The Foundation of Our Faith and Practice

There once was a man who had some terrible cracks forming in the walls of his upstairs bedroom. He called various contractors, who repaired the cracks, but the repairs would only last a few months and the cracks would reappear. He was very angry about the faulty workmanship and finally called a contractor that was supposed to be the best around. He explained the situation and the contractor arrived and asked to see the door to the basement. The home owner was convinced that he should go upstairs and look at the wall in the bedroom—after all that was where the cracks were. The contractor insisted on looking in the basement first and quickly spotted damage to the foundation of the house. It was the damage to the foundation that had allowed the cracks to form in the bedroom walls. When the foundation was repaired, the cracks in the bedroom stopped occurring.

It is clear that there are many cracks in the belief systems of many people in our world today. Many have accepted bizarre beliefs about reincarnation, haunting ghosts and “channeling” dead people. With such strange beliefs it is understandable how so many “cracks” can occur in so many lives. The foundation of their belief system is built on something other the Word of God.

One foundation many build upon is tradition. That is, they believe a certain thing because it was passed on to them through a relative or a teacher or even a church. Many belief systems are like this. That is way some people believe they need to take the Lord’s Supper in order to be saved, they need to confess to a priest to have their sins forgiven, or they need to eat certain foods in order to be right with God. They believe it because it has been accepted as truth based on human tradition.

Some build on the faulty foundation of someone’s experience. Many cults are built on some beloved spiritual leader’s experience. This leader claims to have had a vision or an out of body experience of some kind. He has received a new revelation from God, he claims. Followers are amazed at the new teaching and are drawn in. The people will build their belief system upon this charismatic leader’s experience, rejecting the concerns of family members and friends.

Others build their belief system on their own personal hodgepodge beliefs that they have gotten from Oprah, Dr. Phil, the parts of the Bible that they like and maybe a little something they heard from a yoga instructor. They feel proud of their sophisticated system that makes them feel good about themselves, while convincing themselves they are extremely spiritual and in tune with God. They will claim to be close with God and confident that they have discovered the spiritual path that is right for them.

Of course Satan loves it when people build their beliefs upon anything other than the Bible. They are easily deceived into thinking that they are spiritually safe and secure, when, in reality, they have been duped by the father of all lies. All false belief systems are of the evil one. We must not be deceived. Every spiritual teaching must be based on holy, inspired Scripture. Everything else will only bring collapse when the wind and the rain of life begin to descend.

The Heart of the Human Problem

I heard about a little girl who got into a terrible argument with her younger brother. Her mother rushed into the room to stop the fight with great alarm. “How could you let the devil trick you into calling your brother names and spitting on him?” asked the mother. The little girl, still not quite repentant said, “The devil made me call him names, but spitting on him was my idea!”

You may have heard the saying, “The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart.” In our society we see problems that are much more serious than spitting on your little brother. To some it may sound too simplistic to say that the problem is a spiritual heart issue, but that is exactly what it is. In Romans chapter one, the Bible explains that the terrible consequence of refusing to respond to God and His truth is spiritual darkness; further refusal to acknowledge God results in a society that embraces immorality, violence and hatred.

As Christians we have a tremendous responsibility to represent and share God’s light to our dark world. It would be easy to throw up our hands and say that it is too late to make a difference, but God is able to bring beauty for ashes and hope from hopelessness. He can change hearts!

Priorities in the Church

I heard about a happily married couple who had certain struggles because old Aunt Emma showed up at their door one day needing a place to stay. Emma was loud and demanding, and generally ungrateful. The couple held back their feelings because Aunt Emma was family; and besides, Emma could really lay on the guilt trip any time there seemed to be any hesitation in meeting her many needs.

After seven long years, Aunt Emma died. On the way home from the funeral the husband said, “You know dear, if I did not love you so much, I don’t think I would have put up with your Aunt Emma all these years.” The wife looked at her husband in total disbelief and said, “My Aunt Emma? I thought she was your Aunt Emma!”

I have noted that some times churches can be bamboozled by the enemy into accepting responsibilities that are really not theirs. God has created and designed the church to do three basic things: Worship God, Build up Believers and Share Christ with a lost world.

Because we are people committed to being loving and compassionate, we can sometimes be drawn toward activities and causes that are very good, but may be a distraction from the real priorities of the church. We are a people of conviction and moral standards, but we need to be cautious that we are not sidetracked into social or political activism when the lost are dying without hope. If we are not careful, even our desire for personal holiness can take us down a path of legalism, causing us to neglect the Great Commission.

Yes, we must remember to be salt and light to the world, but we must also remember why.