Confession

It is really amazing what has entered into our churches. Whether it is complete tolerance for others, no matter what their religion stance is, or just an outright rejection of confessions. Do people realize what confessions really are? In our individualistic society we have our personal faiths. But, I have heard many people talk of how they have "no creed but Christ" or do not believe in confessions. Confessions and creeds lead to unity, after all, since you are confessing what you believe to others and to God. Why is it so hard to say that you have something in common with other people? Do you not believe that the Apostles Creed sums up your beliefs? Is the Catechism not really relevant to today? When I become a pastor I am supposed to affirm that I agree with what the confessions of my church say. However, these are not confessions that someone just simply made up off the top of their head. These are confessions and creeds that took a lot of effort to formulate. These are confessions that have stood the test of time. They serve as a uniting block. Forget about those who say "no creed but Christ." It cannot be true. If all you confess is Christ aren't you missing what is behind that? Aren't you missing Christ's work and all that he has done for us? Can you deny his virgin birth? I hope that you don't deny this. But, in this day and age churches are dropping their distinct beliefs so that they can get along with others. Our society is so individualistic that the church will drop everything that it believes in simply to get more people involved. "If you only listen to classical music, here is your service." "Oh, you only want praise music, here is your service." What happened to the true worship? Why is it not important anymore what the Bible really says? "Oh, you see an error in the Bible, okay, then don't believe it." There goes inerrancy. Christianity is bowing to liberalism. Sure, those churches are bringing a lot of people to their church, but is it really true worship? Have we given up on what the Bible actually says so that people feel better? In the last 50 years we have completely lost sight of what the Sabbath is. We go to worship when we want to, whether it is Saturday, Sunday or Wednesday, because it is most convenient for us. Why have we given into what the world thinks? Why do we allow ourselves to be run by the world? Last year my brother told me that it was easier to be a Christian in this world than it was to be anything else. Well, sure it is easier to be a "Christian." When you believe nothing at all it is so easy. But, true Christians believe a lot, and it is a lot to take in. It is not just "God works for the good of those that love him." It is also "cry with those who cry, weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice." Confessions should be important to Christians. They tell us that we believe what others have believed, and they help us confess the truth. Confessions unite us when others are telling us that we don't have to believe so much. I believe in the Confessions when so many others say that they are not relevant for today. When so many others say that they are flawed I know that they are true. This road is not an easy road to take, so the journey of a Christian is not easy.

I don't really get it

There seems to be two ways to be a Christian. You either believe that you are the only one right or that everyone is right. This is a hard distinction to make. I think it is even harder on those who are trying to spread God's Word. I mean, how do you tell someone who disagrees with you theologically that they are wrong without really condemning them. Sure, the easiest thing to do is say "your beliefs are stupid and only mine are right." But then we miss so much of what it means to be Christians. We are united to Christ as his followers. Christ never told us the supreme denomination that exists. Hey, the URC has only been around for like 11 or 12 years now, that is a long time since Christ. The CRC has only been around for 149 years, so Christ couldn't have commanded people to go to that church either. (Sorry to the Presbyterians, but right now I just don't recall the years, other than early 30's and late 70's.) But besides this I think I have an even bigger problem with denominations that treat themselves as supreme. Take for example churches that list the denominations that are allowed to partake at their communion table. I am not talking about "if you are Reformed in doctrine you can partake" but an actual list of denominations like "if you are URC, OPC, blah, blah, blah you can partake." You can condemn a church as a false church all you want, but that does not mean that there are not true believers. The CRC continues to be put down by so many people, but that does not mean that there are not true believers. We are stubborn Dutchmen after all, and maybe the older people just didn't want to leave because it is the church that they grew up with. Sure there are a few churches that have gone off the deep end, but we are not a stew. Just because a few churches have gone off does not mean that the whole batch is ruined. The whole batch is not indeed ruined. The problem in our lives, though, is that we constantly want to tell people that they are wrong for their beliefs and instead of encouraging them to go to our church we completely turn them off from Christianity. Why is this? Because we are abrasive at what we do. I pray that we may see past this abrasiveness to gently nurse the flock and those we are trying to bring in the fold. If you want to shock people into Christianity just have them read the Tim LaHaye novels. That seems to work for a while. But wait, that is not how Christ got so many followers. Go shepherd the flock in a loving and tender way and stop worrying about condemning others.