Basic Christianity

This post was first published at www.modernchristianliving.com by Bill Petite

 

I can remember when I was first saved and how exciting my new life in Jesus was. I remember my first Holy Week, that week leading up to my first Easter Sunday. I was excited all week about what Jesus had done for me; He had paid with His life to deliver me from a life of alcohol addiction and I knew I could never pay Him back. Accepting the free gift of salvation which brought on a whole new way of living for me was simply a blessing. Getting saved, believing in Jesus as my savior, reading and studying the word of God, being in fellowship with other believers and meeting together for prayer was all part of my new life and was basic Christianity. I see this same excitement in new Christians all the time. When they are baptized or giving a testimony, it is a blessing to hear what Jesus has done for them and is doing for them. How difficult is it to hold on to that excitement? How hard is it to continue to move forward with Jesus, doing His work and seeking His will and plan for your life? Well, that depends on a lot of things; do you have a good mentor, someone to disciple you as you grow in Jesus? Or, are you discipling younger Christians? I love discipling younger Christians or new Christians in their faith. It is such a blessing and it keeps that excitement in my life as I continue to move forward for Jesus. Basic Christianity should never be something that grows cold or stale. That can happen so easily and it happens in a very subtle way. We will never wake some morning and decide we no longer need the basics of Christianity in our lives. But, the devil knows what our weaknesses are and he knows right where to hit us. Satan will even use our own faith to lead us in the wrong direction and thus draw us away from those basics while we believe what we are doing is for our Lord. We are easily sidetracked and we can move away from Jesus without even realizing we are slipping away. Now, the Bible tells us we can't forfeit our salvation regardless of what we do but we can slide a good distance away from the Lord and we become stale and stagnant in our relationship with Him. We have no excitement for Jesus and we have lost our desire for the basics of Christianity. At this point, we are in need of repentance; sometimes this takes a rebuke from a Christian brother or sister. This is always done with love and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. I remember when this happened to me. I had lost my interest in the basics and I was sliding back faster than I was moving forward. Thank God, literally, that I had a Christian brother who cared enough for me and loved the Lord enough to be obedient and call me out. I immediately knew he was right; I had been going in the wrong direction and the Holy Spirit applied the loving salve which I needed to repent and get back to the basics.

In today's Church and Christianity, as has happened in the past, there are so many distractions which bog Christians down. It could be a book about visiting hell for 40 nights in order to warn the unsaved what it is really like. Mary K Baxter wrote the book, A Divine Revelation of Hell, back in the early '90s and can be read (which I don't recommend) on her web site, http://www.divinerevelations.info/mary_k_baxter_a_divine_revelation_of_hell.htm. 

 This is a material which can really cause a young Christian to head off in a direction leading away from basic Christianity. She claims that Jesus would come and take her into hell with Him every night for 40 nights. The Bible tells us enough about the suffering of those who choose not to accept Jesus as savior when they find themselves in hell. Is this the material you want to use while evangelizing? Most non-believers view this as scare tactics and think the one using it is trying to scare them into accepting Jesus. I can see why they think that. Why not tell them about Jesus and His love for us. Tell them what Jesus has done in your personal life. We don't have to use scare tactics on the unsaved.

Recently, there has been some material produced covering the Blood Moons. Four blood moons, or properly stated, four lunar eclipse in eighteen months has set off a frenzy of misinterpreted prophecy. Actually, it is false prophecy because the Bible says nothing of what is being said concerning these four lunar eclipses. The references concerning the moon becoming dark is also accompanied by the sun becoming dark at the same time (Mt 24:29, Rev 6:12). Some have taken these lunar events and stretched this stuff way out of proportion. But, these are the types of things or distractions which can pull Christians away from the basics. Now, I am not saying that any Christian who takes the time to study or look into these things will be totally distracted and lose touch with the basics. I am simply saying it can happen to some, possibly those who are not yet mature enough to know how to compartmentalize these things. When we know how to look into these things without being distracted, that is a good thing because the Lord has called some of us to discern what is right and what is wrong, what is from the Lord and what is a distraction from the devil.

The important thing about being a Christian is being properly balanced in our walk with God. In our Bible studies, we must be balanced. If all a Christian ever does is study prophecy or end times or the Mosaic Law, well there will be a great imbalance. There is a movement currently telling Christians that they need to study the Law and incorporate it into their Christian life. The Hebrew Roots Movement is good at cherry picking scripture from New Testament writings as proof for this. Of course, those scriptures are always taken out of context. I can cherry pick any scripture and make up any kind of teaching I want to. When I was in Bible College, this was actually one of my assignments; it was to prove how easy it is for some to actually do that and deceive others into believing it is true. You can only imagine how easy it is for this movement to prey on younger, immature Christians who will believe this simply because it is the Bible which is being referred to in this false teaching. Think about it Christian, Jesus said Himself that He came to fulfill the law. The law pointed to Jesus as the Messiah and there was absolutely no salvation in the law, so why would we need to incorporate this into our Christian life. The Old Testament is just as important as the New but we do not need to study the law as a part of our Christian faith. There is a very good reason for studying the Bible as a whole and I would encourage it but to emphasize the law as being a very important or even most important to your faith or your walk with Jesus is wrong. If you read and study the gospels, you will see how Jesus takes everything in the law to a higher plain of responsibility, you will know that He has superseded the law. Allow me to give an example of this:

“You have heard that it was said to those of old,

 

‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Matt 5:27-28  NKJV   www.biblegateway.com

There are many other movements, materials, teachings and individuals who can lead Christians away from the basics if they are not careful. Actually, keeping a strict, regimented schedule or routine for Bible study, prayer and Church attendance will block most attempts by these hustlers. Even when they worm their way into the local church, which they do and will, it is so easy to pick up on it and warn others of this invasion. A Christian should set a time for themselves for a private time for reading the Bible or prayer or study. I can remember as a young Christian with small children, I had to lock myself in my bedroom in the evening to read and study the Bible. OK, I didn't lock the door but you get the idea. A good Christian friend of mine encouraged me to get up twenty or thirty minutes earlier in the morning so I could have my private, quiet time. That worked; I began to practice this for prayer and reading and it was amazing. So, I encourage you, as I always do for others, if you are not already, get up a little earlier and take advantage of the early morning time for your quiet time with the Lord.

Christianity in this country has been waning for many years now. Christians are floating away from the basics of Christianity. They are simply too busy with their personal lives. Both parents work because they feel they have to in order to pay for the things they need or want or have. Is it possible we have become too much of a materialistic people? Are some of our needs really some of our wants? I'm not saying this is the case with everyone, God does know how tough it is to raise a family and provide for their needs. But, maybe we should depend on our Lord just a little bit more for our provisions. I do know of Christian families, with children, who only have one income, the father, because they know how important it is for the mother to be in the home with the children. I know a family of 7, with one more on the way, and only the father works. He is currently laid off but the Lord is providing for them. I spoke with him a few weeks ago and this man could not stop giving praise to God. He fully trusts that He will provide work for Him soon and that the Lord will continue to provide in the meantime. This young man has not moved away from the basics of Christianity. The devil set him up, created all the right situations but this man knows his Lord will never fail him. This is a part of basic Christianity. How easy would it be to simply want to throw in the towel in his situation? I have seen Christians want to quit over far less trouble. Stick to the basics and we will never have a reason to doubt our Lord. When we start drifting away by getting involved in some of these pseudo Christian movements or activities, we are setting ourselves up for troubles. I once asked a young woman why she was so interested in one of the Word Faith teachers, she responded by telling me, "He's so fresh, his message is fresh." Fresh?! I contained myself and simply walked away; she was not going to listen to anything I would have said. The gospel message is as fresh today as it was 2000 years ago and the name of Jesus is as powerful and carries as much meaning as it ever did! He never loses His freshness, His authority. The Church today has too many distractions. It has too many celebrities, too many mansions called church buildings and too many lukewarm followers. That last comment might be offensive to some but let the truth be known, we must get back to the basics of Christianity. I recently read about a missionary family who returned from the mission field with the father and husband pastoring a local church. The following comment from the wife says it all about the Church in this country.

Perhaps I am wrong, but I have noted that the American church is quite shallow in the sense that I don't see the evangelism, the all-night prayer meetings that we were accustomed to on the mission field, praise and worship that is not just a "song service," older women teaching the younger women things that they have learned from experience, and other things....I don't want to be critical, but I have learned to observe.  Letters,  The Berean Call Newsletter,   www.thebereancall.org

May we all become as observant and obedient and begin listening to that quiet voice as the Lord whispers in our ear. Pay very close attention to what He has to say and cling to the basics of our faith. Jesus can never be improved on by man so why should we always go running after the newest, freshest, hippest or coolest version. Jesus is the basics of Christianity!