The Tragedy of the Christian Life
You will learn to stand alone
I’m not Catholic, nor am I Orthodox. I would fall under Protestant or Evangelical, and specifically, I’ve been baptized Pentecostal twice and Charismatic once. I consider myself Non-Denominational, a “non-category” of Christian. By this, we simply mean to say that we follow Jesus above all else and at all cost. It’s like being an Independent in the United States’ political system.
The cost is high to follow Jesus. Maybe too high to bare for most people. The writings of the Apostle Paul in the new testament stand out to me in this way.
9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, [f]both to angels and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to [g]conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
—1 Corinthians 4:9-13 NASB1995, emphasis added
If the world hates you, then you are destined to be treated like trash by the world, and if you surround yourself with worldly/carnal Christians alongside the godless heathen, they are destined to hate you and treat you like this. This is the price of following Jesus: you will often find yourself alone, hated, and despised while all the while doing the right thing. Therefore, if you see Christians being treated well en masse by the culture, you have to wonder why they aren’t following the pattern laid out by the Apostle Paul and, before him, by our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
The world hated Jesus so much that they attempted to murder him multiple times, only succeeding on the attempt that the Father had appointed. Apostle Paul gave his life confronting the principalities at the head of the Roman government in Rome, allowing them to remove his crown so that he could receive a crown from the Most High. The religious and political authorities in Jesus’ time despised their Messiah and his sent-ones.
I’m not a Papist, and I don’t hate Catholics; however, Pope Leo is the perfect example of the opposite of Christ Jesus and the Apostle Paul (and the other Apostles). The world loves him. The world loved Pope Francis as well.
This week, Trump posted an ill-advised photo of himself in similar dress as Jesus, and he had the decency to delete it, saying that he thought it was of himself healing the nation as a doctor. Regardless of that faux-pas, he, a man hated by the world, was able to correct his error. Within the next 24 hours, the Pope of a segment of the Christian faith, who opposes Trump’s tactics in the middle east, posts about how Christians and Muslims can share in Communion in Algeria (a country that bans Christian evangelism). He also created a Muslim prayer room in the Vatican Apostolic Library. He also sits in a viper’s pit.
He is also loved by the world. How odd?
Should not the holy man seated at the highest point of the hierarchy of a branch of Christianity be hated by the world?
And why should a worldly man or baby Christian (depending on your interpretation of him), like Donald Trump, be reviled continually by the world instead?
The pattern is overt and obvious, but this isn’t just Pope Leo or Pope Francis before he passed. I wish it were.
Many evangelical protestant pastors and teachers are also loved by the world, and they are treated by royalty by many Christians. I am not against the Church accumulating wealth especially when it’s used by leaders like Franklin Graham in Samaritan’s Purse to feed the poor around the world. The leaders that I am talking about store up wealth for themselves. They become defined by their money. They preach constantly on tithing every Sunday. They have been corrupted, but in a different way than the Pope.
The reason that I will not list their names as opposed to the Pope is because there are too many with various levels of influence in the world while the singular figure of the Pope is well-known. Please feel free to list those you want in the comments if you feel that me not listing them is unfair.
Many Charismatic/Pentecostal enclaves have been perverted by the desire to protect their own image. Bethel Church recently publicly had its leaders repent of this to which I am grateful. After it was discovered that Shawn Bolz (who has his own ministry) has been leading a perverse life behind the scenes and abusing his own people, Bethel chose to hide their disconnect from his ministry rather than to call it out publicly and discourage their people from associating with him. I name them because they acknowledged it via repentance (and I really love them and am happy they repented—especially Bill Johnson). However, why did they stumble in this way in the first place?
The Assemblies of God has become much more like a business than a church. It’s also forgotten many of its founding doctrines (like the ministry of casting out demons). It also has many archaic rules and regulations that strangle the flow of the Spirit, which it’s founders would have abhorred. How did something that arose out of the freedom of early 20th century revivals end up in such a place?
What causes this perversion?
Of course as Christians we all know what causes it (sin), yet it continues to take hold. Apparently, being able to name the source isn’t enough to stop it from corrupting you. I am also attached to the Prophetic “movement” in some ways, and I believe in prophecy. That does not include the “prophets for hire” or the “prophets for platforms” movement. Kevin Zadai started calling the “prophetic movement” the aptly criticized “pathetic movement” though he also believes in prophecy. Why is it that the narrow path seems so difficult? Why are so many led into promoting their own name and ministry over the ways of Jesus?
I could stay brokenhearted over this, or I can simply acknowledge that perversion and corruption always seems to worm its way into hierarchies, large or small. Compromise begins to appear over time. People begin to function less like people and more like automatons or cells in the institution. They become antibodies to deflect criticism of the entity they are serving.
“Protect the institution at all costs” slowly overtakes “serve Jesus at all costs.”
It’s such a small change if you think about it. After all, your institution represents Jesus in the Earth, so really, you are right to protect it as if it’s Christ himself, right?
The heresy is small, but it takes shape easily under the guise of doing the right thing. But once there is an opening, the enemy will always exploit it. That small door left open to devils will soon be inviting them in by droves, tearing at the very fabric of the defining beliefs of your favorite Christian institution. Before you know it, your favorite Christian institution is suddenly ineffective, broken, and setting the stage for the Anti-Christ. How can a Pro-Christ institution become Anti-Christ?
The answer is simple: one “small” compromise at a time.
Before you know it, your Christian ministry displaying the gifts of the Spirit is now robbing God’s people every Sunday. I say this as a tither by the way. Every month, I give 10% of my gross income to a ministry or ministries of my choosing, but it’s not hard to see that leaders in the body of Christ are robbing so many people. People desperately hoping that Jesus moves for them, giving their money to treacherous institutions strangling Father God’s movement in the Earth.
So the question isn’t “which institution is the least corrupted?”
The question is “how can I steward my faith when leaders are so easily corrupted?”
The reason that we have a personal relationship with Jesus is so that we can go directly to the Father through His shed blood at any time.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
—1 Timothy 2:5 NASB1995
We do not get to God through sacraments, though He can use those. We do not even get to God through prayer and fasting or worship. We get to Father God through Jesus alone, and we use these acts of worship as a catalyst for our connection to Him.
King David did it best…
6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were [a]embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
—1 Samuel 30:6 NASB 1995
He encouraged himself in the Lord his God. We must all do the same on this narrow way in which we walk.
The tragedy of the Christian life is that you will spend some time feeling alone, walking alone, and betrayed or driven out, but through this, you will learn to stand in Christ alone and without need of an outside mediator.
And, because He commanded it so saying, “it is not good for man to be alone”(Genesis 2:18), you will find that eventually you will be led by the Spirit to the right fellow believers once again, united through Jesus Christ of Nazareth, overthrowing compromise to promote the true Faith. But until then, you must remember that God will never leave you nor forsake you as you walk on His narrow way.
8 The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
—Deuteronomy 31:8 NASB1995