Be Careful

I have noticed a very sad and disturbing trend in Christianity in the last few years, and notably Christians throwing around a lot of accusations against other Christians. With the popularity of the Internet and information readily available from countless sources there is tremendous amounts of material available on every subject. Even though one can read about just anything on the internet, attempts to prove or disprove conspiracy theories, information about such things as the Tri-lateral commission, the influence of the Free Masonry on the founding fathers, the hidden symbol on the back of the dollar bill, and urban legends and myths abound. What I have seen happen in the past few months is that those things that people don’t understand or fear they tend to lash out and tear down instead of being Christlike and building up they tear down. Many people have a “little” view of God and His power to work. This is evident in most churches in America. Services are scheduled to begin at an appointed time, with the correct number and genre of songs, prayers, and offering, maybe a sermon that does or not equal that of the TV evangelists. All of this with hopes that maybe the Holy Spirit moves upon those gathered in the room and in the desired block of time. The desire is that service moves smoothly so that it ends on time or before so that the attendee’s can get out of the building and beat the other denominations to the restaurant of the week, with anticipation that the buffet is fresh and not picked over. (Buffets are another subject for another time: Should Christians eat at buffets?)

Church’s and pastors have a hard time understanding God when He begins a fresh move to reach individuals that don’t know Him. Many “religious” people want a God who fits into their box or doctrine. What happens when God begins to work or His Spirit begins to leak out of the tight box that has been built for Him, people react. Sometimes the reaction is one of embracement, toleration, out right rejection, or out right rejection with condemnation, or judgment. Lately I have been witnessing a lot of the latter. When someone fears or fails to fully discern or comprehend what is God is doing, fear seems to take over. Fear is a reaction to something that is not understood, or is reaction against something that does not fit into the nice neat little box that has been built for God. BTW that box that has been built to hold God in, is only allowed to be opened on Sunday’s and maybe Wednesday’s and many people are happy to keep it that way, and can only be opened behind the walls of building that is erected to the glory of man and not God.

Here is where I am going with this: there is a lot of mudslinging going on in the name of protecting the “faith”. Here are the concerns I have:

1. God does not need us to protect the faith or defend the church. Matthew 16:18

2. In refusing to see that God moves and can move in different ways the church has become more like the Sanhedrin in the day of Jesus. The attempt is to keep the word of God pure while enslaving people to a keep to a set unalterable set of rules that has been developed by man. The love of God is professed but not possessed or demonstrated. Jesus summarized the 10 commandments down to 2. Mark 12:30-31.

3. Just because a website says it defends the faith it may not. Where is discernment in these last days? I John 4:1

4. Could all the mudslinging and criticism of the so “new” movements of God be sapping our strength, resources and taking our vision and attention off of Jesus?

5. What witness is being given to those who do not know Jesus when they see and read about “Christians” fighting and arguing about certain things? (The world doesn’t know or care what the subject matter is; they just know there is arguing going on.)


6. Who is to say, other than God that a movement of God will last. The words of Gamaliel should be heeded about this. Acts 5:29-41

7. Who are we following? Jesus said: Follow him. Jesus told Peter: What’s that to you, you follow me. John 21:20-22 How much time are you spending on your walk with Jesus. If that time were diverted from attacking and mudslinging to spiritual development, where would you be on your spiritual journey?

8. How many disciples debating if God can move in a certain way will make?

9. The debate and accusations flowing from one group about another group are about as nasty or nastier than that of corporate America. Does this look like: John 14:32

10. Make sure what is being quoted is accurate. Recently as I was looking over a website I noticed quotations from one author taken out of context and used to try to prove a point on a certain issue. However, this is “proof texting” and is not good scholarship. Always use a quote in context never make something say what you want it to say. Always check the original sources.




Why I am saying is this:

If God is going to do something new, and it doesn’t fit into our box, we need to be careful not to judge or call something evil when its not. This is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. The teachers of the law attributed the works of Jesus to the Devil. There is a line that cannot be crossed in regards to this. Take a look at an account in Mark 3:22-30.

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."

So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth; all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin." He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

Many like to jump on the bandwagon of finding demons, devils, and warlocks behind every door or bush. Some individuals have attributed the works of God to the devil. Just because something is different does not mean its evil.

God always is doing something new. Methods are always being developed, and adapted to fit the cultural context. There can be a knee jerk reaction to something new, or a new wave of God’s spirit. Jesus had to do something to say when he began His public ministry. He mentioned this:

MK 2:21 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."

Down through history God has used people to break out of the dead cold orthodoxy, and revive a work of God. The reformers who believed people needed the bible in their own language, to actually having scriptures, to man Posting 95 reasons on a church door that led to the protestant reformation. Could what is being criticized nothing more than a fresh movement of God?
I chose to be careful to not pass judgment, because if it is of God, I don’t to miss what He is doing.
Sometimes those things we fear or don’t understand are lumped all together and labeled as something it is not. One must fully understand something before they judge. I would caution anyone reading this not to jump to the conclusion that I am talking about a certain group or certain people. What bothers me is that there are a lot of people being wounded needlessly by things being slung around. The 10 cautions I have outlined above can easily be applied to the criticism thrown at: Contemporary vs. Traditional Worship, Being A Missional Church, Emergent Church, Intentional Church, Music, etc….

In the words of my college professor: What do you think?