Truth or Tradition? Pt. 1: Wearing Your Sunday Best

Beforehand
There have been countless times in which I've heard somebody question why we do certain things in church. And you know what the funny thing is? A good number of times, people tend to go to family, friends, or even tradition for their answers. Everywhere except the most important place, which is the Word. And if you look at the Word, you'll see that a lot of our church practices today are not even rooted in Scripture, but rather in human tradition. And I realized that after discovering these truths, they needed to be shared. So, that's what my next few blog posts are going to cover.

What this is: After reading a book and doing some research, I'm just sharing the reality that some of our Christian practices don't actually come from Scripture, but rather human tradition. I'm inviting you to be willing to have the curtain pulled back on the contemporary church and have it's traditional assumptions challenged. If you're willing, read on.

What this isn't: If you are going to read these blog posts and use the truths that are in them as an invitation to rebel against your church, stop. If you're thinking like that, you've completely missed the point. Either leave your church quietly or be at peace with it. There is a huge gap between rebellion and standing up for what is true.

Also: I'd like to state that whenever I mention Church (with a capital C) I'm referring to how it is in the New Testament. The living, breathing, Christ-centered, every-member functioning body of Christ. And when I mention church (lowercase c) I'm referring to the contemporary church which is the religious system (such as the building) and not a particular group of people.

Pt 1: Wearing Your Sunday Best
Now I'm sure that a number of us growing up were forced to wear decent clothing to Sunday morning church services. I was one of them. And I never exactly fancied the idea. A lot of people say that we should dress up out of respect for Christ. But define dressing up. Is a tie enough? Or do you need a suit as well? Can nice jeans count? Slacks? Shirt tucked in or out? I could go on and on, but I think you get the point.
So you guys might be thinking to yourselves, "What's the big deal about dressing up for church? It really doesn't sound like a big deal." Sure, dressing up by itself isn't. But, it's what dressing up for church represents that is.

Like many other church practices today, dressing up for church is the outcome of Christians being influenced by the culture surrounding them. Frank Viola says 'to think that God cares one whit if you wear dressy threads on Sunday to "meet Him" is a violation of the New Covenant. We have access to God's presence at all times and in all circumstances. Does He really expect His people to dress up for a beauty pageant on Sunday morning?'
What one person considers dressing up may not be consistent with what other people think. Very quickly you start down a road that can lead to legalism and pride. However, Jesus was constantly around all kinds of sinners of his day. Not just the affluent and wealthy. The Pharisees were the religious of the day who were impressively dressed, but Jesus had some of the harshest words for them.



When we wear our Sunday best, it brings up an illusion that we are somehow "good" because we are dressing up for the Lord. The early Church was quite the opposite. The first-century Christians did not "dress up" to attend meetings. They didn't dress to publicly display their social class either. They actually made solid efforts to show their absolute contempt for social class differences. In the Church, all racial and social discrimination should be no longer present. The early Christians knew that they were a new people on this planet and for this, James rebuked believers who were treating the rich saints better than poor saints. He boldly rebuked the rich for dressing better than the poor. Yet, still many Christians are under the delusion that it's disrespectful to dress in informal clothing when attending a Sunday morning service.
I could go into the history of how this trend of wearing nice clothes came to be but that would be a novel, not a blog post.
Overall, to say that the Lord expects His people to dress well when they gather is basically adding to the Scriptures and is nothing more than a human tradition.
However, if you really feel that dressing up for church gatherings is a positive thing and you can do it unto the Lord with pure motives, then go right ahead. But remember, you must be careful not to judge or look down upon those who do not dress up for gatherings.

The Clock is Ticking

Death is inevitable.

It's coming like a sunset and there is no stopping it. Your day may have dawned today or it could be over fifty years from now. But it's coming. If you're rich you can’t buy your way out of it. If you’re poor you can’t beg your way out of it. No matter how hard you exercise or how healthy your diet is, it's still coming. Fat or skinny, rich or poor, wise or foolish, when death comes knocking it’s the last thing you’ll hear on this earth. You can't trick death.

Moses knew this all too well. By the time he was eighty he had seen plenty of death in Egypt (he had caused one personally) and too much of it in the desert. In Psalm 90:9-10 he wrote, "All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away."

James puts it really bluntly. "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." (James 4:14)

Whether it's something slow like cancer or something sudden like a tragic car wreck, death is inevitable. There’s not a pass or an app that you can buy that will rescue you from it. When your time comes, your time on earth is done.

Solomon put it this way in Ecclesiastes 9:10, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom."

So live life to the fullest and live with intentionality while you can! Squeeze the sponge dry. Squeeze your spouse, kids, relatives, and friends until they know you mean it. Live life to the tenth power in His power for His purpose.

Also, focus on the condition of your soul before it's too late. In Mark 8:36 Jesus says, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?"

Take Steve Jobs for example. From the sources I read, Jobs was an atheist then later practiced Buddhism. But I don't know what he believed the moment he died. Only God knew his heart and last moments. But if he denied Jesus, his death was a tragedy. You could say that he gained the whole world, in a very real sense, yet lost his soul. But this post isn’t ultimately about Steve Jobs. It’s about you. Are you ready to die? Jesus died so that you could live. He died in your place for your sins and through faith in Him you can access this free gift of eternal life. Have you truly trusted Jesus?




If you are a Christian live your life with eternal eyes. See differently. Live differently. Share the gospel boldly while you can. Because soon, maybe sooner than we think, our time will come.

Don't Drink the Kool-Aid

Drinking the Kool-Aid: A term used to describe the blind acceptance of something.

Okay, first off I just want to state that I already know I'm going to get some serious flack for this post. And I'm prepared for that. But this is something God has put on my heart and it desperately needs to be heard.

There is a very dangerous phenomenon in Christianity today. It's used verbally by many Christians and it's printed into millions of Christian publications. This phenomenon is none other than the sinner's prayer.
What the Gospel is to many people today is that you pray this little prayer, accept Jesus into your heart, and invite Him into your life. On occasion, I notice something rather alarming. When I ask if a particular person is a Christian, a common response I hear is, “Well, I prayed the prayer.” It’s as if the words were magic; if someone just recites them, they’re in. That's not the Gospel. As David Platt puts it: "It's modern evangelism built on sinking sand and it runs the risk of disillusioning millions of souls."

Here's one example of the sinner's prayer:

“Heavenly Father, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve to go to hell. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I do now receive him as my Lord and personal Savior. I promise to serve you to the best of my ability. Please save me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

And I'm sure that we all have experienced something like this:

"With every head bowed and every eye closed, is there anyone here that would like to come to Christ? If so, raise your hand; just slip it up real quick. There, thank you, thank you, and over there in the back, thank you."


And the interesting thing is, this prayer is nowhere to be found in the New Testament. Nowhere in  Scripture does it say that praying a simple prayer is what's required to be saved. We don’t find Jesus nor His apostles in the book of Acts giving altar calls. We never find Jesus wanting people to secretly follow Him by raising that hand. We find no references to Paul appealing for that song to be played one more time to give sinners the chance to come down front to be saved. In Acts before he was Paul, Saul of Tarsus prayed for three days after arriving in the city of Damascus. Yet his sins were not "washed away" until he was immersed in water in obedience to the divine command (Acts 9:11, 22:16). If there was ever a case of the "sinner's prayer" being exercised, surely this was it; yet it wasn't.

Friends, saying "Lord, Lord" is not enough. As you go through the Bible, you can notice that Scripture makes it very clear that the mere act of "calling" out in the Lord's name, in the absence of obedience, is futile.

“Not everyone who says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21)

And Jesus also says:

“And why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46)

Friends, do you know how risky it is to lead people to think that they are Christians when they have not actually biblically responded to the Gospel?
The scary thing is that there are countless people out there that have no fellowship with Christ, no desire for godliness, but they believe that they're saved because one time they prayed the prayer and asked Jesus to come into their hearts. These people have drank the Kool-Aid. To believe that somebody may be justified from sin by simply praying that prayer as a substitute for obedience to the plan of salvation, obedience to Christ, is delusional.
It's dangerous.
The Christian faith is not a once-and-for all flu shot. Many people are being led into a decision with very little knowledge of the Gospel. Trusting in a decision rather than looking onto Christ. Living in ungodliness and believing that they are saved because some religious authority told them they were. The thought of that is just scary and it needs to stop. 
We need to give people the FULL picture of the Gospel.

So friends, my question for you is: Have you been drinking the Kool-Aid?

Be Intentional

Which areas of your life are you intentional about? In other words, what are you putting your time and energy into? Are you investing time into school? Your job? If you are married, are you investing in your relationship with your wife? What about your family? The church? How about with the Lord?

Intentionality plays out in my life in a number of ways. For me, a major area in which I am intentional is with my brothers and sisters in the faith. I set aside time to invest in them together as well as each one of them individually. I definitely believe I possess the spiritual gift of encouragement and investing in their lives is very important to me. And there is a number of ways in which I do so. Asking questions that get to their heart to see what's going on inside. How I can support them through prayer as a friend/brother. Setting up a regular time to hang out and talk as well as just fellowship together through various activities. I've had some great experiences with this on a number of occasions whether it be just talking over Starbucks or battling it out airsoft-style in the woods.

I try to invest my time as well. When I build relationships with most people, I continue caring about them and attempt to stay connected with them. Even if I'm not in a close relationship with them, I still try to check in and see how things are going. For some people I know, I hope my intentionality with them will be lifelong.

Most importantly, our relationship with God is what we should be most intentional about. Each day I try to deepen my relationship with Him. And the cool thing is that through prayer, the Word, and relationships with other believers I am able to. There are times when I feel as though my relationship with the Lord suffers the most when it should always be my number one priority. Sometimes we are intentional in all the other things and we tend to forget that He must come first. After all, He is the reason we are being intentional about everyone and everything else.

Christ should be the main focus in all areas. Your marriage. Your friendships. Work. Recreation. He bought you with His blood. He should be the center of the life that He bought.

Grumble Grumble...

Complaining.
We all do it at one point or another. Some people tend to do it more so than others.  The cost of gas, not having enough time, slow Internet connections, crappy weather, people who don't signal before turning, loads of schoolwork that needs to be done; Let's face it, there are countless times in which we find ourselves complaining about something. We often find it easy to complain when circumstances don’t go our way or we find it just as easy to feel justified in being upset.
But you have to think, what gives us the right to complain about anything? Lamentations 3:39 says that "Why should any living mortal, or any man, offer complaint in view of his sins?" Who am I to complain?
And honestly, do we really have anything to complain about? We take so much for granted these days. Most of us have access to clean drinking water, eat at least 3 square meals a day, have a warm, safe home to live in, and that's just the start of the list. So here I find myself complaining about how Wendy's goofed up my order while on the other side of the world somebody doesn't get to eat more than a cup of rice per day. Just pitiful.

The truth in the matter is that I deserve nothing but hell. Every blessing I have is all because of God's grace and mercy. How is it that we find it so much easier to complain than give thanks to Him?
Ephesians 5 tells us to be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. Last time I checked, I didn't see Jesus complaining about anything. So if Jesus didn't, does that give us any right to? Absolutely not.

Things will go wrong in our lives. Gum on your shoe. A flat tire. A break up. These things happen. And we really only have two ways to deal with these instances. We can spend our time taking our eyes off of God and complaining, or we can rejoice.
As Christians, we should be taking more time to thank God for our blessings and less time complaining about what we see as problems. Philippians 4:4 says rejoice in the Lord always. This is not a suggestion or an option; this is a command to be taken literally: Rejoice! Be joyful in ALL your circumstances on purpose. God doesn’t want us just to refrain from complaining, but to truly “consider it joy” when trials come our way. We can and should give thanks because of what God has done and is doing rather than being caught up in our own emotions. We can consider trials as joy because we know the One who is working through them and in us– both for our benefit and for His glory.