Yesterday; I met a kind lady whom I presumed had very good intentions.  We had a deep conversation about God and the various religious practices of today’s churches. She asked my denomination and I laughed.

DOES IT REALLY MATTER?

Once I recovered from my belly laugh I told her I had been praying to about the next congregation that I would fellowship with. Once again; she looked puzzled. Then I shared with her that none of my beliefs lined up with any particular denomination.  She said; “Oh?  Why not?”

So I explained; “If they even believe part of what I believe; eventually there will be something from the other parts of my concepts carefully taken from the scriptures that would offend them.”

“So what do you do?  Not worship?”

I told her my whole life was an act of worship; and explained that  I worship with MANY congregations right now and I also do a lot of home-worship.

“I’ll just continue to do this until God shows me the right place.”

She sadly shook her head then asked me a question: “Does it really matter?”

My replay was “Only if you love Jesus.”

DEFINING THE BASICS

Again she looked very puzzled.

Then she asked “Well, if you can agree on the basic concepts such as belief in the Messiah and Salvation; then why should all the rest of the “stuff” get in the way and create division and keep you from fellowship with others?”

She had no clue how many times I had considered this question and pondered its less-than-obvious answers.

There was no way she could know how many times I had “tried out” this great-sounding theory.

I smiled at her and answered her with that scripture from Jesus that says “If you LOVE Me; keep my commandments.”

YOU CAN’T LEAVE OUT PARTS OF THE STORY

We continued to talk and discuss and I caught myself thinking we could become wonderful friends because I really liked her and loved her sincere love for God and her desire to share that with others; but I also knew we both would never agree on the point that you can’t get PART of Christianity right and then ignore the rest of the story.

Why would God have wasted His time writing those often looked-over and ignored and tossed-out portions of the bible when He gave the scriptures?

How could people following God continuously choose to ignore half of the bible year-after-year-after-year?

NOT A QUESTION OF SALVATION

It wasn’t that I didn’t think she was saved, or that her heart did not belong to God. I’m SURE she was saved; and I’m sure we will laugh at our conversation in eternity one day when we both are joyfully sitting at the feet of our Master together.

How I long for such a day!

Until then; God has given me a different path toward the same destination.

Sometimes I think God is waiting to see if we will take the easy detours; the one’s that make living in this world much easier to cope with.  I don’t think He wants us to stray from the path he has shown us.  Some people, for some reason are allowed grace here; but for some of us; God demands obedience.  I’m one of those.

I RECOGNIZED her as a sister-in-Christ for sure; but I could not commit myself to becoming a member of her denomination because they had made many different worship choices and had scripture interpretations that were different from mine.   Their interpretations pretty much lined up with those of our current culture and mine did not; mine went counter-culture.  Their authority came from agreeing with one another; but mine came from listening directly to God and following ALL of the Holy Scriptures.

I kept this to myself; not wanting to offend her.

FOR ME; IT ISN’T ABOUT RELIGION

She then asked me another very pointed question: “Are you not just seeking a perfect religion? Don’t you know that doesn’t exist because every human group is made up of humans and none of us are perfect?”

I certainly agreed with that statement!

A vision of the disciples flashed before me. They REALLY were humans and they all made all types of human mistakes. I was SO aware of it.  Just the same Jesus had said to each of them; “follow Me.”

“Yes, I know you are right about humans being imperfect. I believe that part for sure; but still I can’t commit myself to a group of believers who are only following half of the truth. It would go against everything that I have learned from reading the Word of Our Master. He said if we loved Him we would imitate Him. I don’t see that happening completely.”

HAPPY TO KNOW ANOTHER FELLOW BELIEVER

So we left as good new friends and agreed to talk again. She gave me her pastor’s website and I will gladly listen to him preaching the gospel. MUCH of that preaching WILL speak to my soul. It is not that I can’t worship with imperfect people and love them with the love of Christ – I can and I do; it is just that I can’t be a hypocrite or a Pharisee and follow a group of experts that do not believe the same as I believe.

We are all in different places in this journey toward The Kingdom of Heaven.

Just the same and that part aside; I’m glad to have a new friend who believes in Jesus.

I am glad to have yet another person to share the stories of the journey with.

I will probably worship with her congregation from time to time; but they will never have my whole commitment; only those following the WHOLE truth of God will get that commitment from me; as that is the one I have already confirmed with Jesus.  He knows I’ll make many mistakes along the way; but He has given me a standard to use as the goal of His Kingdom; and that is what I have committed my life energy to follow.

THE PLACE OF HALF-WAY THERE

Life can be this strange sometimes; and especially in our culture today that wants to live in the place of half-way-there.

The place of half-way-there is a place that tries to sugar coat pagan and worldly things with God’s name and give them devotion without even knowing their intentions are deceived; and they break the commandment that says not to take God’s name in vain.

Do I hate them for this?

No; I hate the sin; but I love the people.

They are all on the same journey as me; seeking God’s will; but sometimes further discernment can be a very good thing. None of us (including myself) are immune from such experiences. We ALL fall short; and I am often among those who do, probably more often than not.  I pray about my constant imperfections daily and give them up to my perfect God.

He is the only One who is perfect.

My point here is the fact that we all live in a tough culture.

LIVING IT OUT IN A VERY TOUGH CULTURE

It is VERY hard to know when to conform and when to stay away.

Today I’m going to speak about some of the less-than-obvious sins of our culture and see if anyone picks up and runs this part of the race along-side of me.

Let’s walk together for awhile and look closer at the typical language of our culture in this day that is being eaten up like sugar-coated candy in a candy shop.

TOTAL AND CONSTANT AWARENESS IS HARD

A few weeks ago I was standing in the grocery line when I saw a woman pick up a very popular magazine.

This specific magazine is one of those that is well-respected and very common and widely read. It’s catchy covers are typically displayed on coffee tables in homes all across our land every day. Practically every home in America contains at least one copy of this popular magazine. It is an admired and celebrated publication; one that has helped to make America the great country that it is today.

The quick selling publication has survived a hundred years of American life; and I’ve often bought it for the crafty, stylish way they have of expressing everyday decorating and fashion designs.

Usually, if THEY print it; whatever they have written quickly becomes a popular and very common subject.

Housewives and career-women alike have trusted this particular, loved publication for years.  The masses of consumers have digested these well-done pages month-after-month.  Masses of readers have appreciated the value of almost every new and interesting publication.

A FOCUS ON MINDFULNESS

This time the cover of the popular and well-loved magazine displayed the word “MINDFULNESS” in big, bold letters across the front of it’s cover.

Well; mindfulness is certainly a popular subject today. They couldn’t have picked a better topic to attract the attention of the common woman walking down the streets of their local home towns.  It seems to be the latest trend of the culture.

Another woman in front of me in the check-out line turned to the woman picking up and leafing through this publication and said; “Oh, you DO need to buy that one! I have it at home and I LOVED it. That particular issue is FULL of great advice. Just full of every kind of wonderful wisdom you need to get along in the world today!”

“Is it really? Well, thank you! I will definitely get this because “mindfulness” has been one of my goals in life this year.”

She tosses the magazine on top of her groceries and we all keep moving forward toward the cashier.

LOOKING CLOSER

I walk by the publication and notice the photo on the cover.

Sitting comfortably is a pretty, very peaceful and serene looking woman in soft, loose workout clothes. She is sitting in a yoga position with a sweet smile playing mysteriously across her face. This woman is obviously thinking pleasant thoughts and she appears to be very un-stressed.

The words beside her say “breathe” “empower yourself” “live in the moment” and “achieve your dreams.”

One gets the immediate impression that sitting in a yoga pose on a pink yoga mat in your simple soft yoga clothes and breathing in and out slowly can cure all of your problems and bring you to a place of complete success, peace and happiness.

Then I see the smaller print that says “better health, better work, better mood and better life.”

IS IT ALL REALLY THIS SIMPLE?

Half of America is walking through the check-out line getting the subtle message that life is simple and if you just do yoga and think simpler thoughts; everything will come together and you can manage to achieve your heart’s desire.

From my perspective this is all very interesting; having grown up and experienced being a teen during the seventies.

I was reminded of the Hare Krishna’s who were so popular back in those days (you could not go to the airport without encountering them) and then I remembered all the hippie love-ins and Woodstock and all the things that were so heavily publicized in the culture back during that time.

It felt a little like deja vu.

Some of the photos back then showed happy, smiling faces that were tapping into peace and love and dropping totally out of society as a whole. A few of them might have been meditating and doing yoga, but the majority of them were actually only smoking marijuana.

I’ve lived to see the other side of the equation; and I might not have been as impressed as those other two women in the grocery store check-out line. I didn’t say anything though; I just kept observing.

FURTHER OBSERVATIONS

I saw another woman in the same line pick up the book and toss it into her buggy too.

My best guess was that practically every woman in the grocery store check-out line was looking for some better answers and the magazine was so pretty and appealing. They trusted it for answers.

I deeply wanted an opportunity to show them Jesus.

How I longed to tell them that Jesus Christ had created that beautiful woman on the magazine cover; and He knew her whole story; which might have been much different than what they imagined or suspected.

This serene-looking woman was, after all, a model.  Most models got paid top dollar for peaceful, pretty poses on magazine covers.  This is their profession and art and they are very good at it.

Nevertheless; I just kept moving quietly toward the cashier and completed the process of paying for my groceries though feeling more and more troubled at the gullibility of our society all the time.

GIVING IT ALL THE BENEFIT OF A DOUBT

Often it is these daily little snippets of normal, everyday life that grab me the most.

They contain so many teachable moments and I’m all about learning.

Then, feeling very wasteful, I too tossed a copy of the sleek new magazine into the top of my own buggy – but not for the same reasons as the women who went before me.

Personally; I wanted to see what words were filling the minds and thoughts of the average woman on the streets today. My heart had a need to understand why they did the things they did.

I wanted to know what these “feel good” magazines were saying to these women who were so obviously dissatisfied with their state of life and were constantly seeking for more.

Did this pretty magazine contain any real answers; or was it a deception straight from the pits of hell?

I would give it the benefit of a doubt and read it to see.

Most people, had I said that last thought out loud, would have quickly dismissed me as a religious fanatic who had absolutely no intelligence at all. They would have labeled me as a self-righteous bigot who speaks too much too soon and knows nothing at all about the subject  that was being prematurely criticized.

Perhaps I WAS a little ignorant.

WAS I MISSING SOMETHING SPIRITUAL?

I had been receiving spiritual tugs every time I came into contact with such things.  I paid attention to such spiritual warnings and took them to be straight from God’s Holy Spirit for my own benefit and welfare.

Where was my true knowledge though?

Was there something that I had missed through all of these years that these other women had found?

I was about to read the magic words and find out.

Grimacing at the high price; I took the magazine home and it laid on my desk in the middle of another growing stack of books I had been accumulating on the same subject.

BEGINNING THE RESEARCH

For some reason these subjects of “mindfulness, meditation and yoga” troubled my spirit and this urging to discover why it was so had been bothering me for months.

I had been on a quest to get educated enough to find out why that was so.

If it all proved out to be right; I could always change my mind and join in; but if it all proved out wrong; there was a whole mission field that had hardly been noticed right here in the grocery stores of my own little home town.

Next week I will share more with you about my reading, research and my discoveries.

 

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