Churchianity

"NOW TO THE KING ETERNAL, IMMORTAL," INVISIBLE, THE ONLY GOD, BE HONOR AND GLORY "

"FOREVER AND EVER. AMEN. I TIMOTHY 1:17"

It's understood by the believer that Christ should "always "be the center of "ALL" of our affections. But does He "really" hold the preeminence in our hearts that He rightly deserves? How often I fall into the trap of being busy with religious endeavors while failing to set my heart singularly upon Him. How many snares I would avoid if I faithfully remembered to do this.

Our spiritual pursuits may have all the outward appearances of being righteous, yet in them we can be deviously diverted from our pure devotion to Christ. What a clever device this is in the devil's hands! Even blogging about Christ can easily become little more than a self imposed duty, or worse yet, a vehicle for pride.

Yesterday our local church celebrated it's first worship service that was open to the public. This is the second time Robert and I have been involved in a new church plant and indeed, it is joyous occasion! The months of sweet fellowship, prayer and preparation were exciting as we planned to go forth as ambassadors for Christ in our community. Having done this before, I am also aware of how important it is to guard our affections because the "honeymoon" will tend to wear off as we begin to settle into the daily routine of serving Christ within the local body. Church history has proven this fact many times over.

We must strive to remain ardent in our personal affections for Christ lest we slip into the delusions of Churchianity. The difference between the words "God" and "good" is the addition of just one extra little letter. Adding anything to the purity of worship for our Lord, even if it is something "good", can quickly set us on a path leading us away from Him. C.S. Lewis wrote of the devilish effectiveness of such slight diversions in his brilliant work "The Screwtape Letters

"MY DEAR WORMWOOD,"

"The real trouble about the set your patient is living in is that it is merely Christian. They all have individual interests, of course, but the bond remains mere Christianity. What we want, if men become Christians at all, is to keep them in the state of mind I call "CHRISTIANITY AND". You know-Christianity and the Crisis, Christianity and the New Psychology, Christianity and the New Order, Christianity and Faith Healing, Christianity and Psychical Research, Christianity and Vegetarianism, Christianity and Spelling Reform. If they must be Christians let them at least be Christians with a difference. SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FAITH ITSELF SOME FASHION WITH A CHRISTIAN COLOURING. WORK ON THEIR HORROR OF THE SAME OLD THING."(1)" Those who are in "our" theological camp might want to be on guard for becoming more enamored with the "correctness" of our theology than with the "Christ" of our theology, ie: "Christianity" and" the New Reformation" or "Christianity "and" Discernment", Christianity "and "Calvinism" etc. We do, of course, understand that sound theology and spiritual discernment is essential, but knowledge by itself can become a god if it is not applied correctly to the soul. The Lord Jesus Christ alone must reign supreme in our hearts above all things, as we constantly cast ourselves at His feet.

Today's devotional by Samuel Rutherford reminded me of this:

"Christ's love is so kingly, that it will not wait until tomorrow, it must have a throne all alone in your soul. It is our folly to divide our narrow and little love... Lay your soul and your weights upon God; make him your only and best-beloved. Your errand in this life is to make sure an eternity of glory for your soul, and to match your soul with Christ. Your love, if it could be more than all the love of angels in one, would be Christ's due." (2)"

(1) Screwtape Letters; CS Lewis XXV

(2) Voices of the Past: pg 264 : Samuel Rutherford, "The Loveliness of Christ"

Origin: religion-events.blogspot.com