Appearances

So, the other night as my wife and I were reading our bibles, Matthew 3: 4 struck me. It states that "Now John himself was clothed in Camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey." The part that struck me came in two parts...the first part was that he was obviously dressed distinctively different than the culture around him (as I type more and more in this, I may end up stepping on my own toes and frustrating myself with my own comments!!). I don't believe that the people in the villages and towns around him were dressing in the matter that he was...I mean if they were...there would be no need to call out his appearance because it would be the same as everyone else...right? There was an obvious distinction in John the Baptist...and everyone else. The second part of this reading that struck me was Matthew 3: 5 and 6. It states in these verses "then all Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." I was blown away at this! I mean here is a man (in John the Baptist) that by all accounts is the polar opposite of what society in his day was (at least in the appearance aspect) drawing huge flocks of people out to him. How is this possible? Why didn't John the Baptist change his appearance to draw even more people to him? Why didn't he begin talking with the latest slang that was considered "cool" by the youth to try and win their hearts to Christ? Why didn't he water down his message to make his preaching more "politically correct"? He didn't do these things because he knew who God was and there was nothing he could do in his own strength that would draw anyone to God! There was no point in him polluting a perfect message...in all honesty...if he had changed anything about himself, he may have made himself of as much use as the Pharisees!

This all leads up to a few thoughts these verses gave me. Hopefully this will all make sense when I am finished with it (but it may end up jumbled together and not very concise)!

Does anyone else think that there is a problem that the church looks as worldly as it does? I mean, I'm speaking to myself here, not just whoever is reading this. So many Christians support the ungodly! Aspects of this include, clothes, music, movies (generally the stuff we buy and the people we support)...the list could go on forever! Why do folks in the church become so consumed with their worldly appearance that they basically discontinue their Chirst like appearance? I think it's to fit in. Romans 12: 2 starts off by saying "And do not be conformed to this world...". Does that sound like we should care what the world thinks of us? Absolutely not! So many Christians derive their self worth from their clothes, that if they aren't dressed to the nines or wearing the latest fashion, they feel they aren't anything important! Oh how Satan has blinded them! What was John the Baptist wearing again...camels hair and a leather belt around his waist? C'mon...does it sound like he was concerned with his outward appearance? Not at all! He was focused on the mission he was given...lifting up Jesus Christ! I know that we live in a different society...but our mission is the same as his...spread the good news! I want to talk to the ladies for a moment...

Ladies, there is no need for you all to wear half of the things that you wear! The clothes that you all seem to wrap yourself up in could very much be a stumbling block to alot of men! In Romans 14: 13 we read roughly halfway the verse "not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother's way." Ladies...when you have wrapped yourselves in jeans so tight that your backsides wiggle around like two midgets wrestling in a sackclothe bag...that could very easily make a brother stumble! You have caused him to lust after you. If this brother is a married man he has cheated on his wife! That would make you a mistress! Jesus's words in Matthew 5: 28 state "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart." You all know when you walk out the house that men are generally stimulated by sight, so why would you place clothes on yourselves that could make a faithful husband, become a cheating husband?

There is so much pollution that has captivated our churches...the above is simply one of them...Another one is that males are no longer dominant in our churches or the home. The male influence has become somewhat of a fictional story. See...BET and MTV (and the media in general) have painted men to be either gangsters, sissies or general screw ups (but never men in love with Christ). There is no real in between for a man in todays society. I fell in love with the mentality that I saw on BET in all the rap videos! So I began trying to make myself one of those guys...not realizing that those guys aren't what they portray themselves to be on television...but at 10-12 years old all I knew was that their videos matched the lifestyle I heard them rap about and I thought they were cool. These days...you have guys claiming to be Christians, that teen agers think are cool, winning television shows that would have caused Moses to break another set of the 10 commandments (American Idol) only to come out and say that they are homosexual but still born again (Clay Aiken)! What kind of garbage is that?! The "homosexual christian" does not exist because it can not exist. Yet these are the images and lifestyles that American men are exposed to and since a majority of the men in this country are not true Christians...they think these things are possible! Gods word condemns the homosexual lifestyle...man is the only one who approves it! I feel like I'm rambling here...but dag on it...I'm irritated that men haven't stood up and been pillars for the faith the way that they should! Again...men become so consumed with appearance (some of the times it's a womans) that they can't find their self in Christ. We are told by the media all of the things that we should be, that we forget what the bible says we should be. The bible says in James 1: 27 "to keep oneself unspotted from the world"...sounds to me like we as men need to become more concerned with what God thinks of us, than what general public thinks of us.

Why are brothers and sisters being led astray like they are? Alot of it has to do with little to no teaching that leads to conviction and alot of teaching that leads to growing numbers and money in communion plates! Here is probably my biggest problem...obviously...if the men and women in the church are living contrary to God's word, they are doing so because the pastor of that church is not teaching God's word in it's entirety. They are preaching a version of the bible that is seeker friendly and watered down and basically useless (I say basically because I came from a church that taught grace and love and everyone was excepted...but there was no judgment...I made it out of that teaching to experience the whole counsel of Gods word and I'm sure that that there are others...but this type of teaching is a trap from hell because many people become complacent and stagnant yet are constantly being told that they are okay with God). So many churches are letting heretical teachings into them (labrynths, contemplative prayer, universalism, ecumenicism, humanism, etc...) that the congregations end up suffering! Moreover, the congregations end up fully embracing the teaching that they are being taught! In 1 Timothy 4: 1 and 2 we read " Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving head to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron..." and in 2 Peter 2: 1-3 we read "But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber." and finally in 2 Peter 2: 18-22 we read " For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and , "a sow having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

I believe the above is happening because people are lacking the desire to please God because we are becoming increasingly selfish. I hear professing "christians" say all the time say that they know they are selfish. They make these statements while being puffed up with pride (almost like it makes them look good). All the while making themselves look like the very people that we are not supposed to resemble. It saddens me to think that more times than not these are the type of "Christians" being released to the world to proclaim how great God is...the part that is sickening is that these folks have no real clue who God is...yet they purport to be His followers!

This brings us back to the original point I was initially trying to make before being hijacked with a million thoughts...and if I wrote them all...I would turn this simple little blog to one of epic proportions. Christians need to seriously consider all facets of their life before going out into the world. We should be more intersted in resembling the humble than the proud. Christ's disciples were more intersted in being with Him than at the market...contrast this with us...are we more intersted in being with our families teaching them the ways of Christ...or would we rather be shopping trying to blend into the world? The answer is obvious to me...

If Christians were truly focused on Christ, we (they, as I did not vote for the evil man about to take office) would not have elected a man to the presidency that fully supports the slaughter of innocent children and who is passionately embracing the homosexual agenda. This man was picked and endorsed by many simply because of race. There was another presidential candidate running for office named Alan Keyes, who embraced Christian principles, but he was not supported by many of the very people who voted for Barack Obama. Why not? He is of the same race as Obama...could it be that the church no longer desires to turn to God fearing men but rather the ungodly? It is simply because Christians would rather be of the world than in the world. Whatever the color of the Christian here in America, there is a real need for an understanding of who Jesus Christ is and what He did for us all. He did so much more for us than possibly lower our taxes or fix our economy...he forgave our sins and died to make us right with God (so long as we accept that gift).

John the Baptist is a wonderful character in the bible to study. He was not concerned with culture. To use a term that we use now a days...he marched to the beat of a different drum...and rightly so because he was called by God...as are all of us Christians! So why are we not at the very least speaking out against the things in this country that are offensive to our faith and are wretched in the sight of God?

I think it's because we fear being looked at the way that Stephen was looked at in Acts 7: 54 or Paul in Acts 22: 22 and 23. Thankfully, Stephen and Paul weren't afraid to be outcasts for the sake of Christ.

Be blessed.