Tuesday 4th Dec - believers not belongers

I was listening to something on the radio yesterday in the very brief time I was actually awake  and I happened upon part of a programme about ' christianity and the radical far right'.   The premise was clearly set out that as the rise of right wing beliefs is growing in certain parts of the West, christianity is being re-adopted by nations that had pretty much set it to one side a generation ago.  But the contributors to the programme were clear that this was not a Biblical Christianity, following the teachings of Jesus, but a cultural christianity which was an anti-moslem identifier - a belonging not a believing.  We are not ' them' with all their unacceptable beliefs and practices.  We are Western, civilised and right'

This struck me forcefully.  A belonging not a believing.

In this day and age the church is oh so keen to be a community, a family, a place of belonging.  We bend over backwards to be seeker-sensitive, approachable, culturally relevant.  And let's be honest, we do all have a secret sense of satisfaction when we see that ' our kind of churches' are the ones which are bucking the trend of the downhill nosedive of faith.    And I'm not knocking any of that...
but yesterday God really made me stop and think.   Are we subtly being drawn into a form of cultural christianity which is all words and no power?  He did not call us to build a community of ' belongers' but a community of believers. And whilst it is no doubt wonderful that we as the Church feel a sense of family and identity with one another, surely by far the more important thing is that we are disciples of Jesus with our identity 'hidden with Christ in God'

1 Corinthians 2:4
My message and my preaching were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a

demonstration of the Spirit's power,

1 Corinthians 4:20
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.

Paul is really really clear about this.  The Kingdom of God is about a demonstration of that dynamite power which overshadowed Mary when she conceived Jesus.  It is about healing, deliverance, miracles, tongues, supernatural words of knowledge, prophecy and wisdom.  It is about outrageous generosity, sacrifice and raising people from the dead.  It is, as Jesus said to John the Baptist in prison ' "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.' Luke 7:22

Do not be deceived in days to come when more and more people suddenly start professing christianity and even nations begin to seem to turn back to their christian heritage.  All may not be as it appears.   The enemy will weaponise lukewarm, cultural name-badging and use it against those of us who love Jesus.  We will be seen as the dangerous extremists, the radicals, the fanatics.  

Which as followers of Jesus, is, of course, exactly how we should be seen.   We had better start flexing our supernatural muscles and raising some dead people if we want to be distinguished from the nominally, culturally, christian rest.

PS. Literally a minute after I had finished writing this I came upon this on my Facebook timeline.

https://www.facebook.com/stjohnslinlithgow/videos/336098750523478/