Members of my church would (hopefully, anyway! LOL) agree that if someone willfully continues to lust, they are in danger of throwing away their salvation. Or if they willfully continue to steal. Or if they continue to ignore the plights of the poor and oppressed...
Wait a minute...actually, they wouldn't agree on that last one, would they? And why not?
I believe it's because of how and what we have -- and have not -- been taught over the years. It's a simple matter of training and conditioning.
It's not that we haven't read Scriptures like Hosea 12:6, Amos 5:15, Matthew 12:18, or Luke 11:42 (though, if we're being totally honest, OT verses are read FAR less frequently than NT); it's that we gloss over them. All organizations have their focal points and we have been no exception. We have all been asked countless times questions like
- How are your Quiet Times?
- How's your purity?
- How's your giving (i.e., money to the church)?
- Have you "shared your faith" today?
Let's face it: our historical focal point boils down to growing the church (we call it other things, like "making disciples," but at the end of the day....). When was the last time someone asked you about your serving the poor or working for justice??
Being a true Christian boils down to one thing, and it's not What Would Jesus Do? We KNOW what Jesus would do: He would do whatever God wanted Him to (Luke 22:42)! So the question -- what it's all about -- is this: What does God want? And not just some of His will (what humans in temporary leadership positions choose to focus on), all of it!
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“Which of the two did what his father wanted?”
“The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him."
- Matthew 21:31-32
