The Wound

 "Having an appearance of godliness, but denying its power".       2 Timothy 3:5.

The ascension of disobedience is a very real hardship - we don't have to look very far around to see how this so readily freezes out even what Paul defines as 'natural affection' (normal care and concern for each other). In the secular realm, it has become commonplace to not only criticise but to entirely expel and ostracise anyone and everyone who does not comply with the acceptable narrative of the day - a generation of a "merciless cauldron of blamers", as one minister put it.

We would hope that this emptying of mercy would be something foreign to the church, but what happens when "religion" is employed in such a fashion that certain scruples and beliefs cripple the very nature of the faith in respects to how it is understood and practiced.

In my last entry here, I touched on how a notion of Christianity views itself as correct, even when it is comparing itself with the actual revelation of God in Christ as witnessed by scripture.

It is imperative to understand both the implicit meaning of such 'adjustments' and the actual truth that scripture is expounding, so, in the case I raised last time, the essential maxim that establishes our redemption is the ramifications of Christ's incarnation (birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension) as beautifully noted here by Athanasius:

"not that we might become such as the Father, for to become so is impossible for us creatures, who have been brought out of nothing... there is only one true Son by nature, true and only begotten, hence we become sons, not as He in nature and truth, but according to the grace of Him that calls, and though we are men from the dust of the earth, yet we are referred to as 'gods', not as the true God or His Word, but as he has God who has been given such grace" (Against the Arians 3.25.19).

When we allow 'other' notions to arise which effectively undermine and thereby replace such truth, we find the faith readily slipping into alternative views of God's revelation and the ramifications of this, and this leads us away from Christ's true work into a cul-de-sac of error.

Which brings me to the issue of the trouble of 'weaker brother' theology, as spoken of in Romans 14.

Dr R C Sproul provides a helpful examination on the general themes of this here, and touches on when it is charitable to accommodate the needs of an individual's troubled conscience and when it is essential to renounce such troubles when they threaten the very nature of faith and truth.

These past two years have provided us of a very clear application of 'weaker' belief and practice in the main body of the majority of churches. By succumbing to these 'necessary' requirements, the church closed its doors - quite literally in most cases - to the ministry and 'stronger' application of God's living word.

Think for a moment how anaemic our faith would be if God Himself had applied the same criteria in respect to our tragedy as we have employed in actively segregating ourselves because of 'health concerns'. Can we imagine where we would be if God had refused to engage with our fallen race because they had become entirely defined by the awfulness of sin? What consolation would there have been for our first parents if a fiery sword had merely expelled them, with no promise of help, and such a wrath had continually been evidenced by all throughout the ages. What if God had continually closed Himself off in the fashion that Christianity willingly chose to do in 2020 and 21?

As I've noted before, the premise for this was a poor reading and understanding of Romans 13, but the application is clearly an equally poor use of Romans 14, and these impoverished notions have not gone away - they have not even been questioned or challenged in most cases, hence the main body of believers remain exactly where they were before and during the crisis - woefully poor in their application of Gospel truth and, clearly, unprepared to do the necessary 'spade work' of repenting and reforming.

It is entirely because such folly reigns that Christians cannot grow to deepening their faith or provide a viable and radiant witness to the world of Christ's true saving Lordship in times of crisis.

There must be genuine reform if this is to be different in the future.