We Merely Follow

[mattbraunlin]

We Merely Follow​

The word cause has become a bit stale. Or rather, extremely, hilariously stale.

Everyone wants your time. Everyone wants your money. Everyone wants some celebrity hack's face as the hood ornament of their agenda.

Everything we stand for is just one more insignificant shard of shrapnel in the all-consuming tornado of 'I'm important.'

And unfortunately, many Christians have been deceived by this craziness.

So very many Christians have locked themselves in the cage of a cause. They have taken the bumpy sideroad of a particular issue and ceased progress on the straight and narrow way to the Lord. They are determined to fix a toe or an ear and have not given a thought to the fact that the very heart is failing.

My most crucial Christian mentor taught me that we should not let a single verse or passage of the Bible become the absolute rule by which we dictate our thinking as believers. And this rings absolutely true when we consider the concept of a cause.

My fellow Christ-follower, is your cause taking care of your family?

Not good enough.

Maybe your cause is fighting substance abuse.

Not good enough.

Maybe your cause is ending the abortion epidemic.

Not good enough.

All of these are good. But they are not good enough.

If you call yourself a believer, then your absolute, immovable, all-consuming cause can only be the cross.

World peace, curing cancer, racial harmony and a thousand others… all of these are great and worthy causes.

But they all fall short of the cross.

We as believers need to abandon all hope in ourselves, in our plans, in our passions, and regroup.

In the movies there are many good and brave warriors fighting the battles against evil. But the true visionaries - the chosen ones - always know something that ordinary soldiers don't: that the most powerful weapons and the enemy's greatest weak points always lie at a monumental source, a sacred place, a tiny blip on the map which can set the world ablaze.

And our source is the cross. The absolute powerhouse of why we fight.

Just as all roads lead to Rome, all causes lead back to the cross.

When we preach the Gospel in order to inspire support for a specific cause, a sour layer of selfishness is smeared on the work of Christ on the cross. We turn the end of sin into a means to the end of sin. And Christ will not be your middle-man. Not for anything.

Women's issues are a big part of my ministry. But it was not promoting women's rights that led me to Jesus; it was the other way around. I used to be a misogynist, with a very negative bent in the way I treated the opposite sex. Then I discovered Jesus, and marvelled at the revolutionary equality and love and respect with which he interacted with the women he encountered.

And so I brought my sinful nature toward women to the cross. And I left it there.

We are commanded by Christ in Matthew 6:33 to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and this command works in direct cooperation with The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We are not meant to call people to the things we feel passionate about as Christians. We are meant to call people to Jesus. The work he does in the heart of every man, woman and child who accepts him as their Saviour is immeasurably more powerful than any money we donate, any sign we hold up in the street, and any petty controversy we add to the raging grease-fire of our sad, misguided society.

When you let Jesus be your cause, eternity wins. Were you to spend a thousand years fighting your own battles, you could not accomplish one billionth of what Jesus can accomplish if you surrender your battles to him, and let him fight through you.

 

[WalterandDebbie]

We Merely Follow​

The word cause has become a bit stale. Or rather, extremely, hilariously stale.

Everyone wants your time. Everyone wants your money. Everyone wants some celebrity hack's face as the hood ornament of their agenda.

Everything we stand for is just one more insignificant shard of shrapnel in the all-consuming tornado of 'I'm important.'

And unfortunately, many Christians have been deceived by this craziness.

So very many Christians have locked themselves in the cage of a cause. They have taken the bumpy sideroad of a particular issue and ceased progress on the straight and narrow way to the Lord. They are determined to fix a toe or an ear and have not given a thought to the fact that the very heart is failing.

My most crucial Christian mentor taught me that we should not let a single verse or passage of the Bible become the absolute rule by which we dictate our thinking as believers. And this rings absolutely true when we consider the concept of a cause.

My fellow Christ-follower, is your cause taking care of your family?

Not good enough.

Maybe your cause is fighting substance abuse.

Not good enough.

Maybe your cause is ending the abortion epidemic.

Not good enough.

All of these are good. But they are not good enough.

If you call yourself a believer, then your absolute, immovable, all-consuming cause can only be the cross.

World peace, curing cancer, racial harmony and a thousand others… all of these are great and worthy causes.

But they all fall short of the cross.

We as believers need to abandon all hope in ourselves, in our plans, in our passions, and regroup.

In the movies there are many good and brave warriors fighting the battles against evil. But the true visionaries - the chosen ones - always know something that ordinary soldiers don't: that the most powerful weapons and the enemy's greatest weak points always lie at a monumental source, a sacred place, a tiny blip on the map which can set the world ablaze.

And our source is the cross. The absolute powerhouse of why we fight.

Just as all roads lead to Rome, all causes lead back to the cross.

When we preach the Gospel in order to inspire support for a specific cause, a sour layer of selfishness is smeared on the work of Christ on the cross. We turn the end of sin into a means to the end of sin. And Christ will not be your middle-man. Not for anything.

Women's issues are a big part of my ministry. But it was not promoting women's rights that led me to Jesus; it was the other way around. I used to be a misogynist, with a very negative bent in the way I treated the opposite sex. Then I discovered Jesus, and marvelled at the revolutionary equality and love and respect with which he interacted with the women he encountered.

And so I brought my sinful nature toward women to the cross. And I left it there.

We are commanded by Christ in Matthew 6:33 to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and this command works in direct cooperation with The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We are not meant to call people to the things we feel passionate about as Christians. We are meant to call people to Jesus. The work he does in the heart of every man, woman and child who accepts him as their Saviour is immeasurably more powerful than any money we donate, any sign we hold up in the street, and any petty controversy we add to the raging grease-fire of our sad, misguided society.

When you let Jesus be your cause, eternity wins. Were you to spend a thousand years fighting your own battles, you could not accomplish one billionth of what Jesus can accomplish if you surrender your battles to him, and let him fight through you.

Good morning Mattbraunlin, How are you? amen! great post, thank you for sharing.

Love, Walter

 

[Tenchi]

If you call yourself a believer, then your absolute, immovable, all-consuming cause can only be the cross.

Biblical support, please. And what does it mean for a person to have "the cross" as an "all-consuming cause"? Jesus is not on the cross anymore. He is risen! Why, then, is "the cross" the "all-consuming" thing you say it is?

And our source is the cross. The absolute powerhouse of why we fight.

Just as all roads lead to Rome, all causes lead back to the cross.

??? I have no idea what you mean, here. This just sounds like Christian sloganeering. "Our source is the cross"? No, Jesus is my Source. In fact, God's word says that he is my very life:

Colossians 3:4
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.

John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 1:4
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 15:5
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

And so I brought my sinful nature toward women to the cross. And I left it there.

But what about ALL your sinful nature? It isn't just your misogyny that God dealt with through Christ's death, burial and resurrection, but your "old man," entire. See Romans 6.

We are not meant to call people to the things we feel passionate about as Christians. We are meant to call people to Jesus.

??? And if we feel passionately about Jesus? Are we not to call others to him? Do you see the problem here with using slogans?

When you let Jesus be your cause, eternity wins.

??? I thought you said the cross was to be the Christian's "all-consuming cause"... Anyway, here's a thought for you:

"The blood of Christ deals with the stain of my sin, but the cross deals with the source of my sin, which is my Self."

 

[mattbraunlin]

Biblical support, please. And what does it mean for a person to have "the cross" as an "all-consuming cause"? Jesus is not on the cross anymore. He is risen! Why, then, is "the cross" the "all-consuming" thing you say it is?



??? I have no idea what you mean, here. This just sounds like Christian sloganeering. "Our source is the cross"? No, Jesus is my Source. In fact, God's word says that he is my very life:

Colossians 3:4
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.

John 14:6
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 1:4
4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

John 15:5
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.



But what about ALL your sinful nature? It isn't just your misogyny that God dealt with through Christ's death, burial and resurrection, but your "old man," entire. See Romans 6.



??? And if we feel passionately about Jesus? Are we not to call others to him? Do you see the problem here with using slogans?



??? I thought you said the cross was to be the Christian's "all-consuming cause"... Anyway, here's a thought for you:

"The blood of Christ deals with the stain of my sin, but the cross deals with the source of my sin, which is my Self."

You sound like a strict literalist. That is perfectly fine of course, but a literalist will have a hard time with my writing.
I am a creative person. I think, write and interpret Scripture in an artistic, open-ended way which leaves a lot of room for implication and ambiguity and metaphor. Most of your objections were implied by what I wrote, but I was expressing them artistically.
There is a place for both kinds of thinking of course, but if you don't think outside the box you'll always find something to object against in my writing.

 

[mattbraunlin]

Good morning Mattbraunlin, How are you? amen! great post, thank you for sharing.

Love, Walter

Thank you so much Walter! I am so happy to be here and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

 

[mattbraunlin]

Good morning Mattbraunlin, How are you? amen! great post, thank you for sharing.

Love, Walter

If I may ask, what does it mean to be a CF Ambassador?

 

[Tenchi]

You sound like a strict literalist. That is perfectly fine of course, but a literalist will have a hard time with my writing.

I believe labels often accommodate poor thinking. They don't allow for any nuance or sophistication of thought. But if I were to give myself a label in regards to my attitude about the Bible, it would be "Biblicist." That is, a person who accords God's word the highest authority in matters of Christian belief and practice, recognizing its unique, divine source and power. Some of God's word is to be taken literally and some not. Literary type determines when it is or isn't literal in meaning, as does the immediate context of a verse or passage. Some Scripture may be taken both ways. In any case, "literalist" is not, I think accurate in describing my approach to Scripture.

. I think, write and interpret Scripture in an artistic, open-ended way which leaves a lot of room for implication and ambiguity and metaphor.

And error. Be careful: God takes His truth deadly seriously even if you don't. If you propose to tell others what to think about their walk with God, your ideas better comport well with His word.

Most of your objections were implied by what I wrote, but I was expressing them artistically.

Your conclusions and spiritual injunctions weren't "artistic." And my observations on your post weren't because your meaning was apparent by implication. Quite the opposite, hence my remarks.

There is a place for both kinds of thinking of course, but if you don't think outside the box you'll always find something to object against in my writing.

God's truth is well-defined and delineated in His word, the Bible. If by "thinking outside the box," you mean "outside of God's truth contained in His word," then, yes, I'm going to object to your writing which proposes to instruct Christians about what to think and do concerning their faith. Their thought and practice is established by His word, His truth, not your "out of the box" ideas.

2 Timothy 3:16-17.
Matthew 4:4.
1 Peter 2:2.

 

[WalterandDebbie]

If I may ask, what does it mean to be a CF Ambassador?

Hello Matt, This is part what the Owner of this site wrote:

We would like to thank each and every one of you for being on our site. Each of you are valued members with good reputations on this board and contribute to the success and fulfillment of our community message.

In other words, each of you help CF.net to be a better place and we wanted you all to know that we appreciate that and would like to recognize you for it by upgrading your account to CF Ambassador.

My reply to him: We are humbly grateful for accepting the above accommodations, we will try to follow as best as we can.

 

[WalterandDebbie]

Thank you so much Walter! I am so happy to be here and I'm glad you enjoyed it!

You are welcome, Matt

Love, Walter

 

[WalterandDebbie]

We Merely Follow​

The word cause has become a bit stale. Or rather, extremely, hilariously stale.

Everyone wants your time. Everyone wants your money. Everyone wants some celebrity hack's face as the hood ornament of their agenda.

Everything we stand for is just one more insignificant shard of shrapnel in the all-consuming tornado of 'I'm important.'

And unfortunately, many Christians have been deceived by this craziness.

So very many Christians have locked themselves in the cage of a cause. They have taken the bumpy sideroad of a particular issue and ceased progress on the straight and narrow way to the Lord. They are determined to fix a toe or an ear and have not given a thought to the fact that the very heart is failing.

My most crucial Christian mentor taught me that we should not let a single verse or passage of the Bible become the absolute rule by which we dictate our thinking as believers. And this rings absolutely true when we consider the concept of a cause.

My fellow Christ-follower, is your cause taking care of your family?

Not good enough.

Maybe your cause is fighting substance abuse.

Not good enough.

Maybe your cause is ending the abortion epidemic.

Not good enough.

All of these are good. But they are not good enough.

If you call yourself a believer, then your absolute, immovable, all-consuming cause can only be the cross.

World peace, curing cancer, racial harmony and a thousand others… all of these are great and worthy causes.

But they all fall short of the cross.

We as believers need to abandon all hope in ourselves, in our plans, in our passions, and regroup.

In the movies there are many good and brave warriors fighting the battles against evil. But the true visionaries - the chosen ones - always know something that ordinary soldiers don't: that the most powerful weapons and the enemy's greatest weak points always lie at a monumental source, a sacred place, a tiny blip on the map which can set the world ablaze.

And our source is the cross. The absolute powerhouse of why we fight.

Just as all roads lead to Rome, all causes lead back to the cross.

When we preach the Gospel in order to inspire support for a specific cause, a sour layer of selfishness is smeared on the work of Christ on the cross. We turn the end of sin into a means to the end of sin. And Christ will not be your middle-man. Not for anything.

Women's issues are a big part of my ministry. But it was not promoting women's rights that led me to Jesus; it was the other way around. I used to be a misogynist, with a very negative bent in the way I treated the opposite sex. Then I discovered Jesus, and marvelled at the revolutionary equality and love and respect with which he interacted with the women he encountered.

And so I brought my sinful nature toward women to the cross. And I left it there.

We are commanded by Christ in Matthew 6:33 to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and this command works in direct cooperation with The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We are not meant to call people to the things we feel passionate about as Christians. We are meant to call people to Jesus. The work he does in the heart of every man, woman and child who accepts him as their Saviour is immeasurably more powerful than any money we donate, any sign we hold up in the street, and any petty controversy we add to the raging grease-fire of our sad, misguided society.

When you let Jesus be your cause, eternity wins. Were you to spend a thousand years fighting your own battles, you could not accomplish one billionth of what Jesus can accomplish if you surrender your battles to him, and let him fight through you.

11-17-23

Hello again Matt, Going back over your post and realizing what you are saying, we have been discussing it about the Cross, but mainly its origin is: Ancient paganism.

The cross symbol has its roots in ancient paganism and was used in pagan religious practices throughout Europe and western Asia.

The symbol dates to one of the earliest periods in human history, the Stone Age.

According to the book Babylon Mystery Religion, the cross originated among the ancient Babylonians of Chaldea and spread to other places centuries before Christianity was born.

The cross became a symbol of Christianity only after the time of Constantine.

Love, Walter And Debbie

 

[Tenchi]

Just to clarify: Not everything you've written, mattbraunlin, is in error. Some of what you've written is accurate and helpful. But just as a bit of dirt stirred into a cup of pure water doesn't purify the dirt but makes the water dirty, so, too, a bit of error mixed in with truth doesn't "purify" the error but only fouls the truth. A teacher of God's truth, then, must be extremely careful of "dirt" in what they teach. Your "artistic" approach sounds, to me, like a way of creating room for some "dirt" in what you write.

It is both a wonderful and a very grave thing to teach God's truth to others. But God holds to a higher standard those who set out to teach His truth to fellow Christians. If you get it wrong about His truth, the consequences can be very damaging and so God expects those who teach to be very careful of what they teach, grounding every proclamation they make about Christian belief and practice in His word. When, then, I see your posts almost completely devoid of Scripture, immediately a "red flag" starts to wave. No one who intends to share God's truth well neglects to refer to His word, doing so frequently.

 

[eddif]

We are not meant to call people to the things we feel passionate about as Christians. We are meant to call people to Jesus. The work he does in the heart of every man, woman and child who accepts him as their Saviour is immeasurably more powerful than any money we donate, any sign we hold up in the street, and any petty controversy we add to the raging grease-fire of our sad, misguided society.

We’ll sort of.

The great commission says teaching all things he has given. We may be the only ones teaching an area.

Sure we baptize in the Father , Son, Holy
Spirit, but also all things.

Mississippi redneck
eddif