Churchianity

It amazes me the subtle shifts modern Christian teaching makes to the Gospel in order to make it more palatable, more to their liking.  I sat down recently to think about some of these.  

Paul begins Romans with 3 chapters designed to leave no one a loophole.  We are all wretched sinners, a living insult to the holy God who created us.  He goes on to present the astounding message that God Himself made a way for us to be freed from our bondage to sin, that we might be restored to our created position as His loving and obedient children.  I think most of Romans would have to be re-translated by modern standards.

For example, Romans 1:16  ("For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes... .")  would become " ...it is the love of God to save everyone who says they believe."


Romans 1:18  ("For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness")  is --well, wrath is ignored, so-- "the love of God is available to everyone no matter how many bad things they've done".


Those are just two examples I find right in the beginning.  I could go through the entire book rewriting it to modern acceptability but that would take too long.  I will just sum up what I perceive to be modern thought.  (I use quotations around words not to indicate sarcasm so much as to use the words they would.)


Modern church doctrine avoids allusions to a true Kingdom with one King Who can do as He wills with His slaves and subjects.  Rather it prefers a sort of Jesus-served democracy.  Jesus, as a servant-leader, wants to clean up all our problem areas and help us achieve the great purposes God created in us.  Simply by believing he came to save us from our failures and weaknesses and asking him to "come into your heart", we are made for now and forever a "Christian".   As new Christians, we may struggle with "sin" (meaning things we feel bad about), but that's okay.  That's why Jesus came:  to give us grace because he loves us.  We need to attend church to learn how to be blessed and fulfilled because God loves us and wants the best for us.  He promises to work everything for good.  Jesus is a constant help and encouragement to us on this road to successful and happy living.  He is a sort of best friend, cheering us on while he prepares a place in heaven for us.  However we decide to live our lives is fine;  he is all for us because he loves us.  Don't worry about the  judgment the Bible talks about.  We are now "in Christ" with our names written in his book forever.  If we continue attending church and doing the best we can to be agreeable and "loving", God will certainly bring us to heaven because he loves us.  If there is even such a thing as hell, it is for evil people who are disagreeable or kill lots of people or something.


This isn't just a little off from Scripture;  it's the exact opposite.  Scripture presents a God-centered Kingdom.  He reigns.  His purposes stand firm and are carried out by everything and everyone in His creation.  We, by choice, are either slaves to sin and self, or slaves to God.  We choose life with Him and under His dominion, or eternal death apart from Him.  We live because of His great love and kindness and mercy --to grant us breath even when we choose to use it to defy Him.  The love of Christ is not just a warm fuzzy idea.  2Cor 5:14 says, "the love of Christ controls us... ."  Believing in His death is supposed to mean our death, as that same verse continues (and thru verse 15) "...having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  and He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."  


Wow!  Where did we go so wrong?  As believers, we are supposed to make it our ambition to be pleasing to God (2Cor 5:9).  Rather, I see all around me people who call themselves Christians whose ambitions are no different from anyone else in the world.