From a friend:

A Great Denial.

As Christians who are Evangelicals (whether Arminian or Calvinist) it matters little which brand, it is important to recognise we have become masters of words ~ you could even say we have become ‘logo-centric’ (a word for all those wordy types). I must confess right off the bat here that I am one of those wordy types myself, less you think I am about to blame-game others who might be seen as ‘the enemy’.

When it comes to words and we need words to think and communicate, we have done a good job. With our publishing houses, the CCM factory, our sermons, colleges, and conferences ~ one could confidently say we have built our house upon words which we sing, read, quote and talk. We are people of the Word and of many other words.

We are confident there is nothing wrong with this emphasis, that it is both proper and correct, for we have the Word of God (the Holy Scriptures) which express the Word of Life – Jesus Christ himself. God has communicated to us through the acts of Creation, the words of Scripture and through Jesus himself ~ his words and actions. Our belief, our doctrine is mediated via words, formulated and structured words transformed into statements of beliefs and confessions of faith. Of course all of these things are very important, for who are we without the Word of God?

At this point there seems no reason for this article at all. We have God’s Word, we have the Word of Life – Christ Himself, the documents of Church History, supported by the Fathers of the Faith and famous theologians, poets, preachers, and hymn writers. Yet it is in presuming we are safe in these words, which leads to a great problem. We have somehow arrived at a place where we live as if the words alone are sufficient for the Christian life. We would never say this, but it is how we act as a movement – the Evangelical movement which prides itself on doctrinal and spiritual purity.

The great words of the Testaments, of Christ, of the epistle writers, of the psalmist and prophets have allowed us to rest on the Truth and certainty of God’s way of dealing with people. By these words we are justified and by them we condemn others for a lack of correct doctrine or church practice, etc. My question is where is the proofs we believe in these divine words? Where are the actions which prove to those inside the church and outside it that these words are actually true and have made a real difference to our lives? We have the words, but where are our actions?

God’s Truth and God’s Love can be seen to be two sides of the one coin ~ they cannot be separated. You can see them woven very closely together in Romans or John’s First epistle. They are ‘side by side’ speaking, breathing and acting together and yet somehow, for some reason we have separated them. As evangelicals we have clung to the idea that we only need the words and the actions (or love which stems from love divine) is unimportant or at best an accessory to faith essentials. The main problem is the lack of love Christians have for one another in the churches and this has a devastating two-fold effect – one is on believers and the other is on unbelievers. Loving others of course is our greatest challenge, because it is the hardest thing to do of all. There are people who won’t want our love and throw it back in our faces and there are others who will use our love for their own advantage.

The disparity between how we live in our churches and what we believe is a jarring experience for anyone who is actually observing what is really happening. There are no perfect churches, yes, but this mantra becomes a mere excuse for the indifference and lack of love inside our ‘good’ evangelical churches. What we proclaim about God’s love, grace, forgiveness and mercy have to be demonstrated. We all know when there is no demonstration – the way of religion emerges which is manifested by distance, coldness, and indifference.

Our great faith can only have genuine and tangible meaning if it is supported and backed up by our lives. The more we love one another as Christians, the more encouraged and supported people will feel and then hopefully go and love others in turn. We witness the truth of the gospel to ourselves in the churches by our love or lack of it. We also witness the truth of the gospel to outsiders by our love towards them (and not as an evangelism tool) as human beings made in God’s image.

It is ironic we judge ourselves and others on the doctrinal content we have and not the measure of love we either have or don’t possess. Indeed, this article are just more words which need the demonstration of action. I wonder how well we have passed the test of Love as Evangelicals? It is much harder to measure in one way, and yet in another it is quite simple. We love one another and other people by being compassionate and forgiving, but knowing their needs and by denying ourselves just a little. We love one another when we seek to understand others and don’t always have to be in control, maintain power or be right.

In a sense (and I am very careful about saying this) when we don’t love those in the Church ~ the great words of our Faith become emptied of meaning. We simply cannot preach, sing, read and talk about God’s love and at the same time fail to demonstrate it is some small way in our individual and collective lives can we? It seems always obvious to outsiders whether or not Christians are people of love or not and it is interesting this is the one thing they know Christians must be if we are to bear His name. No more is this the case than in comfortable Middle Class churches.

The most important thing to say in all is most confronting. When I fail to express God’s love to others in the church and world, can I really say I know God’s love? When we change the faith into something merely polemical or political or something the ego can gain from – we are in fact declaring we don’t know God’s love very well. I am not suggesting those who don’t love are not saved ~ but I am saying those who are Christians who don’t love, have only the most shallow understanding of God’s love for them. How else can we explain the vacuum existing so often in churches?

Jesus said very clearly we are to love one another, we are to love our neighbour and we are to love God. He made it clear these are the ultimate, the most important things we can ever do in our lives – with our hearts, minds and bodies. The apostle Paul emphasised this again in the final chapters of Romans ~ the result of knowing who we are (God’s beloved) is to love others. Abstractions, doctrines, programs, denominations and music do not love others – only we can as God’s holy and chosen people. Our motive in loving with actions and words is to know how much we are loved and will always be loved by Christ our Saviour and Lord. We must understand this divine Love in both our hearts and minds to move us to love others.

Words Indeed.

Religious words from within church walls,

Must lead those on pews and in pulpits to movement.

This is so, because the Word became flesh

and Acted for us and for all of His people.

Jesus saves us with His words & actions , for His actions match His words.

If our church words ~ scriptures read, theology preached, hymns sung, prayers prayed, conversations spoken, lead only to further words,

Then we have failed to understand the Word.

If we only have words,

thinking we are living for the Word,

then we are a closed book, an exclusive club,

speaking circles of words,

which represents Christ in name only.

It is only in our lives, our works, our actions,

which shows whether or not we have the Word in us at all.

We have had the Word speaking and Acting for us.

Do we then speak and act for the Word,

Or do we just hide behind our religious words,

Safe in the little fortress of our church?

Do we keep our hands clean and think by doing so we are keeping the Gospel pure?

Where are our holy works and actions?

If we are to be Christ in this world,

Then He has to be seen,

In our words, in our actions, in our whole lives;

Our speech, our energies lived to His glory.

We are to be sacraments of the Word,

Breathing living His truth and love,

And these two cannot be separated,

If we are truly in Christ.