Genesis 2:16-17
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.’”
Hopefully I don’t rag on the church too much in this post.
I’m sick of hearing morals being preached in church. Yesterday, I didn’t hear the name “Jesus Christ” phrased once throughout the entirety of the sermon. NOT EVEN ONCE.
Don’t get me wrong; having morals is great. But does the picture not seem wrong here?
What is Christianity to begin with? The name “Christ” is clearly suggested in the label of the religion! What does this imply in the sermons being preached behind the pulpit of the modern church then? I don’t know — maybe Christianity isn’t being preached.
There’s nothing wrong with living a moral life — and having them is respectable. However, the bone that I have to pick: often times, people are just moral because it makes them look good (This probably isn’t true in some cases. I’m just pulling from personal experience; anytime I tried to do something “good,” in the back of my head I would have that thought of “man this is going to make me look so good in front of people” stressing itself).
I understand that Christians are to be the light and salt to the rest of the world. I get the good intentions behind preaching what is “good” or “bad” — “right” or “wrong” — to churchgoers. But truly, who cares for what the rest of the world perceives? Are you following Christ so that you might gain the silently positive approvals of your peers? There is but one “set of eyes” and but one standard, brothers and sisters; that is Christ.
See, what happens when the church preaches morals — the culture of the modern-day churchgoer or Christian becomes a culture of distinguishing what is a sin and what is not a sin; followed by an execution in life by these individuals of what is not sin. We are so caught up with ourselves in this theology! We become so trapped and entangled by what is “right” and “wrong” that our relationship with God, that we have gained through the Gospel — the loving sacrifice — of Jesus Christ, succumbs instead to our own merit. When we do what we think is “wrong,” we automatically assume that our relationship with God has deteriorated. And even further, possibly, that God doesn’t love us anymore.
Brothers and sisters, if you have eyes to see: open them. Genesis states that the tree’s, preceding our fall, fruits were that of the knowledge of “GOOD” and “EVIL.” Isn’t it so obvious? When we stick to this silly culture of “right” and “wrong,” we do the very thing that Adam and Eve did in their folly! Furthermore, what is the Gospel is that Christ has paid the ransom for that “theology.” He has paid for sin! It does not matter what you do anymore. You were not saved by your merit, but by the grace of our Lord. You are cleansed from those sins. You picking and choosing what is sin and not sin, and making much of it, characterizes your faith; that you do not believe that your sins have been paid for by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That Christ has not already won. That you have to do something more to gain the Love of God.
That is so insulting! In doing the very thing that caused our fall, as aforementioned, Christ’s Gospel becomes vain!
Despite this, I understand why the majority of Christians feel this way. We believe that in so doing this, pitying and beating ourselves up, we are glorifying God; that we are loving God in this action. It’s admirable. But, just as the prophet Nathan to David, I lovingly say that you are wrong in this, brothers and sisters. This action is not glorifying to God.
To say that you have to keep focusing on your sins because you feel that God won’t love you anymore… God’s already displayed His Love… Repent of this theology and place faith in the Gospel! That your sins have been ransomed! That God loves you no matter what! The Gospel is directly translated as The Good News; you are free from this bondage of sin! To keep groveling… you essentially declare that the gory sacrificial blood of Christ is not enough to save you, when God’s wrath has already been appeased through this Love.
If you love God, just do whatever you believe is glorifying to Him. Regardless of whether others regard your actions as sin or not. If you are genuine, and you virtuously believe that what you are doing is glorifying to Him; then Christ, observing your heart, will reimpose you in the correct path if you are doing wrong. He’ll see your love. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. Just trust in Him, that He knows what He’s doing.
I pray for this confusion by the church to finally end — and for the Gospel to finally be proclaimed from pulpits.
I love you all — God bless.
