|
CONFRONTATIONAL CHRISTIANITY
Today's Christians are divided into two groups: one group is made up of nice people whose words and actions never offend anyone. The other group is made up of people who, while not wanting to offend people, nevertheless do so by what they day and do. The first group are do-gooders, most of whom think that by their having done this or that or the other, they have earned or somehow qualified for God's grace and He is going to overlook their sins and take them eventually to Heaven. The other group is offensive in their basic belief for they hold that all men are helpless and hopeless sinners and that salvation is only to be had in Jesus Christ. These last may quote such verses as Acts 4:12 which says: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Whenever these confrontational Christians quote this verse or others like it they are immediately labeled as bigots, being narrow minded or ignorant. The pseudo-intellectuals (false-intellectuals) of our day seldom miss an opportunity to attack the people who stand for Bible truth. They cannot deny that the Bible teaches such things so they attack the Bible or those who quote it. All of God's men throughout Bible history have been confrontational: they have not failed to tell their fellows the truth of God's Word. Consider the men of the New Testament era. John the Baptist was confrontational when he told the adulterer Herod he was living in sin. The Baptist's words were, “It is not lawful for thee to have her,” (Matthew 14:4). Eventually John was beheaded for his words, but confrontational John was received up into everlasting habitations. The Lord Jesus, Himself, was very often confrontational. He was both narrow and confrontational when He said, “I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins,” (John 8:24). We could cite many other instances, but let us pass on to that apostle known as Paul. He was so confrontational in speaking and writing to churches that he wrote to some saying, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). The problem with those churches was that they were listening to false teachers – just as many are doing today. Those false teachers were teaching that works were necessary in order to be saved, especially the works of keeping the Old Testament Law. Paul scalded them by saying, “Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace,” (Galatians 5:4). God's men have always been confrontational. This has caused them to suffer much, but they have been faithful to the truth and to the mission to which God called them. Are you a nice Christian that never offends or are you a confrontational Christian standing for the truth?
|
