Ezekiel 22:23-30
Why
Churches Split
A Warning to
Christians
-
- 22:23
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
-
- 24 Son of man, say
unto her, Thou art the land that is not
cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of
indignation.
-
- 25 There is a
conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof,
like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have
devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and
precious things; they have made her many widows
in the midst thereof.
-
- 26 Her priests have
violated my law, and have profaned mine holy
things: they have put no difference between the
holy and profane, neither have they shewed
difference between the unclean and the clean,
and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I
am profaned among them.
-
- 27 Her princes in the
midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey,
to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get
dishonest gain.
-
- 28 And her prophets
have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing
vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying,
Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not
spoken.
-
- 29 The people of the
land have used oppression, and exercised
robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea,
they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
-
- 30 And I sought for a
man among them, that should make up the hedge,
and stand in the gap before me for the land,
that I should not destroy it: but I found
none.
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way that we think, and the way that we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
A Warning to
Christians
This passage really grabbed
my attention with the large (and increasing) number
of churches splitting in recent years.
Not very long ago, a
compelling sermon was giving by Rev. Coyt Auten, an
84 year old pastor who has preached the gospel for
over 50 years!
So, when he speaks, I pay
extra attention.
I purposefully used verses
from the King James Bible today because the Bible
itself was a part of the message given by Rev.
Auten.
Let's get right to the crux
of this message and the warning it gives to us
today as Christians and as a church.
First, there are four
"P's" in these verses. They are ...
- Prophets
- Priests
- Princes
- People
Let's translate into today's
definitions:
- Prophets =
Preachers
- Priests = Us - as
Christians in the pews
- Princes = Politicians and
Government Officials
- People = End
results
Preachers
Some preachers today are
concentrating their message more on the method
rather than the results.
They preach to build
themselves up instead of giving the people God's
message. The message is more about what other
people are doing and it's easy to find plenty of
people (other Christians) to point a finger
to.
And, when you say "look
yonder", it helps to keep people from looking
here.
Why Churches
Divide
Divisions of churches have
happened sometimes over minute, simple things such
as where to place the piano or whether a guitar
should be played in church at all.
Living in the south a
"big" issue in the churches here is whether
the King James or the NIV Bible is
the true Word of God.
Some Christian churches
cannot seem to get past this obstacle when a
mention of bringing Christians together for one
goal is proposed. My heart cries out to God when
this happens.
I frequently use the New
American Standard Bible for a resource in these
study lessons. It is easier for people to
understand if they haven't been in church since
childhood.
Some people might take issue
with my using this translation. I am not able to
control what others think of me. I can only say I
write these articles for two reasons. One, to force
myself to study the Bible on a regular basis and
two, to hopefully reach someone on the Internet who
doesn't know about the life giving experience of
knowing Jesus.
No matter which translation
we use, the important thing is our total belief
that Jesus Christ came to live among us, died for
our sins and rose again on the third day so that we
might be saved from eternal death.
I pray that the pastors of
churches will realize that worshiping God and
bringing others to Christ is the single most
important responsibility they will ever
have.
Rev. Auten says that he still
gets nervous before he preaches even after 50 years
because of the tremendous responsibility he has as
a pastor. After all, lives and souls are at
stake!
Priests
Priest (us) continue to be
confused by mixed messages and the bickering among
the preachers which has stopped or slowed the
movement of the church of Jesus Christ many times
before.
A movement in the northern
region of the USA was stopped because of an
argument about whether the piano was to be placed
beside the stage or on the stage itself. A major
religious issue, don't you think?
We get confused when we are
caught up in the dicision making process of the
church. I personally remember an incident where a
church member stormed across a muddy field and
refused to wipe his feet at the church door just
because the parking lot was not finished in a
timely manner. Silly,
isn't it?
Well yes, but to those
involved these type incidents cause friction
between those who would otherwise consider
themselves brothers and sisters in Christ and could
cause yet another church to fall in this fragile
society.
Princes
Do you believe most
politicians are honest people?
I can hear you laughing from
here but truthfully it is very difficult to get
elected today if you are a Christian.
I once heard a (well known)
distinguished news anchor who was a guest on a
nationwide TV show say that he was tired of having
a "goody goody" president, referring to President
Bush at the time because of his Christianity and
moral beliefs.
One politician once stated
that he could get any bill passed in Congress at
any time just by taking a barrel of whiskey and
$1,000. with him on voting day. Does
this sound plausible?
Pause
I am pausing to recap these
three issues;
- preachers are bickering
over everything from the Bible translation and
version used in churches to the way a service is
held to the type music played to worship
God
- We as Christians
(priests) are becoming more and more confused by
these mixed messages and decide to point fingers
at others not following the "plank" rule. Quick
to judge others but slow in judging
ourselves.
- Many politicians are
still dishonest and run smear campaigns during
election time based upon what the other guy has
done wrong rather than what they can do for this
country.
Now we come to the last
"P".
The people
People, Christians and
non-Christians are all observing what is going on
in the churches; taking in the arguments and petty
differences among the preachers and the
priests.
Have you wondered why our
churches in the USA are shrinking each year?
Did you know that the good
'ole USA is fast becoming the largest foreign
mission field in the world which means that other
countries are sending missionaries here? Strange
but true.
As Christians it is our job
to : love God; love our neighbor; and make new
disciples. But, in light
of the endless bickering, when we approach a
non-Christian with the message of how they can
benefit and find joy from the Christian life, their
reply is many times...
"Why should I join you.
I'm better off than you are!"
This is the
warning:
First, Christianity will
continue with or without us. But, if we want to
grow as a church in our own area we had better make
a commitment to come together as children of God,
cry out for Him to help us get over becoming like
the Pharisees, and do what God has called us to
do.
There is but one God and one
Jesus Christ. He is still here, no matter what we
do. He is the light and the way. Please pray for
our churches to become one again in the name of
Jesus Christ.
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Verses for this Christian study lesson are
from King James Bible
Another Lesson for Bible
Study
Genesis
49:1-33
- Jacob
Blesses His Family
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