Monday, March 9, 2009

New Religion Poll is Wrong


Today's big hype is a survey which states that more and more Americans no longer believe in religion. I am sure their question was posed in such a way that those who have left mainstream religions were unsure of how to answer the question. You can be gauranteed that this latest survery will be twisted every way to make it look like we have lost our faith. I do not agree.

Has the church changed in the last several years? Yes it has, but the true church, the Bride of Christ which is made of of all peoples, nations, and tribes, has not changed. Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church. We are the body of Christ if we have received His Crucifixion as atonement for our sins.

One of the main reasons people stated for turning from religion is "hypocrisy". Yes, we all fail and we all falter but using that as an excuse for someone to deny the existence of God is getting wearisome . I have had some "biggies" and have known that I disappointed God, but the point is to keep getting up. The scripture that tears my heart out is when the prophet told King David he gave the enemies of God a reason to blaspheme Him. When you realize that gut wrenching truth in your own life, your repentance goes deep.

Have you faltered? Did you get up? The world says you made your bed now lie in it; but, Jesus said take up your bed and walk.

Have you realized that your sin as a child of God gave his enemies a reason to blaspheme His name. "Oh, you call yourself a Christian? "They are nothing but a bunch of hypocrites"... That is what the enemies of the Cross say.

We have to let them know that we do fall and we do fail, but if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I am not talking about cheap grace where you just keep going out and sinning because you choose to, I am talking about when you falter and fail. David tried to hide his sin, the organized church tries to hide their sins, we as individuals try to hide our sins--but our Father exposes them. What hurts the Father hurts us and when we come to the realization that we have not represented Him well, then we are humbled in His sight. When those who watch us fall begin to doubt His power to keep, we hurt for the Father. Put your trust in no man's flesh the word tells us and I think for this very reason..that we represent the Kingdom and the Father and when we fail those two, we fail and hurt Him. The Lords Kingdom has no end, but we do and we must stand before Him and give an account of our lives. Thank Him for His mercy.

Maybe if we are more honest about our sinful selves rather that portraying ourselves as "perfect", we can turn this tide of using hypocrisy as a excuse not to receive the redemption for sin that Christ so dearly and willing paid.

I am not a fan of "polling" but this one really got to me.

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