Once upon a time there was a young married couple. They were passionate, zealous and on fire for God. They were on many various ministry teams and always doing something for God. Not only would they talk about God but they would also talk about church. Most, if not all, of their time was church and ministry – always serving others.

And then they learned what the true Church is. They looked around and couldn’t see her, as she is supposed to be, anywhere in action. It all looked fake. People playing at church. Playing at serving others when the widows and single mums still did it hard every other day of the week. This young couple saw some things that were absolutely atrocious and should never be associated with God’s people. The young couple became disillusioned.

Everything was wrong, wrong, wrong. Everyone was wrong and on the path to eternal damnation. But they could see this. They had the truth. It was up to them to show the lost the way!

And so the couple started speaking out, telling anyone who would listen. They stopped attending church for it was all just modern counterfeit, man-made ego antics anyway. When they did occasionally see people they would yell, er preach about the pagan origins of modern church practices, decrying all the hypocrisy. What the couple failed to realise at the time was that they simply were not helping anyone or any situation. They were just as much part of the problem that they were speaking against! Not only were they yelling to the believers (although they believed them to be false converts or duped believers) but the non believers were also witness to all these outpourings of misplaced zealousness. What a shame the non believers didn’t see the love and passion the couple had for the Lord God. Instead what they saw was a man and a women, bitter and angry. Instead of being told all about the Lord God, they were yelled at and told how wrong everything was, how evil the world is, how bad the church is. If only they would repent and turn to THEIR way of thinking – then they would be saved. No, sadly the unbelievers saw nothing of value, no treasure to be sought. Instead they turned their hearts away from the Lord. They filed that anger, which looked like hatred to them, in the back of their mind. If you are reading this and are one of those people, please stop by and spend a few minutes to view this presentation.

A few years went by and life dealt this now not-so-young couple some blows. As it does. The couple experienced some dark and down moments. They realised that they were not the only ones with the truth [end sarcasm]. They realised they had ‘thrown the baby out with the bath water’. They had gained a little insight into the beauty of the Church but became disillusioned because it wasn’t always so. However, they had stopped being part of the Church, thereby becoming part of the problem. They had started pointing to the Church more than they were pointing to Christ. Throughout all this, sadly, there was little support from friends or brethren in the Lord. I’m not too sure why not but that’s sometimes how life goes. Isn’t it?

This couple’s journey isn’t wasted and it isn’t sad. The road that they walked was instrumental in getting them to where they are now. Now, they do not point out the evils of the church or of every Christian they see. They are busy enough minding their own business, striving to live a life pleasing to the Lord. The not-so-young woman in this story doesn’t believe she has all the answers. She doesn’t think that life is Us vs Them. She knows Jesus Christ. He has transformed her life, He has forgiven her and saved her from the wrath to come. There is nothing worthy in her, aside from Christ. She has no goodness to be emulated, she doesn’t have her doctrinal ducks all lined up in a row. She has a website but in it she doesn’t tell you how to live, how to homeschool, how to worship, what to watch, what to listen to, what to believe, what to wear, or what to eat. She simply wants to point to Jesus Christ. She has stopped focusing on all that is wrong with the Church and the world and is just getting on with living to the glory of God. Those who listen and watch, do so. But she has learned that she is not responsible for their actions, their beliefs or even whether or not they believe her. Her mission is to preach Christ.

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I have seen enough of life to know and appreciate that we are all different. We come from different cultures with different backgrounds. We each have different assumptions or preconceptions about the Bible, about God and how the world should be. I am not going to attempt to tell you what the Bible says or how the world should be. But I will encourage you – I will strongly tell you – to examine what you know about Christ. If you know nothing of Him, then please take a look at this website. If you do Know Jesus, then I encourage you to tell people about Him. Don’t tell them what they should believe – tell them of Jesus. Tell them of God’s love for mankind. Lead them to the Cross. And trust. Trust that the Holy Spirit has led them to that point and He can take it from there.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me,is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

~ Jesus Christ in the Book of John, chapter 10, verses 27 through 30.
John 10:27-30