Current Deception

 

 

I recently heard someone say that they don't like all this these Christians who believe on Jesus and get saved. They don't last as disciples. If you know me you would know that I would be shocked to the core by this kind of false teaching. That it came from the mouth of a Pastor was a surprise but that it happened in a Calvinist setting was possibly a little more understandable.

 

I felt strongly that I needed to do some research into this type of thinking. Is it wide spread in the Church and where did it come from. Coincidentally,  I happened to watch J. John interview a fellow called Phil Moore. Mr Moore majors on making robust disciples. He shared about his relationship with the suffering church in Iran and how the Christians there had after the persecution of 2014 begun using the pattern of disciple instruction that Jesus used as outlined in Matthew chapter ten verses five through to twenty.

 

"When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere."

 

This was when Jesus sent the disciples out to evangelise Israel. There is a corresponding passage from Luke ten verses two through twelve relating to the sending out of an additional seventy disciples, two by two into the towns and cities of Israel was also mentioned on the J John interview. Here also, they were to heal the sick and preach that the Kingdom of God was at hand.

 

"2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. 4 Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road. 5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

8 “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. 9 Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 10 But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 11 ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ 12 I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town."

 

The Iranians shared with Phil Moore that prior to the persecution of 2014 that there had been a relaxed time where the Church in Iran was not persecuted and disciples had been made by simply preaching the gospel. Simply believing on Jesus. However, when the persecution came many disciples fell away. They believed their error to be in not using Jesus approach from the gospels. They began to win disciples by following the method Jesus used with His disciples and preaching that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Their approach also involved getting alongside individuals in the community and equipping them to become disciples in their own right. From developing house churches to discipling others in their faith community.

 

Apparently, Phil Moore uses this model himself in discipling new converts into the Church. So! I hear you say, what is wrong with that. Well, nothing at all really. The Church in Iran has endured heavy and brutal persecution in recent years. If they feel the converts made before the persecution weren't well enough prepared then fair enough.

 

However, I would point out that Islam has been persecuting Christians with the intention of destroying the Church for 1400 years and they don't mess about. In their more militaristic form, they chop off limbs, they beat people to a pulp and kill families routinely to achieve that end. Their campaign has been very successful in this regard and is without doubt one of the opposition's finest tools. It has been said that the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity but if you look at the number of Christians that were in Turkey and the Middle East prior to the invasion of Islam and the number subsequent to that event. There aren't many that stand against the tide.

 

I don't think you can blame people for hiding their faith against that type of persecution and it is understandable for believers to go underground with their faith in the face of certain violent opposition or the prospect of arrest and probable death. I don't think that keeping a low profile to ensure the future of the Church necessarily equates to poor discipleship either. You do what you must in obedience to the Savior and as with the disciples of Jesus the purposes of Jesus Christ will be served and at times we will pay for our faith with our lives but that will be in God's Grace and His good time.

 

Now to the deception. The deception here is to say that a person who is brought to faith by believing that Jesus of Nazareth bore their sins on the cross and paid their sin debt with His broken body and shed blood, will not make a good disciple. In fact the very opposite is the case and such a person will eventually make a very effective disciple.

 

In fact as Acts chapter four and verses ten through twelve says: "…10then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” 

That there is much to discipleship and a lot to learn as a Christian about becoming a successful evangelist. Of this there is no doubt. I would counsel against listening to anyone who attempts to denigrate the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It is the only name by which we can be saved and as the scripture says "There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

 

Finally, it takes a significant period of time to learn the basics of being a Christian and to gain a knowledge of the word, doctrine and evangelistic prowess. It someone was converted last week and persecuted this week then they will literally be doing what Jesus instructed His disciples to do. In the face of little knowledge and a dearth of experience they would receive their guidance from the Holy Spirit Himself. Jesus said don't worry what you will say when you stand before them for the Holy Spirit will give you the words to say.

 

Mark chapter thirteen verse eleven "And when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time; for you are not the ones speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit."