Thursday, April 18, 2019

Attitude Ajustment

From my years in the military and the secular work place, I heard the phrase, attitude adjustment, many times and in many ways. Of course, most times that was aimed at someone who had been influenced by someone or something which led them in a wrong direction and away from the parameters and boundaries which had been established by those in charge.

This same thing happens to Christians. It is easy to been misinformed or influenced by a corrupt messenger. As an employee can fall in with a bad crowd who chooses to rebel instead of working according to the rules, a Christian can experience a similar situation. There is so much wrong information being thrown out into the world which can sound so good but is very deadly.

On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem to the praises of the people. In their minds, He was the conquering hero who would rescue them from the oppression of the Romans. Did they believe He was the Messiah? Was He the One who had come to save them? Yes, at least those who were praising and cheering for Him. But what happen on Friday? Where were all those people who were praising Him on Sunday? They were right there, being influenced by the religious leaders, yelling, "Crucify Him."

What had happened to all those people who were praising Him? Why had they changed their opinion of Him in just a matter of days? They had misunderstood who He really was. He was the Messiah and the savior and had come to save them but not physically. He had not come to overthrow the Roman government but instead He had come to save them from their sin.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him      JN 3:16-17
Jesus came into the world the first time to bring salvation to the world but these people were looking for a one man Seal Team to rescue them from the Romans and therefore, on Friday, they decided He was a phony and agreed He needed to be crucified. Of course, they were worked into a frenzy by the religious leaders. Imagine, you are right there with the Son of God and you have witnessed the miracles He has performed and watched as He healed and cast out demons. You are convinced He is the Son of God, the Messiah, who has come, as the prophets had foretold. But now, just a few days later, you are crying out for His execution.

How did this happen? How can you so suddenly change your devotion to Him? It's easy and it happens today because too many Christians don't really know Jesus. Oh, they are saved and know Him as their savior but they don't really know Him for who He really is. How can this be? Well, there are far too many Christians who are saved and go to Church but never read or study the Bible. They were filled with joy when Jesus came into their lives and saved them from their sin but then they kind of put it in cruise control and never advanced beyond that. As those who were crying out for His crucifixion, they had not really listened to what Jesus was saying. It's the same today with those who don't spend time in the word of God. They don't understand what Jesus is saying or who He really is.

Also, along the way, they have been influenced by wrong teaching and wrong Bible doctrine and they jumped right in like a person jumping into the deep end and not knowing how to swim. They absorbed the false teaching because they didn't know what the Bible actually says be
cause they don't read and study it. Allow me to give you an actual example.

Some years ago, I heard a man, who was saved, talking to a friend of mine about considering the Jehovah's Witness for a church to attend. I knew this man and he had truly been saved but he put it in cruise control and never really advanced beyond that point. Yes, he attended Church every week but he never took the steps to further his relationship with Jesus. So, one day the JWs came knocking on his door and he was seriously thinking about what they had said, which, he thought, sounded very good. How can a person who is saved by Jesus consider going this way?

He had been influenced by a messenger who was delivering poison. If he had been studying his Bible, he would have known that everything they told him was in contradiction to the truth. Paul talks about this in Galatians,

I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;  which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!  As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel [f]contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!         Gal 1:6-9
I don't know if this man ever followed up on his thinking and consideration of attending Kingdom Hall or not but it is a classic example of how easy it is for a Christian to be influenced by a bad messenger if they are not into the word of God. I would hope that the Holy Spirit deterred this and any decision on his part to join a cult in place of true fellowship. So many times, those Christians who have not spent time in the word are easy prey for those messengers with a false gospel or word. Dr. Allan Cole said it this way, "The outward person of the messenger does not validate his message; rather, the nature of the message validates the messenger." 

I have known quite a few Christians who were saved and immediately fell into and began to follow a false or misleading doctrine. Some fell into the Word Faith movement which includes the prosperity teaching and also the divine health doctrine. I have spent a lot of time with them discussing these teachings and how wrong and misleading they are. They believed they were following truthful doctrines of the Bible.

The warning Paul gives in the above passage from Galatians is a strong warning. James also gives a bit of advice to teachers,

 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.  Jas 3:1
When I first began to teach and was mindful of this verse, I was a little afraid of really messing up but what it eventually did was drive me to study and make sure that what I was going to say lined up with God's word and kept me in dependence of the Holy Spirit speaking through me.

So, what's the attitude adjustment which is needed? It's actually simple; study the word of God and seek help from reliable Christian leaders when you need it. Don't ever think you don't need help and try to go it on your own because that is an invitation to a major stumble. Even the most famous or well known preachers and teachers started by studying the word and getting help. But the most important thing to remember is the Holy Spirit is the key and most important helper. He will enlighten our minds and hearts in a way which will allow us to know and understand the truth of God's word.

D. L. Moody made this statement concerning God sticking with us in whatever He has called us to,
"If God calls a man to a work, He will be with him in that work, and he will succeed no matter what the obstacles may be."

Never give up on God and never allow yourself to fade or grow stale in your relationship with Jesus. When He rode into Jerusalem that Sunday, He knew He was sealing His fate as a man and one step closer to fulfilling His role as our savior. He didn't hesitate and shy away from His mission and we should never do that in our devotion and worship of Him. Don't allow yourself to be influenced by a bad or wrong message. Satan is prowling around looking for those weak in their faith (1 Pet 5:8). And, remember the words of Paul to Timothy concerning the study of the word of God,

  Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.  2 Tim 2:15