Secularized Christianity

Why is the church institutionalized?  Why are we standardized, regularized, and incorporated into a system? Perhaps the church has gotten too comfortable in her own skin?  “Freedom of religion” has allowed Christianity to grow and spread the great news of Jesus.  But freedom along with free will is a two sided coin.  On one side, liberty is enjoyed.  On the other side, emancipation leads to familiarity yielding carelessness and apathy.  Humans enjoy independence to the point of disregard to others who surround.

Freedom gives the right to express perspectives, but that right becomes a red line for certain persons.  Some people have lines drawn in the sand and they sit around waiting for someone to cross it.  Once done, one’s freedom becomes a slight to someone else’s freedom.  We have become a nation of angry, agitated, brawling Christians.  We have split into numerous denominations causing a fracture in our unity in Christ.  Perhaps the good times are harder to navigate than imagined. 

Christ Jesus needs to be reinstated as Head of individual lives, then logically He becomes reinstated as the Head of the Church.  Then, and only then, will the love of Christ course through the body as blood through veins.  It will be sustaining to all Christians.  We need to unify rather than sect off into groups.  We need fellowship together.  We need acceptance for the marginalized and misunderstood.  We need the church to be home for all members to become part of the whole. 

But, secular society has permeated our inner selves.  Since childhood, all of us have been indoctrinated with education, marriage, children, and career.  Our careers have to be successful and become the center of many lives.  Marriage is encouraged to the point one is abnormal by remaining single.  Education and college are viewed as the end all that meets all of youth.  Where in all of this are we taught God as the center of our lives?  Where in all of this are we encouraged to chase wisdom and understanding in Christ?  Why are we not taught Jesus is the end all that meets all?

Understandably none of this is to be expected from a secularized civilization.   However, the church, the body of Christ, individual Christians, children to the Almighty, brethren to the Living God are expected to set forth Light into the darkness.  This entails living as Christ lived.  He called out to the misunderstood, disenfranchised, abnormal persons.  We are to do the same.  Secular society has no place in our Christian lives.  The church has failed to follow Jesus' commandment of "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment, and the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37-40). 

If we have succeeded in accepting these as commandments, then why are we fighting amongst ourselves in front of a watching world?  Why do so many feel pushed off to the edges of brotherly kindness?  Meaning, you can be part of the family, but you're not particularly welcome to the reunions.  Why do so many souls feel slighted when seeking acceptance into the family of God?  Because many Christians have secularized thoughts and hearts.  They still filter others through their past or their appearance, rather than seeing and hearing their desire to know Jesus.

Society is a machine engineered to create duplicates.  We are all expected to follow the same pattern.  Well, in my view of life--the God of all creation rather enjoys variety.  We are not all expected to be the same in the Almighty's family.  That's why the church is referred to as the body of Christ with Him being the Head.  The body has a number of different parts, and all with different purposes.  The arm can't walk and the foot can't write.  The foot can't walk without the leg and the arm can't write without the hand.  And neither the arm, foot, leg, nor hand can do anything without a head atop the body.  

So it is with the church and Jesus.  If we continue to marginalize others because we can't identify with them, or because we are ashamed of them, then we inflict harm upon our own body.  Much like junk food for a steady diet, disunity among the body of Christ will create lingering instability in our health.  The church needs to shed the world, reject false teachers, cast out the doctrine of demons and mature in the Lord growing past the elementary teachings of John 3:16.  We need to wake up and know there is more to God, there is more to Jesus than "God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son."  There is power, there is knowledge, there is peace, joy and life to be known by graduating from Salvation Elementary and entering the University of Faith. 

Christ Jesus is King!  He is the Living One (Revelation 1:17-18).  He is our Educator in this the school of life.  Through His Spirit we are able to pass the courses set before us.  Let us grow setting forth lives giving glory to God.  Let us set our eyes upon our heavenly citizenship and it's society, rather than the failing one we experience here in the flesh.  One day our journey will lead us to the promised land!  Will we want to enter by the skin of our teeth or do we want to enter as victors in Jesus?  Let's grow and love without judgment. 

 Who will seek admission into God's University? Who seeks to grow in the Lord?  Who desires more than just elementary teachings of Christ?  Who wants to give God the Father glory by surrendering to the Holy Spirit's presence within all believers?  I sure do.