DOES THE BIBLE REALLY SAY ....

INTRODUCTORY MEDITATION

The shepherds on the hill outside Bethlehem were told that the coming of Jesus Christ into the world was good news of great joy, a message of peace with God (Luke 2:8-14).

Were they to look at the church today those same shepherds, and the angels who brought the message, might well wonder if they were part of the biggest hoax in history. They might well wonder if they, like the false prophets of Jeremiah’s era, were proclaiming ‘peace, peace’ when there is no peace (Jeremiah 8:11).

Paul told the Roman Christians that there was no condemnation for those who are ‘in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1). Yet today many Christians live with a heavy burden of condemnation as preachers and teachers, writers and biographers, peddle a Christianity in which a guilt-free relationship with God seems possible only for the spiritual elite; in which on-going acceptance with God is seen to be dependant on our level of personal spirituality; and in which the cross of Jesus Christ is so apparently ineffective for my present peace with God that the accusations of the scornful seem quite correct: that Christianity is ‘pie in the sky when you die’. Nothing more, nothing but a terrible struggle to maintain it.

It would appear that over a number of generations subtle changes have been made to the church’s message. The cumulative result of these changes is the effective loss of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So gradual and subtle have these changes been that for the most part the church doesn't seem to have noticed the change. Corporately and individually it assumes that its message is Biblical. This series of meditations is an attempt to identify perceptions and assumptions within the church, and in those who have left the church in despair, that have undermined, and are undermining, the Gospel. It challenges the reader to honestly face and answer the question: does the Bible really say the things that people within the church are saying?

If the Bible doesn’t really say what some within the church assume to be Biblical it is the responsibility of the church, both corporately and individually, to do its utmost to get rid of non-Biblical assumptions, perceptions and expectations.

The contents of this series may produce a negative reaction in some people. Human beings do not like to have their perceptions and traditions disturbed. When a change of our thinking is needed, that change is never easy.

But let us all remember that it is the truth that sets us free (John 8:32). Not unity. Not tradition. Not maintaining the status quo. Jesus came to ‘proclaim freedom for the prisoners ...to release the oppressed’ (Luke 4:18b). Paul fought for the freedom for which Christ set us free. He told the Galatian believers ‘do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery’ (Galatians 5:1). He told the Colossian believers ‘see to it that no one takes you captive ...’ (Colossians 2:8), ‘do not let anyone judge you ...’ (2:16), ‘do not let anyone ... disqualify you’ (2:18).

It is time for individuals within the church to break free. Not to sin, but to the freedom from condemnation and guilt that the Gospel promises. To the freedom of peace with God. To joy unspeakable in the presence of God and of each other.

I trust over the coming weeks that these meditations will help you to know the peace with God of which Paul wrote in Romans 5:1, and out of that peace to confidently rejoice in God, regardless of any suffering that might colour your life at the moment (Romans 5:2, 3, 11).