Who Do You Love?

"So it's time for Who do ya love....hubba hubba hubba.....money money money....who do ya love? Me? I'm giving away free money. And where is the Batman? HE'S AT HOME, WASHIN' HIS TIGHTS!!!" Jack Nicholson (as the Joker in Batman).

Why is it we humans screw up everything we touch, even things we can’t touch? Take Christianity for instance. This word has been so grievously abused the world over for thousands of years. It seems as though everyone wants to see Jesus through their own eyes.
John 6:14-15
Even His apostles
Mark 10:35-40

Ask yourself the following question: Who do you love? This is a simple question, but for some reason this is a very difficult question to answer honestly. You may truly believe you’re being honest, but still you could very easily lie.

What is the meaning of life? Why am I here? Is there any reason for my existence? What is Christianity? Who is Jesus Christ? In the perceived context of Christianity, which God do you worship? Do you love Christianity more than Jesus Christ? In light of the previous questions how do you answer this question?

In answering, or thinking about these questions, I’ve noticed 5 different church attenders: 1. The honest unbeliever/seeker 2. The modern Pharisee 3. The well intended fake 4. The heretic 5. The true believer. I’ve already written about #4 and I’m sure I’ll write many more articles pertaining to false teachers and the like. For this article I have nothing to say on true believers. The focus for this particular article are the posers.

The modern Pharisee:
These people know where they stand with God. Most likely they've been attending a church since early childhood. Perhaps Christianity is a good paying career for them? Perhaps they attend church because of their spouses? Either way, Christianity to them is a means to an end, not a relationship. Christianity is a nice sounding word they can throw out to get instant respect (at least in the south) and boy do they love that respect. Christianity is a way for them to manipulate others and tie a heavy weight and burden around the necks of the weak (Luke 11:39-52). It is a way for them to boast about themselves (Matthew 6:1-16). Yes, I'm referring to the modern day Pharisees. Unless God shows you mercy by humbling you (as He did Nebuchanezzar) you'll never see His beauty or except His salvation.

The well intended fake:
These are the unfortunate souls who felt it was necessary to finally “graduate” on their own from honest non-believer to believer without ever really repenting of their sins or accepting Jesus Christ as their savior. Perhaps for the sake of acceptance? These folks genuinely believe they are saved, but they fail to understand even the basic fundamentals of The Way or the authority and truth of scripture. They enjoy the sense of community and social acceptance but never really understand 1 Corinthians 1:18-21. These folks, since they don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, live out, in one form or another, legalistic lives and will eventually become modern Pharisees. They will continue to fix their gaze upon the church, their parents, other Christians and their own needs until they either wake up to Jesus Christ or fall into eternal despair. They will refuse to fix their gaze upon Jesus Christ because they can’t see Him through the smog of their own unrepentant sin. They can’t hear His voice because they won’t stop talking about their own desires. They can’t touch Him because their hands are busy serving themselves instead of others. You won’t see much in the way of love from these folks, but you’ll see lots of frustration, unforgiving spirits, condemnation, as well as a spirit quick to turn from Christ when trouble comes their way. Galatians 5:19-2 These are the people Jesus speaks of in Revelation 3:14-20.

So I ask you again, do you love Jesus Christ or do you love Christianity?

Now this isn’t a declartion to take up arms against these folks. This is a call to lift up your arms to embrace a fellow image bearer of God. This is a call to discern these folks so that you can properly minister, disciple, pray for, love on and encourage these folks. Perhaps God will use the seed of love you plant to spring forth an eternal increase for His kingdom?