The church I attend has gotten the reputation of being heavily involved in outreach ministry. We are a mid-size congregation blessed with a very generous membership and a have a Pastor whose spiritual leadership leads us outside these four walls. There is a dirty little secret within these walls that this congregation has discovered and it is Christianity’s best keep secret.

Christians aren’t perfect by any means and their behavior often influences how non-believers see us and the Church. Not all people who attend church are “Saved” and for many the term “saved” is still a mystery within their heart and mind. Here in this country for most of us our Church is located close to where we live, heated in the winter and air-conditioned in the summer. The pews are padded, the sanctuary well lit and now days many have the newest of visual aids available to enhance our worship experience. Many times services are planned and activities scheduled around community activities. Churches are always looking for ways to “serve the community” which in church talk means, doing things that create “community awareness” of our church, reach out and of course add to the membership roll. No I am not down on Church. There is no better place to be in this world today but that dirty little secret lies outside these walls.

The secret can be found in the neighborhoods we don’t visit, the back lots, ally -ways and other places we fear to go. To us we dismiss these people as the lost souls who need to repent and know Jesus. But please dear Lord “Do I have to get to know them? Surely you don’t expect us to have them here at our church?” These are the lost or should we not be honest and admit they have lost out. For whatever the reason they are without jobs, a place to stay and in some cases they prefer to live this way. There are some whom are a little better off but struggle from day- to-day to just get by.

The dirty little secret is that Christianity is not found within the walls of any church, it is found where Jesus walked. Jesus ate with the tax collectors, walked among lepers, knelt in the dirt to talk to an adulteress, and forgave the criminal. His ministry was not within the walls, it was in his heart among the people he was sent to save. There were many things he could have told Peter that last time. Jesus simply said “feed my sheep.” Church is easy. Christianity is a dirty business or better put, a calling out to serve. Serving people, who don’t look like us, talk like us and sometimes doesn’t smell like us. It is nice and right to do, but sitting to pray, hear a sermon, sing a hymn won’t do what we are called to do. We have to get out of the pew and go among the humanity Jesus came to save and has commanded his Church to also do.

Mark 12: 17
I believe the church, that’s us, is being deceived into fighting a fight, debating an issue and squandering resources on a wrongly perceived notion that the church lacks relevance in today’s world. The church has become a social issue advocate and clearing house for accepting the unacceptable through the guise of being inclusive. Homosexuality, same sex marriage; have I got your attention yet? Those who wish to water down or soften or dance around scripture often chose to take scripture into the social issue arena. They tried to do just that with Jesus, Mark 12: 13-17. They agreed he taught God’s truth but wait a minute; what about this tax thing. I also love the scripture from Mark chapter 7.

Mark 7:6-8
New King James Version (NKJV)
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men…..

It is time that we as the Church recognize that the issues listed above are social issues that can be debated in that arena but as God’s people they are not debatable in the faith and belief of His Church. From a layman’s view “that dog won’t hunt here.” One only has to read The Book of Leviticus to find their selves challenged and to some extent, uncomfortable. The book calls upon the people to constantly distinguish between the holy and the profane and between the unclean and the clean. Christians often pull one or two scriptures from this book to defend a view or doctrine. Chapters 17-26:4 are often referred to as the Holiness Code and this is the subject of today’s view. “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19: 2) In Chapter 18: 1-30 we find the instructions for sexual behavior. Verse 22 is often quoted when the subject of homosexuality or other sexual practices are discussed. Only in some of the newer bible translations will you find that word (homosexuality) used.

The scripture is plain and to the point. Leviticus 18:22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. There are sixteen verses preceding this one of other forms of sexual behavior that is in God’s eyes wrong. These acts compromise our ability to live a holy life as God has instructed us to do. “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” If the debate is about living a holy life and whether homosexuality and same sex marriage can be a part of that, well the answer is no.

And Jesus answered and said to them, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” These issues belong to Caesar. Taking the Gospel to the world, telling all about the saving grace of Jesus Christ is the calling of all Christians and is best done by living a holy life because we belong to Him and he has commanded we do so.

This is one of those which came first things, the chicken or the egg. Is it “my faith is such that I believe” or is it “I believe because I have faith.” As a Christian have you been persuaded to believe the truths of religion and from that comes a certainty which becomes your faith? Paul I am sure found that faith was something you acquired and there would be events in our lives that often persuaded us to take that road of faith. Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39 …”For I am persuaded , that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present , nor things to come ,Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Webster puts it this way, “To believe in, is to hold as the object of faith. “Ye believe in God, believe also in me.” To believe on, is to trust, to place full confidence in, to rest upon with faith.” You see you can find a little religion even in the dictionary.

In theology, to believe sometimes expresses a mere assent of the understanding to the truths of the gospel; as in the case of Simon. When Simon saw the spirit was given when the apostles laid their hands on people he wanted to “buy that power.” Could it be that Websters got it right? ” To believe on, is to trust, to place full confidence in, to rest upon with faith.” Faith begins when we are able to trust, to place full confidence in, and to rest upon the certainty of God’s promises to us.

I have always wanted to write and the last couple of years WordPress has given me that opportunity. I have no degree on the wall from any school of journalistic note and spelling and grammar are certainty not my strong points. I would have to say that Mr. Gates has been my saving grace and enthusiastic supporter. I should also thank the folks at Dell and the many support programs that allow me to write anything. It has been said that good writers write about things they know about, I have however never let that hold me back. I have written a book, a western. I like to think of it as a poor man’s Lonesome Dove. You won’t find it in the stores, never got that far but it is the first thing I ever started that I finished and for that reason I think it is a good read.

I have changed the blog name and boldly decided to once again write about something I don’t know about, well not as much as I should. My generation, I will be 70 this summer, has seen a great deal of change as did my parents. I could have said the world is changing but everyone says that and it is a fact that proves itself each time a new day begins. So what’s the hook here? The Gospel…for over 2000 years the content of the message has not changed. It has been preached, studied and debated and written in many different translations but the content has never changed. I think maybe because you cannot rewrite the truth. You see the truth is that to believe is as Mr. Webster says….

“In popular use and familiar discourse, to believe often expresses an opinion in a vague manner, without a very exact estimate of evidence, noting a mere preponderance of opinion, and is nearly equivalent to think or suppose..”

I hope you will join me as I move on from believing to faith through “a layman’s view of the Gospel”