Practical?

So I was just wonder if anyone else thinks that the modern day church has over complicated the gospel and or over dumbed it down that its no longer practical?

To me in my search for truth and Christ Jesus' thoughts on all issues of life, it seems to me that Jesus' answers where never outrageous in terms of what He asked but always practical in use. Like Loving your Neighbor as yourself, This is by far one of the most over complicated verses I have seen yet its so easy if you peel away the religious mind set. If you think you should have at least one meal a day guess who else should have one meal a day?

Lately I have been asking myself practical questions that have helped me in the long run to keep a Christian mind set.

One that is now almost a clique is What would Jesus do?
I also ask Would I want help if I was in this same situation? If I answer yes then I can't ignore them or say wow that to bad.

I basically am tired of being the one that says oh that poor homeless guy as I drive by in my Air Conditioned car, with my radio blarring, my big mac and 44 oz coke in my hand scarfing it down. (I don't think I have ever done that in reality but wanted to make a point, I have driven by homeless people and didn't take the time to even talk to them or help out to my shame.) I live in a small town so we don't get a ton of homeless people but the fact remains that if we took sometime to think about others rather than ourselves, stopped making excuses and JUST DO what the bible says I think this world would be a little bit nicer of a place and Christ Jesus' name certianly would receive more Glory, Honor, and Praise.

God Bless,
Matthew

Matthew,

Our family would keep paperback New Testaments in our vehicle and if we felt lead to help a homeless person with food we'd simply pass along both so that it was done in Jesus' name. (This was in downtown Phoenix where traffic and safety made conversation difficult.)

The same New Testaments make good "treats" at halloween (along with some candy). How often does the world come knocking at your door?

You could also keep grocery bags with some canned food (and a can opener, perhaps!), health products, etc in your car to distribute spontaneously. Or as a planned "event" it's also a good way to minister as a family as it lets the chlidren see a practical application of the Gospel.

I can appreciate your desire for simplicity in life for it is the complexities of life that make the application of the Gospel complicated. But the beauty of the Scriptures is that they are timeless and apply to all walks of life regardless of the age or location in which we live.

Yours in Him,
Matthew

A thought just occured to me, but you could also keep a stash of Army made MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat). If it's good enough to fill the stomach of a soldier on the field, I'm sure it would be more than enough for somebody asking for food standing on the side of the road.

If the gospel is to be an influence; it
must be believed, lived, and practiced!!

A. B. SIMPSON

Matthew I think you have hit on the very heart of God for this hour. Love looks like something, I borrowed that phrase, but love it.

I read a book by Shane Clairborne recently, and even though I don't agree with everything he said, I did get revelation on the heart and love of God through much of it.

Him and some fellow believers were walking down the "bad" side of town and saw a prostitute shivering in the cold and weeping. They spoke kindly to her and then walked on. Then they were convicted because they had an empty bed at their community living house, so they went back and took her home. She ate, showered, and slept in a warm bed for the night.

The next morning she told them that she had known the joy of walking with the Lord once, and they had reminded her of it, and now she was going to get her life right. Several weeks later she returned all aglow with the light of the Lord and big thanks of her lips for them representing Jesus to her in love.

Love looks like something.

I know some would say that could be very dangerous, yes it could, so what. If we didn't have so much "precious stuff" we would have nothing to protect, if they kill us, we see Jesus sooner. I know we need to exercise wisdom and pray for discernment, but fear should never be a part of our lives. We will not die one moment before our time. We have a course to finish.

You are on the right track Matthew. God is returning His people to live the sermon on the mount. Those are the words straight from Jesus' mouth on how we should live. Now is the time dear brother.

Those are some great suggestions I will have to see what I can do in terms of getting those things.

I am glad I am not the only one that sees the inconsistancy. We see stuff that makes Christianity all about those that accept Christ instead of remaining and staying on Christ. It always is about How can I be blessed or what can I get out of God, the worst part is, is that people only seem to look for physical blessing rather than Spiritual blessings such as revelations of God.

My thing is, is I really want to do what the bible says and I found that the Gospel has nothing to do with What do I get or how can I be blessed, but How can I bless Christ Jesus through blessing my neighbor.

So I was just wonder if anyone else thinks that the modern day church has over complicated the gospel and or over dumbed it down that its no longer practical?

Matthew: I am really not so sure that dumbing down and overcomplicating is the issue. The gospel is meant to transform every aspect of our lives. I think many people see the gospel as a part of their lives, the "God" part of their lives. It is as if their lives can be pictured as a circle labeled "me" with spokes radiating outward, each with a small circle with a label on it indicative of a part of "my life". One of those small circles is labeled "Christianity" and we visit that circle on occasion just as we might go to our child's soccer game or occasionally spend time with our parents.

What God desires to do is transform our lives so that we are no longer our own. As though my life is a large circle labeled "dead to self and alive unto God" and within that circle lay all the other various parts of my life. I am just as much a sold out believer who has been transformed by Christ when I am playing a round of golf or swinging a hammer or mowing my grass as I am when I am at "church". The God-life is to be lived out in me in every thing I do.

This is extremely practical. It means I am listening to God's voice and obeying Him in every aspect of my life. So ministering to others is a natural outflow of my life in whatever I do. I enjoy discussing scripture with brothers and sisters in Christ in SI, but if studying the word and discussing it is all there is to my walk with God, I have missed the point. I AM a Christian. It is my identity. Christ in me is reality.

Aww Brother Travis THANK YOU for those words beyond true and hits the nail on the head as to what I was trying to get at but your words seem better than mine and I am okay with that :)

There is a thread that talks about Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

To my understanding Baptise can mean immersed when one is immersed they themselves can't be seen, so be to immersed in the Holy Spirit it is Christ Jesus being seen rather than ourselves. That kind of lifestyle is very practical I would most certianly agree.

So the question we should ask is, Is every sphere of my life immersed by Christ. You may be interested in listening to Keith Green's message Devotion or Devotions it touches on this very thing.

Eating, Sleeping, Playing, Studing, Working, Fellowshiping etc in Christ Jesus.

God Bless,
Matthew

So I was just wonder if anyone else thinks that the modern day church has over complicated the gospel and or over dumbed it down that its no longer practical?

YES! I agree.

Sometimes when I see, hear people wrangling with words and their meanings, I would like to ask these people to show this text to a child with decent comprehension skills to tell them what is meant by this text!

As one studies the WORD we see how God spoke clearly, briefly and to the point. He did not speak in riddles...methinks we do well to take lessons from the WORD on how we communicate with others!

(Did not read all the other responses to this thread - this laptop is SLOW in loading .... I have no idea what others are saying. But I do think you asked an important question. I have often thought of this as well - just never spoke of it much until now.)