) something in verse 8 jumped out at me.  Jesus tells a story of a man asking his neighbor for bread in the middle of the night.  He states that because of his boldness he received what he needed.


If you are a child of God, He teaches us to pray with boldness.  Here are a few thoughts that have humbled me this week:

• I am a sinner.  What I deserve is hell.  What I was given is a gift from God because He wanted me as His child. 
• His grace is bigger than my sin.
• God spoke words out of His mouth and creation obeyed Him.  The mountains, trees, animals and even us as humans were all created by words.  Even so, God decides He still wants me to have a relationship with Him.  Why would someone so powerful want to have anything to do with me, someone so insignificant?  Because He loves us.
• He gave us His Son so it could all be made right with Him.
• On top of it all, He tells us to "Pray with boldness!"  We get to approach the throne as His kids, asking Him for our wants and needs.

I can't get my mind around that kind of love and grace.  It's truly amazing.

Are some churches drowning in their own doctrine?

When my feet hit the floor each morning, I believe the #1 goal of my day should be to pray and ask Jesus “What do you want me to do today?  How can you use me?”  Some days I feel successful at following Him and other days I screw it up and fall flat on my face.  No matter what, tomorrow morning the goal will be the same.

I read one of my favorite Bible verses this week that really made me start thinking aloud.  In Jeremiah 9:23-24 God tells us:

This is what the LORD says:

 “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom
   or the strong man boast of his strength
   or the rich man boast of his riches,
 but let him who boasts boast about this:
   that he understands and knows me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
   justice and righteousness on earth,
   for in these I delight,” 

declares the LORD.

As I read this passage, a thought occurred to me:  “Are some churches drowning in their own doctrine?”  

The definition of the word doctrine is:
a.)  Something that is taught.
b.)  a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief.

The word doctrine alone is a touchy subject among churches today, especially in the United States.  By even mentioning the word, most churches react in a defensive way by saying “We believe without a shadow of a doubt that this is what the Bible teaches!” Every denomination has a specific doctrine. Inside each denomination there are individual churches that believe they follow their doctrine better than some of their sister churches.  If you survey each denomination (Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist, etc.) each denomination has a different variation of doctrine that they subscribe to.  

I personally believe with all of my heart that there is nothing wrong with doctrine (knowing what you believe).  If you accept Jesus Christ as your Savior you are stating to the world that you vow to follow Him for the rest of your life.  You need to know what the Bible teaches.  Doctrine and theology are important, but they are not superior to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here is what I believe is happening.  Somewhere along the way, we (the Church) began to take pride in what we (our specific denomination) believes more than who we are called to follow.  Do a gut check and ask yourself a few hard questions:

·    Does my church spend more time talking about what they believe (doctrine)than  about Jesus Christ and how He changes lives (evangelism)?

·    When people ask you what you believe, how do you answer them? Do you respond by saying “I’m a ___________ (Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, Etc)” or “I follow Jesus.”?

·    In my church is evangelism (telling people how Jesus can save them) a high priority?

·    When was the last time someone accepted Jesus at my church?  Is this a regular occurrence?

·    Is my church growing?  If so are they existing believers from another church or unchurched people in need of salvation?

·    Does my church preach / teach about the Holy Spirit?  Does my church talk openly about the Holy Spirit?

·    Does my church poke fun at other churches or denominations?

·    Do I personally feel comfortable inviting unbelievers to my church?  If so, would they come back after visiting? 

·    Does my church truly welcome everyone that walks through their doors or only in theory?

Let me be clear on a few things:

·     Do I believe doctrine is important?  Absolutely.

·     Do I believe it’s wrong to belong to a denomination of churches?  No, I do not!

·     Do I think non-denominational churches are just as guilty of the same thing?  Yes!

·     Is it paramount to belong to a local church?  Yes!

·     Do we as followers of Jesus Christ still sin and fall short of God’s glory everyday?  Yes!

What is my point?  I believe that in order for us, the bride of Christ (the church) to change hell’s membership, we need to place more importance on Jesus Christ and why He died (for lost sinners) and less importance on the finer points of our denomination’s specific doctrine.  In my heart of hearts, I believe it comes down to this:

If Jesus came over to your house tonight and ate dinner with you, which one of these statements would more likely come out of His mouth?

“I am excited about how much doctrine and theology you have learned over the past few years!”

or

“I am excited about how many folks you are leading to me!”

God plainly tells us that if we are going to boast, we don’t boast about………

• our wisdom (how right our doctrine is)
• how strong we are (size of our denomination or church)
• our riches (what kind of facility we have).  

If we boast, we boast on one thing; that we know God because of His Son Jesus Christ and we want the whole world to know about Him too!

Rocks skimming the water

There are a few things that I am talented at doing but will never earn me any money or fame in this world because of it.  One of the things that I can do well is skip a rock across the water.

Everyone likes to think they can skip a rock across the water in fine fashion.  The fact of the matter is that very few people can do it well!  My Daddy is the best ever.  I remember when we used to go fishing, he would take a rock and skim it across the water.  It would go a long ways and bounce across the water like a tennis ball.  It takes practice, and it takes talent! 

Romans 8:38 reminds me of skipping a rock across the water.  The Bible basically says “You have no idea how much Jesus loves you!  You can’t even comprehend it!”

Our lives are like the rock.  God’s love is like the water.  We skim across it and think we understand how much He loves us.  In reality, the depth of God’s love is so deep that we cannot begin to understand it.

Think about this:

• God is 100% holy.  He cannot tolerate sin.  He cannot be in the same room with it.  It’s impossible.
• In order to remain in a relationship with His children, He sent His Son Jesus to die in our place.  He sent Him to pay the price for our sin if we choose to accept it.
• Jesus loves us so much that He left paradise to live among us.  He was born in a stinky barn.  He lived His childhood in obedience to two sinful earthly parents.  He was patient with those He came in contact with during His ministry.  His disciples were a mess, and He loved them anyway.  He spent His time teaching and healing those in need.  He went to the cross and died a horrific death, all in the name of love for us.  He rose again ad conquered death so we won’t have to spend eternity in hell.

Take a minute to think of how vast and deep the love of Jesus really is!  Don’t skim across the top of the water and miss it.