Nonplussed By A 'Christian' On Google+

I'm well aware of what Jesus taught us in the "Parable of the Sower" let alone what the Bible tells us about the existence and reality of the "goats," "tares," and "false" within Christianity.

Even so, that doesn't mean it's any easier to accept when it applies to someone you know and care about. In the previous post, I highlighted how I just learned that a friend has become an Agnostic. Earlier today, I noticed how prevalent the "Cult of Liberalism" (to borrow a phrase from Walter Martin) really is within Contemporary Christianity.

This is what another "Christian" I know and care about wrote on his Google+ page today...

Make it a good Friday, Google+!

1 Corinthians 10:23-24, 31 (NIV) "I have the right to do anything," you say—but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. No one should seek their own good, but the good of others. [...] So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

You non-religious types can just ignore the last sentence, because the rest is still solid advice.

Point is, do something good today, do something constructive. For someone else. Happy Friday, everybody!

[*emphasis mine]

Right. "Ignore God" is GREAT ADVICE from another so-called "Christian" who is commanded by Jesus to share the Gospel with "you non-religious types," isn't it?

After all, like this deceived individual went on to infer, the Bible is just a good book with "solid advice" on how to do good works for other people, and so it's really not the divinely inspired Word of God at all, which means we really don't need it to point us to our need for salvation from our sins through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross in our place, do we now?

How heart-breaking is all of this? In less than 24 hours, I have come face-to-face with bold, public professions of A LACK OF ORTHODOX FAITH from two different people who I know and care about.

My heart is burdened with this new knowledge, but I'm not entirely surprised. I met with this particular individual approximately a year ago as a concerned brother in Christ (Ephesians 4:15) to discuss his lack of confidence in the authority of the Scriptures, his decision to encourage others to read The Message, and his insistence that others believe what Rachel Held-Evans teaches as Biblical truth.

Others have confronted him about his affinity for Buddhist/Hindu writings that he believes are on par with the Word of God, but our efforts have fallen on deaf ears.

It's not funny at all, but I had to laugh at his opening line of "Make it a good Friday" since it's ironic in that he clearly doesn't understand the gravity of what and why we celebrate on Good Friday as Christians.

Just pick and choose the parts of the Bible that you like or the part you feel "is still solid advice" and ignore Jesus and God altogether.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I think Jesus Himself was pretty clear as was the divinely inspired Apostle Paul.

Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV) 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Galatians 1:10 (ESV) For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I will continue to pray that the Lord will open their eyes and ears to the truth about Him, His Word, and about themselves. I will be ready to shake the dust off my feet and move on too (Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5).

Please pray that if I'm put into another situation to discuss things with each individual, that His grace will help me to do so as a truth-loving apologist with one arm around their shoulder and the other turning through the pages of my Bible since I simply want to speak "the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) to them as opposed to being a Bible-thumping Westboro Baptist type who would rather beat them over the head with a closed Bible instead.

I know that through the Word we are born again even if they don't believe it. So, I will most certainly offer them a true confession of faith and preach Christ crucified for the sins of mankind because I know that the life of the Word is rooted in the life of the Christ!

For Jesus is the Word made flesh and He has been given over into death that you and I may never die. We live in Him as we live in His Church. Receiving the Word we receive Christ -- all by grace, all a gift, all in love (Ephesians 2:8-9).

In a Lutheran Layman's terms, we must be faithful confessors to the truth of God's Word...even if it means risking a friendship.

[NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with Lutheran doctrine -- in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word -- so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Thank you in advance for your time and help. Grace and peace to you and yours!]

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