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HOUSMAIL HM061 15
August 2000 THE LEATHER UPHOLSTERED CROSS Jesus
did call us to "take up our cross" ..... didn't He? In fact,
He made it a CONDITION of true discipleship! (Luke 14:27) One
of the problems of our covetous, consumer oriented, plastic money, "pay later"
society, is that it is all too easy to gain possession of all the things that
Jesus calls us to RENOUNCE! (Luke 14:33) The
Cross on which He died for us had splinters! The pain He endured for us was indescribably
agonising! And the cross which He calls us to carry with Him, is likely to be
just as uncomfortable. But
to hear it from many these days, the "Gospel" call is to a comfortable
leather upholstered pew, in an air-conditioned Church. (preferably with the latest
model computer controlled, steam heated doorknobs for the winter!) Discomfort
is out of fashion! Self-denial is out altogether! The
plain unvarnished words of Jesus have been exchanged for clever human psychology,
which allows the guilty to make excuses for their sin. Many even completely reverse
what Jesus said, so that the wrong things they do aren't regarded as sin anymore! Standing
in a Roman arena facing the wild beasts, has been replaced by sitting in the grandstand
calling for more violence on the part of the gladiators! Some Churches even install
TV sets to bring the "arena" and "gladiators" right into the
evening service. (For important games only of course!) We are
constantly urged to find ways to make the Gospel more "attractive",
or more "relevant", or to find a new "gimmick" to attract
a larger audience, in order to win more people. We are
told to beware sounding too fanatical or radical ..... lest they declare us MAD or reject us! Just like
they did Jesus, by the way! And just like He told real disciples to expect for
themselves. (John 15:18-20) I wonder
how Paul would have viewed all this, if he could have seen it while he was being
beaten with rods, or stoned, or adrift at sea for a night and a day? (2 Corinthians 11:24-27) That
is one of the great things about this new "leather upholstered cross"!
Those things can't happen to people who hide in the comfort and safety of the
average Western World Church pew ..... can they? Is it
possible that some of this is the sort of thing Paul had in mind when he wrote
of the last days Church as "holding the form of religion but denying the
power of it"? (2 Timothy 3:5) Of course,
if we do find the right advertising "Gimmick", it can build BIG Churches, who take UP BIG COLLECTIONS, to pay for even BIGGER Church empires! BUT ..... DOES IT MAKE DISCIPLES? Allon |